Gunshot wounds to the head survivors need long-term rehabilitation and may or may not be able to get back to pre-injury functional status. This young man, Shiraz,30 years old, was thankful because he escaped death. 

He lives with his family, the mother doesn’t work, and his sister is an employee. Shiraz spent nine years serving in the military, and he was wounded twice, the first was in his head and the other in his shoulder.

He is no longer able to continue his work with his brother in the dynamo due to his health condition. Because of the high cost of living and the urgent need to increase his income, Shiraz decided to work in the culasse business, and to look for another job opportunity after his shift.

For him, working on a taxi is very suitable, and his income will improve. Among many other jobs, the taxi has the most convenient schedule which suits Shiraz perfectly, and at the same time, it has a good profit rate that will increase the family’s income.

George, 35 years old, lives with his family of 7 people. His parents do not work, and his sister works as a teacher in a kindergarten, and her three children live with them. He is the only provider for his big family.

George's father previously worked as a carpenter; manufacturing bird cages. He learned it from his father and worked with him from 2014 for more than five years.

George had the opportunity to go to Lebanon in 2019 and work in the field of sweets for two years, but due to the poor economic conditions, George’s salary was no longer sufficient, so he decided to return to Aleppo and work in his father’s workshop.

To be able to come back to his main work, he sold his car after it was hit by a shell in order to buy the necessary tools that he needed the most because the father’s equipment was too old and needed lots of repairs.

After years of sacrificing for the sake of his family, it is time for him to get the support he needs, which will improve George's working conditions and ensure him a better income.

My parents raised me with love and cared for me. Now it is my turn to care for them.

Eugenie, is 34 years old, a married women who works in nails care and as a makeup artist to support her parents financially specifically her father; during the war he got shrapnel in his foot and thus cannot work in addition, helping her husband who works as a seller of car parts with a low income.

She said: “When I grew up, I would like to be a nail artist because I am very creative and have an artistic touch.” And we can see her success by the number of clients she has.

She started working in this field more than 10 years ago in a salon for a period of 6 years, and because of the low salary, and in order to gain her independence she decided to work from her home. In order to increase her income, she learned how to make eyebrow tattoos because of their high demand. She started buying her own equipment over time, and set aside a room to receive her clients in.

Because of the frequent use of the tools that she has, they are now outdated and worn out.

Now, after getting the required equipment and tools through this initiative, Eugenie will have the chance to increase her income and enhance her family’s living situation. 

Mouhib 45 years old lives with his two children and his mother, as he had to move to live in his parents' house since the beginning of the war, after the destruction of the Sheikh Maqsoud area.

He started working in the profession of blacksmith when he was young. He learned this profession through one of the workshops near his house, after he gained some experience, he was able to rent a workshop for 10 years, later he bought his own workshop in the ​​Sheikh Maqsoud area and worked in it for three years until it became impossible to enter that area.

After losing his job, and to secure an income for the family, he learned the profession of repairing diesel generators of shops and houses with simple tools that he used to borrow from his friends, and he became well known.

In 2019, after the hostilities ended, Mouhib went to see his shop and discovered that it had been completely looted and needed restoration. Fortunately, the local church helped him in the restoration process, and he set out to work again with greater determination. Currently, thanks to the donors, Mouhib was able to return to blacksmith. He settled in his shop again, hoping to secure a better future for his children.

Joining the military can be a good experience for some people, but for others it can be a terrible mistake.

Antranic said: “My biggest fear was to lose my job, I knew it would happen after I had been there for 9 years and not being able to work during my vacations.”

He is 29 years old, recently discharged from the military, and lives with his parents. He had no idea what to do, nor was he able to manage between his job and the army. He decided to open a clothing store.

Antranic lives with his mother, who works in cooking, and his sister is a teacher at an institute, and, as for his brother, because of his disability, he cannot work. His father was shot in the war and died shortly after due to poisoning.

His previous experience working on a metal lathing machine for 7 years was not gone to waste; he has not forgotten anything, on the contrary, he has high motivation.

All he wants is to work again on metal lathing machines. And he was so grateful when he was accepted into Micro-Projects, now he is looking forward to securing a better income and getting back to his main career.

