George Dayekh is a 51-years-old owner of a metal lathing workshop, since this father of two (Gabriel and Naya) was the sole provider for his family, he had a heavy burden to carry on his shoulders. The family lives in Al-Serian, a neighborhood that was considered dangerous in Aleppo city, exposed to all kinds of shell attacks. But George had other challenges besides the lack of safety. Soon after the war started, George discovered a lump in his back, he was worried, further diagnostics were even more worrying. When his back condition started affecting his job, George had no choice but to sell his workshop tools and equipment, and put his workplace in Al-Midan on rent so he can live-off the money and head to Damascus for the treatment process. 

George had to go through a risky tumor eradication procedure to remove the tumor located near the spinal cord. Although the surgery was successful, but it took George many years to regain his strength and health and be able to work again. The problem is that George has sold all his machines and equipment to pay for his surgery and medical costs.

Now in the midst of this economic crisis, he is not able to repurchase even a part of the machinery needed after their prices were tripled. It is why George is seeking help to re-open his workshop, his workshop is empty now, the only thing remaining is to find the financial support to purchase the machinery for the workshop and George can resume his long-postponed career.

Ani Kelejian is an independent, hardworking woman who used to work for long hours in a sewing workshop to earn an income and have a decent life after her parents passed away when she was still young. Unfortunately, by getting older the exhausting working hours were starting to be more difficult, so she started to work in a sewing workshop that makes uniforms. 

Ani takes care of her sister khanem who was also a seamstress, but since she had health problems, she quit her job because it got very tiring. Her brother George also became unemployed when his boss closed his workshop and decided to leave the country, which makes Ani the only one working and providing for the three of them.

In 2012, Ani, her sister and brother were displaced from their home in Al-Midan for four years; since the area there was extremely dangerous, Khanem became very depressed and suffered from anxiety; she wanted to get back to their home, after a while they moved back but the livelihood costs put a heavy burden on the family.

This support will make a big difference in Ani’s life, purchasing the sewing machines will also improve the work and quality of the pieces she makes. 

War had numerous devastating and horrendous effects on Syrians during its nearly ten years, but for Sheraz, there was no greater loss than losing his brother who was kidnapped in Kasab in the beginning of the war, only to discover his death three months later. The mother couldn’t bare the tragic news, she suffered from a stroke and the poor lady broke down after losing her son. Sheraz’s responsibilities became heavier since he became the sole provider not only for his family of four, but also for his mother and his brother’s family (his wife and two daughters). But what added to Sheraz’s suffering is that when his workshop of lathing became out of reach due to the area being under conflict, all his machines and equipment were stolen. In 2016, when he saw his workshop again, he couldn’t resume his work nor could he replace his stolen machinery with new ones because of the high costs.

Today, Sheraz with your help will be able to revive his old business in lathing, and take a better care of his family and his brothers’ family.   

Aleppo being the largest industrial city in Syria, has witnessed grave economic damage during the long years of war, whereas all Syrian cities and civilians everywhere were feeling insecure in their own homes, Aleppians like Mounir and his brother had another thing to worry about; losing their livelihood source of income.

Mounir Bardakji is a 41-years-old single man, living with his brother George and their sister Dalia who are almost at the same age, in their family house in Seryan area. The brothers shared more than just their residence, but their career also was paired since their early youth years. 

When war reached Aleppo city, Mounir’s business was thriving, they had a big workshop in an industrial area called Al-Arkoub. Their workshop was specialized in metal lathing, this kind of work needs physical strength, skills and much experience which Mounir has plenty of as he has been in the industry since 1997.

The 9 years of war were full of difficult challenges; in 2012, the brothers lost their workshop to the armed groups, the majority of the tools and supplies were stolen. They were left with nothing and had to start over, rented a place in Sulaymaniyah and started working with the resources available, just to be able to survive. In 2016, when the armed groups retreated, Mounir and George were finally able to check the workshop and see what machinery were still in there. Luckily, two machines were saved from robbery, that was good enough for them to think of restarting their career for the second time.

