Hope for the future

I was born and lived my entire life in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), a place that has been my home through every stage of life, from childhood to marriage. But in 2020, everything changed in an instant. The life I once knew felt like a miracle, and suddenly, the reality became a constant pain that seemed impossible to escape. During the war, I lost the most important person in my life—my husband.

During that devastating war, I was working as a nurse, not just doing my job but fulfilling a deep sense of duty. My husband was at the front, and I knew he needed medicine. I hoped I could help him, but the war kept us apart. Just days later, I received the unbearable news that he had passed away.

Yet, even in that moment of sorrow, I remember the face of a young boy I could help. At least I saved one life. Amid loss, I find peace in that simple fact—it makes my heart feel a little lighter to know I could make a difference for someone else.

Anyway, it’s so hard to describe all the emotions we felt during the war. My husband died at the front, and my son was there too.

There were days when I didn’t hear anything from him, and the uncertainty was unbearable—it ate away at my peace. But then, one day, I finally heard from my son. At that moment, I felt a weight lift from my heart.

Though I had lost my husband, hearing from my son was like a ray of hope breaking through the darkness. It reminded me that even in the most challenging times, there is always something to hold onto, a reason to keep going. That connection, that hope, is what kept me strong.

I can still vividly remember the moment we left Artsakh. Before we left our apartment, my children wanted to break and shatter everything—furniture, home appliances, my treasured collection of dishes—so that nothing would be left for the Azerbaijanis. But I wouldn’t let them. I left my beautiful home with grace, holding onto the hope that one day, I would return to see it, touch it, and live in it again.

We took a set of teacups from our home as a memory, a souvenir, and an act of resilience. Every time we have guests, we serve tea in these cups and share the story of our beautiful country, Artsakh, and the tale of a humble, hardworking people who, after constantly losing everything, always rise again and never give up.

After everything we’ve been through, we find ourselves in Mrgavan, in the Ararat region.

The journey hasn’t been easy from the beginning, but I am incredibly grateful to those who have supported us. One of the most significant sources of help has been the Armenian Fund for Sustainable Development. With their guidance, I found a new path forward—poultry farming. Just a few days ago, I began selling eggs, and although I haven’t yet ventured into selling chicken meat, I already have customers.

This success, no matter how small, fills me with hope for the future. The most beautiful part is knowing that I can now run my own business and, in turn, be a beacon of hope and strength for my children.

It’s this same strength and resilience that my children inspire in me every day. My daughter is an artist and will soon be working at the local cultural center. I’m so proud of her. After witnessing so much suffering and hardship, she has chosen to create beauty. She believes that the most extraordinary form of revenge is not through violence but through the power of creation, teaching children that beauty can heal and empower.

I genuinely believe that we, the Artsakh Armenians, have witnessed so many tragedies that all we long for now is peace—a lasting peace that we can preserve. We don’t want anyone to endure what we have suffered for decades.

I remember, before our deportation, during the Artsakh blockade, we literally had nothing—no food, no water, no light, no gas. But despite all of this, we gathered together with our neighbors, sharing whatever little we had to cook a piece of bread and make sure our children didn’t starve to death.

This was the essence of social cohesion we experienced in Artsakh. We came to understand the healing, almost magical power of unity.

This unity, this collective strength, helped us mov forward, giving us hope for the future, even when everything else seemed lost.

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If you want to support Ninel, her children, or other beneficiaries of the Women Empowerment Program, you can directly donate on our website or contact us to learn how you can help empower refugee women and their families.

The “Refugee Women Empowerment in Armenia 2024-2025” project is supported by the Australian Government and implemented by the Armenian Fund for Sustainable Development (www.af4sd.org ).

The Arev Society (www.arevsociety.org) provides management support to the “Vulnerable Women Empowerment in Armenia “program.