The skills and experience you gain from traveling abroad can give you life-long personal benefits as well as an advantage in the professional world.

Garabet,68-year-old man, father of two daughters, traveled to Canada in 1986 for more than 7 years where he worked in the same field on the brake lathing machine and then returned to Aleppo after gaining great experience.

He said: “travelling abroad is an amazing way to learn a lot of new things”. Before the war, he had his own rented factory with his partner in addition to owning all the necessary machines. Everything was going well before the war started, and he was the main provider for his family.

After losing all his machines, Garabet did not give up despite his 40 years of experience in his career. Day after day, the financial burdens were getting heavier and he did his best to guarantee his family a good life.

Now, Garabet is working in his workshop but still needs the lathing machine. This new machine will greatly develop his work and encourage him to accept bigger opportunities and, thus, increase his income.

“We had a silver crafting workshop that my father had to sell to secure my treatment expenses” Samuel said.

Since Samuel was young, he suffered a lot from his colon and, because of the high treatment costs, his parents spent all their savings to be able to treat their son.

Samuel,32 years old, is a married man who has a beautiful child, and he is the only provider for his family. They live in a borrowed apartment from his uncle.

“My father helped me to choose what I wanted to become in life. I preferred to learn about his career in 2012 and become a silversmith." After going to the military for two years and being discharged due to his disease, Samuel got married and left his father’s workshop to open his own place and make more income but he needs the tools and equipment which are very expensive these days, and he cannot buy them on his own.

With the aid of the Hope Center, he was able to get his own equipment and, due to this financing, the profit would increase 30% and he can be able to make his way through life with all hope and determination.

If you want to improve something in yourself, you should work hard for it

Alice learned how to sew from her mother when she was just a kid on her mother’s old and small sewing machine, it was the first step for Alice on the path of this career.

Now after many years she is a mother of two children, her son works on lathing machine with his father in a friend’s workshop and her daughter works as an accountant.

Alice said that “when you spend time with people who are working on similar things as you do, you’ll see that your self-growth happens faster than you think” so in order to develop her skills, she recently started working in a sewing workshop, in addition to submitting for many courses.

During the war her husband was working in Al-Arkoub industrial area, but he had to leave the shop in a hurry due to shelling and stayed without a work for 6 months. Alice's mother lived with them too. Because of the high cost of living and the insufficient salary to face these difficult conditions, Alice encouraged herself to search for a job in the field she loved.

With the new sewing machines Alice will achieve her dream of getting her independence by working from home, this support from the donors will make a positive impact on the family's life. 

Wahid a father of three children who had been working for 40 years in industrial electricity, winding motors, control panels, cooling and air conditioning for laboratories.

Before the war, He worked in a rented workshop in Al Sheikh Maqsoud area, fully equipped with tools that unfortunately, were stolen during the war. In 2013, a mortar shell fell next to their house and because of this incident the whole family moved to Al-Kimah Village with the help of their relatives to settle there.

He is currently working in Homs and Tartous. But he needs a new kit because his kit is old and the limited tools deprived Wahid of many good work opportunities.

This project is really important for him for the sake of establishing stability in the city of Aleppo and to be able to afford submitting his children in schools because it has become very expensive. Thanks to the micro project he returned to work again, hoping to gain new customers and increase his income.

Krikor is a 41 years old man from Aleppo. He never wanted to leave Syria, he thought the war would not take too long, but then his family decided to leave the country and stayed in Lebanon for ten years trying to travel to Canada.

They had a car furniture upholstery workshop in Al-Ramouseh, but when the war in Syria destroyed Krikor's workshop, he and his family decided to sell it because they did not have enough money to restore it after being so damaged.

Losing all their resources of income while searching for safety was the hardest part for this family, with the help of his relative who offered a workshop to work in for free, Krikor and his father were able to buy a small machine for their work, given that Krikor originally learned the business from his father 25 years ago.

He needs to buy two car upholstery machines, and he is also trying to get his old customers back. He applied to the Micro Projects Program, asking for a supporting hand, hoping that this new project will allow him to build a promising business. 

