Gamal is a mother of two, who has a long experience in the sewing field. She had entered this work long before she was married. First, she started doing tailoring for customers but when her own sewing machine was worn out and no longer in a working condition, she stopped for a while. However, her husband’s deteriorating health, which coincided with the start of the war forced her to look for jobs in sewing workshops in order to make a decent living and support her family specially that her children were still in school and her husband couldn’t work properly after his heart surgery (he even started a cigarette selling stall near their house). 

The fund came in a crucial timing for Gamal, since the workshop she lately worked in had unfortunately closed couple of months ago due to the economic crisis and Gamal had become unemployed. The good news of her project’s approval revived the hope in Gamal’s heart, since it gave her the opportunity to purchase two sewing machines and create her own little workspace at home and be an independent woman who can support her family at the same time. 

From an early age, George and his brother Fadi had to face the hardships of life instead of having a normal childhood, first they were separated from their parents at the age of five, then, life became even harder. 

The brothers who were living with their aunt and uncle, were shocked when they both were called to serve in the army at the same time. During his service, George was injured; a sniper's shot hit him just under his heart, and he went through four surgeries to remove the shrapnel. In 2019, the five years of agony ended when George was discharged unlike his brother who is still serving till this day.

However, with his multiple injuries George could not go back to his original profession which was in car mechanics, instead he was hired in a medical company with a very modest salary. 

George, was very enthusiastic when he knew that his Taxi project got accepted. For the first time he became self-employed and independent, a young man full of hope and determination to move on in life and build a better future.

After the death of their father, Fadi and his brother George lived with their mother and became responsible of the household. 

Although the war years were not easy on Fadi, but he considers himself lucky that during those difficult times he and his loved ones stayed safe and he managed to keep his job and make a decent living to survive. 

Young Fadi has a long experience working in the embroidery field; he has been in this domain since 2001, when he was a teenager and ever since then he has been working (in his employer’s workshop) with many producers, building a good reputation and increasing his customers in this field.

Fadi had to make a bold decision, when his boss informed him that he was going to sell the workshop and leave the country. Fadi didn’t want to waste his long experience in this field, so he decided to purchase an embroidery machine and open his own workshop. Of course, this step was not possible without the funding Fadi got which allowed him to buy a computerized embroidery machine and fully equip his workspace and resume his career with great hope of a successful business in the future. 

Maher’s life was turned upside down when he and his younger brother were both called to serve in the army’s mandatory service in 2018. When the two brothers were away on fire lines, their mother Soaad could not bear the thoughts that her sons are in danger everyday, the fear for their lives and the difficulties of living alone as her husband passed away since the boys were small children, all this affected her health and caused her a heart attack. she survived the incident to be reunited with her son Maher when he got discharged after two years of service. 

When he came home, he immediately looked for a job, and he found one in a local bakery with a very modest salary. Maher had no choice but to accept in order to make a living. 

Today Maher takes care of his mother and support her financially with the limited resources he has. 

The Taxi car was a turning point for Maher, since it will make him more independent and able to make a better income. This way he and his mom can live more comfortable and financially secure life. 

Although young George lives a quiet life with his mother in their family house in Al-Midan, but the long years of war were anything but quiet; their neighborhood had suffered from the shelling for many years and George and his mom were alone in those hard times, since his father had passed away when he was a kid and his older sisters are married abroad. Going through war and being responsible for his mother, made George mature early in life. 

Despite the fact that George did not give up on his studies, he has always been interested in crafts, since he was young, he worked in a gold crafting workshop and discovered his skills. Slowly this Summer job became a career field which George got involved in. During his ten years of working in this field, George worked on his skills and started building his own name in the market, hoping that one day he can become independent and start his own silver crafting workshop.

His dream came true when he got the funds from the Micro Project that allowed him to purchase all the tools and equipment to establish his first independent workshop. 

Hrant, his wife Rita and their six-years-old daughter Nathalia are one of many young families who had to tackle on hardships of war from their early start. Soon after getting married Hrant and his wife escaped Aleppo city seeking safety in Mashta Al-Helou in Homs’ countryside and remained there for more than four years. It was during that time their house in Aleppo was hit by a shell, luckily they were out of the city when the incident happened.

