“Where words fail, music speaks.” That’s how George replied when we asked him about the reason behind his love for music. 

Since he was an 8-year-old, George was fascinated by music and the industry in general.

His parents decided to enroll him in a music institute where he chose to learn Cello, his love for music didn’t stop there, he used to go to his uncle’s studio to watch him produce music for many artists. After a short time, he started helping his uncle with his work for 15 years till the war started.

In 2011 George joined the army and served his country for 10 years, in this decade a lot changed; during this time, he lost many of his friends in the army and his family was in danger back home, it was very tough for him to go through all that by himself.

After finishing his service George found himself back at the starting point, not knowing what to do and where to head. Despite everything, he refused to give up and decided to follow his passion for music and try to turn it into a career.

With a big dream and lots of plans, he applied for the Micro-Projects program to get the support he needed to start. Now George has a small studio in which he records and produces music for many local artists.

George is married and has worked in the carpentry profession since childhood with more than 40 years of experience, he had a full workshop with a kit, but because of the war he lost the workshop with the entire equipment, unfortunately, he cannot return to his former work area because its still under control of armed groups.

During war his home was exposed to a shell explosion, which led to great damage to the house, as a result, the family was displaced for more than 10 years. 

Because of his great experience in His profession and his desire to develop his business, George applied to the Micro Projects in order to buy a machine that helps him save time and increase his income, George launched his project and added new models to his work that helped him bring new customers, which led to an increase in his monthly profits.

The Micro Projects Program was able to achieve one of George's goals, to help him strive to work harder and develop faster. 

Elias is an example of the patient and strong father who faces life’s challenges for his family, Elias is married and has two sons, one of whom is serving in military, life challenged Elias differently at each stage, in the period of war he was displaced from his home, and his son was exposed to a war injury during his mandatory service time. 

Corona came to be one of the most difficult periods he went through; it kept him away from his work and family, but as Elias said:  "Our Mother Mary did not abandon me and helped me overcome this ordeal." Elias now works as a guard in a private school in Aleppo with a low salary, he wants to improve his income, so he decided to apply for a taxi, which he sees as a strong source in order to meet the requirements of life and his family's expenses.

At the end of the meeting Elias said that his dream is to be able to buy a taxi so he can be more financially independent, and he achieved this dream to be his first strong step in the face of life hardships.

The years of war were not easy for Fadi's family, however, it didn't stop them from pursuing their dreams of living in peace and stability. Fadi’s family suffered a lot during the war, especially in the first years as Fadi is a resident of the village of Al-Jadeeda in the Idlib countryside, which is one of the Christian villages in the city of Idlib. He was displaced with his family from the village after they were besieged by armed groups.

At the beginning of the war in 2011, Fadi volunteered to defend his land against the armed groups, then He was discharged from the army in 2021 after serving for ten years.

Before the war, Fadi worked in the aluminum craft in his village. He had a shop since 2004, but he lost it afyer leaving the village towards Kasab. In his last years of service, he worked in this profession during his spare hours intending to return to it after service..

After his discharge, he moved to Aleppo to settle there and began working in the aluminum field, but his income was not enough to secure the family’s needs, and he strived hard to start his project to secure a sufficient source of income for his family.

The Micro Projects Program was able to fulfill this family's dream of stability, and Fadi now has his own shop, which will enable him to provide a decent life for his family.

Elias is a strong man who defied the difficulties of life for the sake of his family’s happiness despite all the harsh circumstances he went through. 

Elias is married and has three children, he suffered a lot during the war; he had a taxi in 2014, but unfortunately it was destroyed by a shell in 2016, despite the difficulty of the situation he was able to overcome this incident for the sake of his children and started working as a driver for a local institution with a modest salary.

Elias held-on to hope, his many losses during the war did not disappoint him, and despite the suffering of life, he was not satisfied with his little income, he kept searching for an opportunity to improve his situation and a ray of hope that would change his life; for him it was a taxi that he would work on after his shift to help him secure a better income, Elias applied for micro projects and upon approval his joy was indescribable. Today Elias looks forward to starting a new life chapter full of hope and blessings.