Michael’s father was kidnapped by the armed groups for 21 days, during which he was wounded in the eye and became blind.

This young man,37 years old, newly married, worked on sewing machines, from 2001, making chair covers for more than four years, then moved to Sheikh-Maksoud and worked with his brother until the war came around when all his sewing machines were stolen, there was nothing left for him, and he had no work for about a year.

He is currently working in a workshop, sewing curtains for cars and recently moved to a rented house and now he has some customers to begin his own project.

Unfortunately, the unstable prices were a real obstacle in his way. He is still striving to work and secure his own expenses so that he doesn’t need anyone’s help.

Michael is very enthusiastic and self-confident, he wants independence and better income. Now he has a well-equipped workshop, he’s ready to use his experience and passion to maintain a thriving business. 

At the age of 17 Elie Hannoun decided to leave school and start working at a hairdressing salon in his hometown Saydnaya to support his family and handle his own expenses.

soon he became very skilled and well-known in the town but he couldn't expand his work because after the war outbreak, the devastating impact spread to Saydnaya region, and all its residents became living under danger and threat, which led to the cessation of work in most professions, including Elie’s work, as he was forced to move with his parents to live in Damascus.

unfortunately, their displacement synchronized with the deterioration of his father's health as he was diagnosed with cancer which forced Elie to stop working and support his father throughout the treatment period, which lasted for four painful and harsh years and ended with his father's death in 2014.

Elie and his mother remained alone living in a small and poor flat in Jaramana and he became the breadwinner of the house, so he started working at a hairdressing salon in Jaramana to cope with the difficult circumstances but with the Corona pandemic and the quarantine started which affected his work and forced him to stay jobless for a period until he was able to continue working trying as much as possible to provide the simplest requirements of life and even his mother started looking for a job to help he son.

Elie was seeking to have his own salon, through which he could be independent and obtain a stable income matching the high cost of living.

Therefore, as soon as his friends told him about the Micro-projects program in Damascus, he immediately applied for the hairdressing salon project in Jaramana, and today, after his project was approved, Elie regained his energy and enthusiasm for work and he is opening his salon from the early morning with all faith that this opportunity he got will change his life for the better and help him secure a decent life for him and his mother.

Raymon Al-Badawi, 30 years old, is married to Yara Haddad, and they have adorable twins, George and Charbel who were born in 2021.

Raymon, his family, and his old parents live in a small rented flat on Al-Qurayyat Street, Jaramana city. his father works as a tailor and his mother is retired so basically Raymon is also the responsible for their expenses.

At the beginning of his twenties, he started working at an aluminum workshop and soon after he was able to learn the profession and became very skilled in it, he wanted to empower himself more so he could have his own workshop in the future because he found that this profession provides stable and sustainable income that will secure his livelihood.

However, during the years of war, life became very difficult and despite all the hard work he was putting in, he was only earning 20% of the workshops income, while the rest was going to the workshop owner which made his wages barely enough to cover the daily food and he started to suffer from financial distress and became unable to meet the household demands.

Raymon was certain that if had the chance to have his own workshop, things will get better especially since he got the experience, acquaintances, and the demanded skills to run the project.

With great faith, Raymon applied at the Micro-project and his request was approved as he was funded with all the machines, tools, and equipment to start his own workshop which he considered the lifetime chance that will give him a strong push to be independent, have a better income and help to secure his family's future.

Aleen Salhani, 31 years old, lives with her parents and sister in a modest house in the city of Jaramana, Damascus countryside. She graduated from the Agricultural Technical Institute and started working as a seamstress assistant in a workshop, then she worked several jobs, trying as much as possible to earn enough money to afford the house demands because her parents suffered from several health problems and were unable to work which made Aleen and her sister responsible for the household expenses. 

This responsibility became heavier during the difficult years of war, especially after a mortar shell destroyed their car and ruined a part of their house. Even though the family survived but they had to pay a lot of money to repair the house which overwhelmed Aleen with more obligations. 

