Five Women on Mount Lalvar and the House of Kindness They Built

For generations, women have climbed these hills to gather wild herbs, berries and rosehips. They dried them carefully at home, turning them into jars of jam, bundles of herbal tea and small bags of dried fruit. It was quiet work.  Work is done at kitchen tables and in backyards. Work that carried knowledge and skill, yet had no brand, no market, no recognition. No one ever called it entrepreneurship.

In 2024 that began to change 

Arpenik Darchinyan looked at what women had always done and saw something more. She saw potential. She saw a future. And most importantly, she saw that tradition did not have to remain small.

She brought together four other women. Different background and different skills, but one shared determination.  Anahit Hovhannisyan, Shushanna Kamalyan, Armenuhi Hovhannisyan, and Yelena Darchinyan joined her. What had once been separate household efforts slowly turned into a collective vision.

With support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under the “EU Local Empowerment of Actors for Development (LEAD) in Lori and Tavush Regions” project, funded by the European Union and implemented jointly with UNDP, the women formally established the women association named “House of Kindness”.

“We come from different professions and backgrounds” says Arpenik, “but we share a single vision”.

But the beginning was not easy.

Building Trust Before Building a Business

Before joining forces, each woman walked her own path. Some were schoolteachers. Others worked in tourism, beekeeping and hospitality. Arpenik herself previously served as Lori Province Coordinator for the Armenian Young Women’s Association, where business trainings helped shape her leadership and entrepreneurial vision.

When Arpenik recalls first spoke about joining forces, many women hesitated.

They did not want to share their products. The potential benefits were not immediately visible. Trust doesn’t grow overnight. “It took almost a year” recall Arpenik “meetings, discussions, doubts, and then slowly, cooperation”.

Step by step, something changed. They secured space in the community hall. They obtained a water permit. They planted trees.  They opened a Facebook page to promote agritourism experiences and market the locally produced goods.  They began promoting dried fruits, honey, herbal teas and jams. What once stayed inside kitchens began reaching beyond Akhtala.

And Then Came the Flood

In May 2024, when the Debed River overflowed, roads were cut off and harvests were lost. The women lost their mulberry crop. For many, that would have marked the end. “We continued at the same pace,” Arpenik says. “The motivation did not disappear.” Although the flood caused significant setbacks, it did not diminish their ambition to drive positive change in Akhtala. Instead, the experience further strengthened their commitment to building a more resilient future for their community.

More Than a Harvest

The women did not stop at production. They connected agriculture with tourism. They developed tour packages for both local and international tourists, presented them during B2B event organized by FAO.  Now, guests come to Akhtala not only to taste, but to experience.

The “House of Kindness” offers sip teas blended from herbs harvested on Lalvar’s slopes and experience farming. 

What was once small storage has grown into a vibrant space producing jam, preserves and dried fruits.

With FAO’s support, the “House of Kindness” association transformed an informal tradition into a structured rural experience. By organizing the sustainable harvesting of herbs and berries from the forests and linking their farming activities to tourism, the women created a local enterprise that keeps income within the community. Natural resources are carefully collected, processed locally and presented to visitors as high-quality products rooted in tradition.

The herbs are the same. The mountains are the same. But something in Akhtala has changed. Women who once worked quietly behind closed doors now work side by side, shape their own and their town’s future.