Today, Mounir and his brother George want to run a successful business, defying all the economic hardships by establishing the workshop in Al-Arkoub, they have two employees ready to work with them, however, the kind of machinery they have now is not sufficient, the orders they get need bigger and more updated machines to be able to produce the ordered pieces.

They need support to purchase the machines, it will improve their business and make them compete strongly in the local market.  

From an early age, George made the decision which paved his career path to enter the industrial field. He learnt all about metal lathing and slowly opened his own workshop, taking advantage of having his uncle place to work in Sheikh Maksoud area. But the vicious war changed everything, and suddenly the stability and prosperity of his business was gone as the workshop was confiscated by armed groups and all equipment were stolen. 

Many years passed by before George was able to reopen in Al- Midan, after overcoming several difficulties especially the financial ones. The lathing machine he purchased was second-hand use and had some problems, but on the other hand the price was reasonable, so George made that compromise hoping that later he will be able to replace that machine with a better enhanced one. It is also worth mentioning that George is single and lives with his two older sisters Afaf and Georgette; whom due to their age aren’t able to work and that makes him responsible of taking care of the family’s financials. With this support George will purchase a new machine that will allow him to increase the production and make good quality work.

When he went away to serve his country and joined the military service, Raffi did not know that his life will change forever and that it will take him more than six years to be back to his hometown and family.

In 2010, Raffi was at his assigned position in Damascus, at first everything was going smoothly and the two-year mission was about to end when the war started, making the long-waited end of duty nearly impossible. Soon enough in 2012, Aleppo became surrounded by armed groups and even under siege for almost three years. Raffi wasn’t able to visit his family at that period; it was devastating specially that the news of Aleppo going through difficulties and struggling under the bombs and mortar shells were spreading fast and he was worried about his loved ones back there. 

Meanwhile, his family were relatively well as their particular neighborhood wasn’t in a very dangerous area, however, they had their own struggles when they suffered from losing Raffi’s father after a heart attack. It broke Raffi’s heart while he was far apart from them, his life at that point wasn’t easy either. The whole situation was fragile and about to break at any point. The general instability, an ambushed car bombing incident, and the elongated period of his service lead to a break down. Raffi was discharged; six rough years were behind him and a long journey of healing ahead. 

Raffi was in need of a stable job and a good source of income, he started working in a company that specializes in designing and producing a variety of paper boxes and packaging. He learnt a lot and learnt it quickly, his ambitions were starting to grow and the monthly salary was very little.

Today Raffi wants to be more independent and opts to start to have his independent source of income, having a taxi and working on it will get him what he looks for regarding the good stable income and relatively comfortable lifestyle. Raffi lost a lot of time that he could use in building a career or in earning the financial ability to start one, he wishes that the taxi will actually help him catch up and compensate for the time lost.

The importance of having financial stability increased after Jimmy Drekha (30-years-old) got married on October 2019, he has his own family now and is responsible of providing for it.

Due to the ongoing war situation Jimmy and his family went through a lot, their residence was in Al-Suleymanieh an area where shells and missiles became a part of the daily life of the neighborhood’s residents. More than once the falling death shells caused damage to the doors and windows of their house, but the irreparable loss was the death of his father by a mortar shell that hit the street when the old man was about to go out of the building’s door. The family are still in grief and they are deeply hurting from this sudden tragedy. 

However, life always goes on and brings all kind of hardships with it, especially with the arising economic crisis related to the war in Syria. Thus, Jimmy shifted between many jobs. In 2010, he was working in masonry construction; a field that has stopped eventually with the progress of war. Then he found a part-time job in the church’s cemetery and has been working there since 2016. But, a job like this will never give Jimmy the opportunity to improve his life or even to think about having children, the modest salary of his work and his wife’s (who recently started working in Al-Woroud school) is barely enough for them to survive. 