Aleen has always had a passion and talent for decorations and handicrafts, so she started working with her relatives and friends and tried to grow her talent into a project with the deterioration of the financial conditions in the past years, because her job was no longer providing her with sufficient income to meet the house needs, and wanted to use her talent in handcrafts to start her own project.

Every success in life starts with a small step, and Aleen took that step when she applied to the Micro projects program. Now, after being funded with all the materials and tools, she was able to have her own handicrafts shop, which made her full of determination and hope to enhance her work so she could improve her living conditions.

Jad Aghaby is 27, he lives with his mother and sister in Jaramana, his father left the family a long time ago and didn't take any responsibility for taking care of his children.

Since his childhood, Jad and his two sisters Joel and Jessica had to be self-dependent and work to afford their expenses.

He graduated from the Accounting Department and started working but unfortunately, in 2011 he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent two years of intensive treatment and had two surgeries.

In 2013, Jad and his sister Jessica decided to travel to Lebanon and work there because of the terrible condition of the country, but a year after, his sister was also diagnosed of having Leukemia and had to return to Syria to take treatment but the disease was in a late stage and she passed away in 2014.

The loss of Jessica was devastating.. and it took them a long time to get back to their normal life, especially for Jad, who suffered from the same disease and always felt death surrounding him.

However, he stayed in Lebanon until 2018 then he returned to Syria and started to work as an accountant in a clothing store until 2021 when he quit from work because of the low salary that didn't match the increasing costs of living.

Jad decided to try a different job so he worked with his friend at a detergent store to gain experience and then applied to the Micro-project program for his own detergent shop because he thinks it is a lasting career as the materials are required and always consumed.

supporting Jad with the detergent shop didn't just provide him with a good and sustainable income, but also helped in improving his psychological condition to overcome the tragedies he went through and have a positive outlook for the future

For more than fifty years, Nabil Al-Nasser lived in Al-Swaida city, got married there, had children, established a successful trading business, and had a stable home. He was about to reach his retirement age thinking that he had secured his family's future and would retire peacefully, but by the year 2010, his life had changed completely.

In the beginning, he lost all the goods of his shop due to a snowstorm that hit Al-Swaida city, which led to the collapse of the warehouse and damage to all the goods. His loss was great, and when he tried to start over, the war began in Syria, and soon its devastating effect reached the city of Al-Swaida, so he had no choice but to leave everything behind and travel to Lebanon.

Along with his family, Nabil took shelter at the Capuchins' monastery where he worked as a driver. He stayed in Lebanon until 2020 when the security and economic situation deteriorated there and his income became a lot less than the high costs of living so he decided to return with his family to Damascus, hoping to have a better life there. Unfortunately, their return coincided with Corona pandemic, and he, his wife, and his granddaughter were infected with the virus. unfortunately, his wife remained in intensive care for more than 6 months, which ended with her death in the year 2021, and it was a great shock to him and his children

Nabil’s psychological state was greatly affected by his wife's death, especially since his two daughters traveled abroad, and he remained alone with his son in the house. He decided to work and help his son with his living obligations so he started to work in a taxi but his income wasn't enough to cover the high taxi rent.

After being funded by the Taxi project, Nabil feels that he has regained his dignity and energy to work as he has become independent and capable to handle the house expenses and secure his future. 

Rima Albitar is 35 years old, married to Hesny Kasouha and they have three adorable daughters Mira born in 2010, Rita born in 2014 and Lana born in 2016.

She graduated from the agriculture institute and was living in peace and security with her husband in Alqseir village which is located on the Lebanese-Syrian borders that’s why after the start of the Syrian war, the village was rapidly attacked by the armed groups who terrified the citizens by spreading violence and fear all over which forced most of them to flee out to save their lives.

in 2011, Rima, her husband, and her newborn baby Mira were among those who lost everything they had in the village and were displaced to Kashkoul area in Damascus.

unfortunately, due to the security incidents in the country, her brother-in-law was missing and they knew nothing about his whereabouts this affected her husband’s health and he started to suffer from Multiple sclerosis which affected the family’s situation as he became unable to work as before in addition the high treatment costs that he wasn’t able to afford in many times.

