May E-News

HDIF Celebrates World
Fair Trade Day with Focus on Climate Justice

World Fair Trade Day is a global celebration on the second Saturday of May. It is organized annually by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) to raise awareness on alternative solutions to the planet’s economic and ecological challenges. Fair Trade Enterprises led the celebration together with the sister movements, allies, government leaders and consumers.

The 2022 celebration focused on Climate Justice and the solutions presented by the Fair Trade, cooperative, and organic movements. The ecological and social justice crisis we are currently facing must be address with fresh solutions.

At HDIF, we are constantly improving our producer partners’ working conditions and practices, so we can guarantee environmentally-friendly activities and products for our customers. We focus on the preservation of the planet and climate justice. HDIF has already proven its commitment to the environment through its handmade items and products made of local and recycled materials.

Did you know that artisanal production is at the center of HDIF’s production because 90% of our items are handmade? Artisanal producers tend to use less fossil fuels, emit less greenhouse gases while conserving water resources and building healthy soil. We and our producer partners respect our Mother Earth and you, who are going to buy and use our products, are an important part of this effort.

This year, HDIF's founder, Tim Straight, and the staff were excited to "raise their hands for the climate." HDIF encourages its friends and clients to Get involved. Join the global action for Climate Justice.HDIF's New Office Assistant
Saten Simonyan

HDIF is excited to introduce its new office assistant. Saten Simonyan. In addition to running Impact Shop by HDIF, she handles most of the administrative duties of the office as well as communication with producer partners, quality control, and much more!

She graduated from Yerevan State University of Languages and Social Sciences in Italian Language. She is interested in "everything related to aesthetics", and has made it her life's purpose to discover, understand, and protect nature. She also loves painting, crafting, and indoor gardening.

Saten lives in Yerevan with her family. Her father was a geologist, her mother is an educator, and her sister is a psychologist․

While being new to HDIF, Saten believes that it wasn't an accident that she found HDIF and HDIF found her. She believes that the organization's work and her own interests perfectly coincide.

"My wish is to do something good for the world and especially my homeland and make the world better with me in it."This Month's Featured Producer Partner

Genya Hovhannisyan
of Meghvashkharh in Martuni

Two years ago, HDIF was introduced to Genya Hovhannisyan, a candle maker from Martuni. Today, Genya is busy fulfilling a large order of medium candles. Her candles can be special ordered from HDIF or its official distributors in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, or Australia. We love the candles for wedding favors!

Genya's husband, known in Martuni as the "Bee King," has dedicated his whole property to beehives, apitherapy (think a room where you lay down and relax on a bed built on beehives!), and education around honey production. Made with her husband's beeswax, Genya's candles are natural treasures.

Each candle is adorned with a bracelet of hand-spun, braided sheep's wool and threaded with a natural clay bead. All the materials, from the beeswax to wool to clay, come from the village of Martuni. This is a perfect example of a product that's 100% natural and locally sourced!

Check out this fantastic video produced by the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) and Impact Hub Yerevan. It features a day in the life of Tim as well as great profiles on our producer partners like Genya.The Latest from HDIF-USA

Father's Day is Coming Up!

NEW BOARD MEMBER
HDIF-USA is thrilled to welcome Taleen Khoury Moughamian to its Board of Directors. Taleen joins Paul Vartan Sookiasian, President, Nani Shirikjian, Vice President, Kristine Jegalian, Secretary, Adrine Hamamah, Treasurer, Ani Boyadjian Boghigian, and Paula Boghosian.

We're on Faire.com!

If you are a retailer and interested in purchasing Armenian-made products for your shop, join us on Faire.com to receive competitive wholesale prices. Entry-level retailers will receive $200 in credit and free shipping for one year when you sign up with this link: https://hdifusa.faire.com.

Shop HDIF-USA OnlineWhat's Happening Next Month

June will be a busy month shipping #MadeinArmenia handicrafts around the globe. HDIF is sending Changemaker (a fair trade distributor in Germany) over 1,000 keytags and 420 hairbands from Berd, 1,000 baby rattles from Gyumri, and 100 pencil cases from Kapan. An order to Made51 (a global distributor based in Hong Kong) will include 750 wool sheep figurines and 250 wool mice ornaments. Headed to the U.S. are custom designed and manufactured recognition plaques for ARPA's 30th anniversary in Los Angeles.Distributors in the Diaspora

New Distributors Join HDIF's Team

Canada:
Les Cadeaux Marash | Gayane Petrosyan
https://lescadeauxmarash.com/

Australia:
Artful Giving | Carineh Grigorian
https://www.artfulgiving.com.au/

United Kingdom:
Noor and Katu | Sonya Varoujian
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NoorandKatu?ref=search_shop_redirect

Our distributor in Germany will be online soon!HDIF in Yerevan

HDIF'S NEW RETAIL SPACE & OFFICE:
80 TIGRAN METS AVE
YEREVAN 0005
(Near the Sasuntsi Davit train station)

Store hours: Monday-Friday 10AM-6PM. For inquiries, call 77 47 33 35 or email hdifarmenia@gmail.com.

HDIF is the first World Fair Trade Guaranteed organization in the former Soviet region. www.hdif.org

A fun walking trip with Tim from the Sasuntsi Davit train station to
HDIF's shop and office at Impact Hub's new location. Be Social With Us