The financial stability and being able to live a decent life is what made Jimmy consider applying for a taxi, after all, it is a job that is easy to learn and doesn’t require previous experience but it can give him the flexibility to keep his part-time job, Jimmy Drekha wants the opportunity to start his own project of having a taxi to be financially independent and obtain a new livelihood for him and his family.

Michael Tobji has made a rare career choice when he decided to shift from computers’ maintenance to the maintenance of electric dentistry chairs, and now he is about to make another radical change in his career path with his recent project idea.

Since 1985, the father of two started in the electric devices’ maintenance field, then in 2012 he went towards computer maintenance as a part time job, but eventually he went back to the electric dentistry chairs’ maintenance. Unfortunately, this field he was specialized in, requires electricity the thing that the whole city of Aleppo was deprived from for so long during the war years. 

The lack of electricity and safety in the city combined with the tempting idea of immigration pushed the majority of Michael’s dentist clients to leave the country. But despite the slow business, Michael stayed positive and was always thankful to God for protecting him, his wife Catherine and his two children Joseph and Rein. Their house was only exposed to some minor damages. And although his business was affected, but it has never stopped completely, in addition, his son Joseph was contributing in the livelihood income; since he is a French literature graduate working as a teacher in several local schools. 

Because of the economic crisis, Michael’s income became insufficient, it was not enough to cover the basic needs of the family, meanwhile the business was deteriorating daily. This was the main reason that led Michael to the idea of working as a taxi driver, he needed a second income that would allow him to keep his main job, specially that his work wasn’t stable and he needed constant transportation expenses between the dental clinics. 

Among many other jobs, the taxi has the most convenient schedule which suits Michael perfectly, and at the same time it has a good profit rate that will increase the family’s income.

Starting a family in a war-stricken country can be an extremely hard mission without the support and the help of parents and friends. Actually, Yorgi went through that struggle when he decided to start his own family in late 2016. Although the city of Aleppo was in a truce phase, but that did not mean that everything was going to be okay! His fiancée’s house in Al-jabrieh was hit with missiles and Yorgi himself was struggling to find a place to live in with Samira, his soon to be bride. Luckily for them, Yorgi was offered a place to stay in for free, and the now 33-years-old man was able to tie the knot with his bride, and the couple were blessed with two sons, Lee-Andrew (3 years old) and Joshua (1 year old). 

Business-wise, Yorgi was a craftsman in Aluminum manufacturing since an early age, but his workshop that he had established before the war was in Hreitan rural area near Aleppo. Hreitan was a very promising landscape which was in construction and develop at that time. Carpentry and Aluminum workshops were very busy there with the good work flow. But with the start of war, armed groups targeted that area and took over the whole place, Yorgi and his fellow workshops’ owners escaped their workplaces on a hurry and thus, losing all their assets there. 

Yorgi who is hardworking and resilient, did not lose hope nor determination; he started searching for jobs to be able to provide for his family since his wife was a stay-at-home mom, taking good care of their two toddlers. For a short while, he worked in clothes manufacturing workshops, but it didn’t suit his skills. Yorgi wished to go back to his original profession, so he compromised a lot when he started to work for others, since he does not own his own tools and machinery.

Giving Yorgi a second chance to reclaim the business he once had, and be independent again is so important for Yorgi himself and for the stability of his family, specially that the constantly increasing prices are making this dream of Yorgi’s impossible to achieve without help and support to buy the equipment and machines.

There is some unique bond in big families like the Sayeghs, which makes the family members stand together through the good and the bad no matter what, that is what the story of this family is all about.

Elias is 35; ever since he got married to Sandra, the couple lived along with Elias’s family that consist of his mother Elaine, his grandmother Maro, his brother Antoine and his wife and their children, in addition to his other brother Johnny. 