Rima couldn’t handle seeing her daughters deprived of their basic living needs and decided to work and support her husband so she started working at an undergarment shop for more than 12 hours a day trying her best to afford the livelihood expenses, yet her salary wasn’t enough to meet the high costs of living especially due to the increasing prices and the deteriorated economic situation.

Rima needed to start her project to improve her life and she was accepted at the Micro-project program to be funded with the necessary goods and equipment to start her undergarment shop with all hope that this project will provide her with a decent income and help with improving her conditions.

Fadi Al-Khoury 62, is married to Amal Rashid and has five children: Lara, Layal, Lina, Lorraine, and Elias.

He lives with his family in a rented old flat on Al-Duwailah street, in poor living conditions. 

For more than 33 years of his life, Fadi worked as an employee at a governmental institution until his retirement in 2018, after that, he started to work as a taxi driver trying his best to afford his family's livelihood, especially since his son and daughter are still at school and his wife suffers from slipped vertebrae, and needed to undergo surgery which they couldn't afford.

Moreover, his daughter Layal got divorced and moved back to live with them while being pregnant and in a bad health situation. All of that overloaded Fadi with extra responsibilities toward his family and no matter how hard he worked he was unable to meet the living demands.

his daughter Lara started to learn the nail beauty profession to work and help her father with the house expenses, yet, the living circumstances were getting worse year after year and Fadi needed to have a sustainable source of income to improve his conditions.

through the help of Micro-projects Fadi was funded with the taxi project in the hope that it will form a positive transition in his life to help him enhance his living and preserve his dignity.

"When you do anything for the sake of your family, you do it with love, because family is the most valuable thing that one can have in life"

That is what George Alyoussef said.

he is a 30-year single man who lives with his mother and two sisters in his uncle's house at Altabbaleh.

after he finished the baccalaureate, he started working to support his family because they were in bad financial condition. In 2015, he volunteered at the Two Sacred Hearts center and began his journey in the humanitarian field, the work that became his passion and gave him all his effort and time, but unfortunately, life chose another path for him to take, because in 2017 his father was diagnosed with brain cancer and began his long and painful treatment which forced George to leave his job many times to be beside his father, and in the end, he had to quit and support his family during that difficult period, especially since he was the only man in the house and his two sisters and mother were taking their strength from him.

After his father died in 2018, George found himself broke because during that period he has spent all of his savings and began struggling to secure daily sustenance and means of livelihood for his family, especially since his mother was suffering from osteoporosis and gastritis, and his sister was suffering from irregular blood sugar and they both needs medicine on daily basis.

George was forced to do any work that would provide him with a better income, so he worked as a Suzuki driver until 2020 when the car's owner sold the car to travel abroad so he started to work at a café trying as much as possible to afford the living expenses.

However, his condition was deteriorating and his income did not cover the increasing costs of living demands and medication, and he was in dire need of a project that would provide him with a good and stable income to secure his obligations.

Through the Micro-Project Program, George got his opportunity, which he was seeking, and was funded by the mini-van project that will use to deliver goods, products, school students, and children to churches.

All we hope is that this project will constitute a turning point in his life and help him improve his living conditions and secure a greater income that allows him and his family to live in dignity.

Imad Mallouh and his sons are among the survivors who experienced all the horrors of war and reached the death point but God's great mercy saved them.

He is 52 years old, married to Nahla Ghumaid, and has two sons and a daughter, he used to live with his family in Al-Swaida countryside and he was working as a policeman there.

After the start of the war, he faced many threats and dangers that ended in his kidnapping with his two sons by the armed gangs in 2013, as they suffered from humiliation and violence until his family paid a huge ransom of money to set them free.

indeed, imad and his sons were released by a miracle of God and he decided after that to flee out Al-Swaida to the countryside of Damascus where he rented a small modest flat and lived there with his family.

He was transferred to work at Al-Mleiha police station which was considered a dangerous place as he and his friends were also attacked by the armed groups and were hostages for a period until they managed to escape.