Hrant wanted to go back to his original career as a car tuning technician, but due to the economic difficulties he was lacking the needed equipment to be independent with his work. He now had the chance to start over his business with this support after moving back with his family to Aleppo, full of hope that the future will bring him prosperity and a better life.

Elias’s memories of war may be more tragic than the rest of Syrian families because of all the things the family of four had to go through from the falling shells, to the fear and horror to the tragic drowning of Elias’s father in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to escape war back in 2014.

The death of the father put all the responsibilities on Elias and his sister shoulder. They were both young students. The siblings were forced to drop out of collage for two and half years in order to work and provide for their family. sometimes they even had to take turns where one of them would work and the other would go back to university and then after a period of time they switch again so that the other would be able to study.

For Elias, choosing a taxi driver career had many advantages; it was the profession of his father, it is something he enjoyed doing for two years (as he was a preschool bus driver) and it has flexible work hours that will allow him to continue and obtain his BA in Chemistry. 

Antoine’s family went through horrendous events during the war. The family used to live in an extremely dangerous neighborhood and Antoine used to work in Al-Sheikh Maksoud as a blacksmith. One of the first losses was Antoine’s livelihood income. Then in 2014 Antoine’s son was kidnapped, it was a devastating and frightening experience that forced Antoine to sell his house just to pay the ransom money. 

Luckily the young man was released soon after, but Antoine was left unemployed and homeless. The church helped Antoine when they heard his story, they gave him a place to live and offered him a driver job at the church. Since then, Antoine was trying to improve his income, as his modest salary couldn’t support him, his wife and his 90-years-old mother who lives with them.

The taxi Antoine got had a great impact on his life, it upgraded his lifestyle and made him feel more secure and content.

George who is originally from Aleppo, has been living in Al-Raqqa for years. When the war started and the city became under the armed groups control, George lost everything; his car mechanics’ workshop, house and car were all gone with a blink of an eye. George was trapped in AL-Raqqa for a while, and it was an unforgettable experience, fortunately he was eventually able to flee and come back to his home town Aleppo where his family live.

When George arrived to Aleppo, he had nothing to start with, the war prevented him from exploring his options. When he was offered a guarding job at Franciscan Fathers' convent, he was more than happy to take it. His expertise in the mechanics made him very helpful around the convent, fixing the generator and doing maintenance works here and there. The only downside is that the income is not enough for George and his family specially with the increasing economic difficulties. 

George found the taxi to be the solution for his case, he can manage his guarding duties at night and work on his taxi all day long, specially that the driving career is something that George had once practiced many years ago (2005-2013). 

Dalal is a single lady who lives with her older sister Bahija. Dalal entered the tailoring field back in 1984 when she started working in a sewing workshop. Days passed by and Dalal improved her skills and became a supervisor of over than 30 workers. Sadly, during the first couple of years of war the workshop closed as it was located in an area under the fire and shells, she lost her job and the only source of income. However, Dalal could not stay without a job, that’s why she managed to borrow an old, manual sewing machine from her relative and became self-employed working from her home.

Working from home has its pros and cons, one of the pros is that it allows Dalal to look after her sister and at the same time make a living, but the cons were that she doesn't have the needed equipment to complete the pieces that she is requested from the customers. being a very social person, Dalal had a very big number of acquaintances whom trust her to make many pieces for them for all occaisons, even costumes for theatre plays and engagement gowns.

With the funds Dalal was able to overcome all the challenges, by purchasing a more modern sewing and stitching machines, scissors and a table. Now the quality of her work will satisfy all her clients and reflects her excellent skills. 

When Kamil’s father passed away, he left a huge responsibility on his young son’s shoulders which is to take care of his mother and sister in all aspects of life, specially financially. After his sister got married, Kamil became the sole provider in the house. In order to make a living he started working as a sales person for a food company in addition to many side hustles to be able to pay the rent, electricity and their everyday needs. In fact, the hard circumstances created by war, forced Kamil and his mother to constantly move from one rented house to another, looking for more affordable options.

Now Kamil has the chance to achieve his long-pursued dream, By having his own a pick-up truck. It is very big step for this self-made salesman, whom for a long time has been distributing his products by foot. Having his own vehicle increases Kamil’s productivity and enhances his services which will definitely prosper his business and reflect on his income. 

Kamil is enthusiastic about his future, he has a plan to start his own family and make a successful career to support the family and become an independent individual.