The family not only live together, they also share a business in wooden furniture spraying. Elias and Antoine inherited this profession from their father and uncle, their workshop was located in Al-sheikh Maksoud. Unfortunately, with the start of war in 2012, they lost everything. They all were displaced to Al-Suleymanieh where they stayed for six months, but when finding a job became a difficult challenge, Elias decided to part from his family and head to Damascus to look for jobs there and bring back the profits to his family. 

The family spent long years in Damascus, when they came back to Aleppo they rented in Al-Nayyal with the help of the Blue Maristes. And since then, a lot has changed. The three brothers had another thing to worry about, George the youngest and Antoine the oldest are both serving in the army, leaving Elias to be the sole provider for the big family.

Every couple of weeks, Antoine comes to Aleppo to help his brother in the workshop and to see his wife and children, the brothers want to improve their workshop and expand their business, since the workplace they are currently renting is small and not efficient. Elias was thinking to change the location to Bustan Al-Basha where the spaces are bigger and more suitable for their specialty. However, a lot of challenges face Elias from the lack of electricity and fuel for the generators, all the way to the general economic situation. But despite all difficulties, Elias realizes that in order to give his family a decent life he has to take this step towards independence knowing that that this project will be offering him hope and support.     

When Abdullah's car broke down due to a technical failure (back in 2014), it was parked near the Red Crescent hospital in Aleppo city, the last thing he expected was that he would wake up the next day to find nothing!

The war has already overwhelmed the 43 years old Abdudllah, the father of two boys; Shaker (11 years old) and (Karam 10 years old) that solely provides for his family, he had already borrowed money from a relative to buy the car and use it as a taxi, So when it was stolen, he was devastated about how to repay his debt and provide for his family.. Lucky for Abdullah, his relative was a kind person and he understood the difficult situation.

Abdullah and his wife Sonia and their children lived in his mother-in-law’s house in Al-Jabrieh street, which meant all five people were living off Abdulla’s job, thus losing that job was catastrophic for the family. The church did not abandon them, on the contrary, they helped the family with food baskets and also with the children’s school tuitions. In 2017, Abdullah joined a church program as a part-time worker with a salary to live from.

At the same time Abdullah worked with a friend on a taxi after finishing his morning hours at the church center, he needed to work two jobs and make as much income possible for his big family. This was the only way to survive such hard circumstances. But the car owner taking most of the profits didn’t leave much for him. 

Helping Abdullah by securing his own taxi will have a huge impact on the quality of life he and his family live. It will give them the financial stability they lack.

In Syria, the war changed the life of people in many different ways, millions were either displaced or have lost a loved one or sometimes a property, but what’s definite is that all Syrians were financially affected somehow. Many were forced to change their careers or start from scratch after losing everything, others like Antoine started working additional jobs only to survive the hard times. That’s actually how Antoine Kassis became a part-time taxi driver…

The 45-years-old Antoine is a father of two; Elias (14 years old) and Jean (6 years old). Since 1990, Antoine works as an employee in a car-parts retail shop in order to take care of his small family. The economic crisis started to suffocate Syrians specially the middle class, and his long experience in his job was not enough anymore to bring income for a family of four. 

For so long Antoine was worried about the family’s financial status, but not much he could do, with the lack of resources and his disability of having one arm, not every job suited Antoine; when he used to work on a machine to dye the clothes and his hand got stuck in it and they had to amputate it. This accident left its permanent impact on his life forever and made his working choices very limited.

But in 2016, when the financial situation became so bad Antoine’s brother helped him to buy a taxi car in order to work and have an additional income. It was a severely needed help, he couldn’t be more grateful for this generous gesture, but after couple of years the car was getting old and technical issues were turning up almost every other day. 

The maintenance costs of the taxi are becoming a heavy burden, rather than a supportive income. Antoine wants to replace his old car with a newer one to cut the huge repairing costs he is spending now without a profit in return, but the harsh circumstances of life are a huge obstacle in his way. With your help Antoine will be able to have a good taxi which will definitely reflect on his life positively, and that will guarantee a stable income for many years to come.

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.