Imad retired in 2019 but his financial conditions were very bad so he decided to start working as a taxi driver trying his best to afford his family's living as his son Fadi is training to be a lawyer, his daughter Lousiana is at the fourth year at university and his youngest son Roni is still at the tenth grade.

unfortunately, his income didn't meet the increasing living demands and he needed to have his own taxi to increase his income because he was giving two-thirds of it to the taxi owner.

With the help of the Hope Center, Imad was able get a taxi to work on as he believes is suitable for his age, it will make a good daily return to support his family and improve his situation.

George Bergheil is a very talented 44-year-old man, he is married to Janet Haddad, and they have two beautiful daughters, Chanel, born in 2006, and Christelle, born in 2012.

George is from the village of Maaloula in the countryside of Damascus. When he was twenty years old, he started practicing the profession of mosaic, seashell inlays, and wood carving. He soon proved a great talent in this field and became the passion that took him all his time and effort.

After his marriage, he tried to work independently, so he bought the machines and tools that will enable him to have his own workshop in Maaloula, and his work became very desirable because of the artistic touch that he added to the pieces.

he worked hard dreaming to establish his own design signature, unaware that these dreams would fade away and that his life would turn upside down after 2011.

soon after the war outbreak, the armed groups reached the village of Maaloula and began terrorizing the citizens, practicing the most horrific acts of violence, destruction, and killing which forced most of its citizens to flee to save their souls including George and his family who left everything behind to preserve their lives without being able to take any of their possessions or work machines, which unfortunately were completely stolen, in addition to destroying their house and looting the furniture.

George lost everything he worked for and had to start over in a new place under very harsh conditions and returned to be a worker at an engraving and mosaic workshop trying his best to cope with the high costs of living, and his wife also started working and helping him, trying as much as possible to secure the life requirements for their two daughters.

with the help of the Hope Center, George gained the chance he was dreaming about all his life as he was funded with all the machines, equipment, and materials to start his workshop where he will have the space to work, create, and secure a decent living for his family.

For more than twenty years, Samer worked as a tiler for long hours to secure his family the best possible living.

Samer is 45 years old, married to Eivon Makhoul and they have two kids.

Samer and his family couldn’t afford to rent their own flat so they lived in a small room in his parent’s house in the Aldwallaa neighborhood. He was also responsible for taking care of his old parents and securing their expenses which overwhelmed him with high living costs.

He didn’t mind doubling his efforts for his family's sake and even in wartime, under the shelling and explosions, he kept his faith in God and his will and kept struggling to survive and live in dignity.

However, at the beginning of 2022, all his endeavors vanished in a blink of an eye when the iron cutting machine broke and the grinding wheel hit his left arm which led to the rupture of the tendons of his hand and caused severe injury to his nerves and bones.

After that incident, Samer went through long sessions of treatment and became unable to continue his previous work; for the following nine months, he was with no income, living with the help of his relatives and the church’s support. 

His psychological situation was affected badly since he never used to need anyone’s help and used to work and feed his family from his efforts.

Samer started to deliver vegetables and other products to shops and although his income was very low, he insisted to work to support his family.

he applied for the pickup truck project seeking work that suits his health condition and at the same time secures him a sustainable source of income to improve his livelihood situation.

Micheline Halal, 44 years old, is married to Fadi Francis, and they have two sons and a daughter.

Micheline and her family are from a small village called Maaloula in the countryside of Damascus where they used to live and work in their grocery store. Her husband worked as a mural artist, and they were living in stability and safety until the fierce war began and its impact reached the village of Maaloula, which forced the family to close the grocery store, leave their home, and flee out.

Micheline and her children moved to live in her sister's house in Damascus, and her husband traveled to Lebanon to work and secure an income for his family hoping that the war would end quickly so that they could return to their hometown. Two years later, Micheline decided to rent a house in Jaramana and move to live there with her family, especially after she knew that her house in Maaloula was completely damaged and all the furniture was stolen.

During that period, her husband returned from Lebanon, and the whole family participated to secure the living costs, even though their children were working part-time jobs after school to help with the household expenses but their conditions were still deteriorating.

With the help of Hope center, Micheline had the chance to have a mini-market with all the needed equipment and goods, and she is now able to work and support her family to improve their situation and have a decent life.