Naeem is an example of strong personality who will face crises with positive adaptation without suppression or confusion, married and has two sons, he works in the field of sanitary installations, solar energy installation and electricity extension.

Naeem tried to develop himself in his domain of work despite all the difficulties and challenges he faced, he is a creative person who added with his experience of more than 15 years working in the field of central heating, he rented a shop in order to start a stable life and a small family. 

Despite many difficulties and the war that hit Aleppo, Naeem did not leave the city and remained working hard to secure a good future for his children, his house was damaged by the earthquake and he did not despair and was able to restore it.

Naeem applied for the necessary equipment which will help him increase his income and secure the needs of his family. He believes that everything will turn out for the best, and that tomorrow is more beautiful, Hopefully this project will be the beginning of beautiful days for him and his family.

Dr. Ghassan have been working in the clinic for more than 30 years, he has extensive experience in the field of dentistry, his work was greatly affected during the war because his place was exposed to a lot of shells, and when the area became safe, he decided to develop his clinic's devices because the equipment was worn-out that it became dilapidated.

The earthquake destroyed all Ghassan’s dreams for the enhancement of his clinic and his house from which he and his family were able to get out safe and sound, and because life must go on, Ghassan decided to submit an application in order to develop his project with support from the Micro Projects.

Ghassan held-on to hope despite all the difficulties of life that he faced in the past, the strength that he possesses despite all the challenges and crises that he went through, his patience and will can overcome every painful hardship.

Dr. Ghassan launched his project with the new devices that helped him develop the clinic and achieve part of his dreams that he patiently longed for. 

Shant is a passionate person, aspiring to be proficient in his work, self-reliant, in order to secure a decent life for his family; Shant is married and a father of two, he works day and night for the wellness of his family.

Shant works in the profession of car spraying, and has extensive experience in this field, he currently works in a workshop but the equipment is not his, and the wage he receives is not commensurate with his experience and insufficient for the requirements of life.

During war people are exposed to many material and physical losses, this period was difficult for Shant, he lost his shop and equipment. His mother, father and sister were injured in the war, Shant wants to be independent in his work, so the idea of applying for his own project through the Micro Projects Support was a ray of hope, Shant started his project and is now working with passion and enthusiasm in order to achieve his life goals and take good care of his loving family.

Hanaa Hakeem lives with her sister in Aleppo. In addition to taking care of her sister and the house, she also works as a teacher in a public school in the city of Aleppo to support her husband.

During the war in Aleppo Hanaa and her family refused to leave their home and their memories behind and decided to stay no matter what.

By the end of the war, the Hakeem family faced a difficult financial situation with low income and high rates of inflation, which made Hanaa take a new step in the field of makeup and nail-care to help with the family’s income; she took plenty of make-up courses and started learning how to do nails in a nail salon. After a short time, Hanaa made her own customers and started making money out of her new passion. 

But that wasn’t enough for her, she wanted to grow her business and increase the number of customers which wasn’t easy to accomplish by herself, that’s why she applied to the Micro-Project program.

After getting the support she needed, she was able to get a new nail kit and became independent in her own work.

Nihad Ghazal is a 65-year-old with a passion for baking and making pastry since her childhood; she used to make all different types of pastries and give them to her friends at school to try.

As she grew older her love for pastry grew bigger, she used to help her mother with cooking and doing kitchen chores, that’s how she learned her mother’s baking recipes, her secrets and tricks for a perfect bake.

The Ghazal sisters suffered from the war, but unlike many, they stayed in their house refusing to leave the memories they have in Aleppo.

Despite the lack of power, gas, and clean water, Nihad always managed to find a way to practice her love for baking. In the middle of the war with all the bakeries closed she had the idea to do what she loves and sell what she bakes targeting the neighborhood she lived in.

Now by having the support from Micro-Project, Nihad is now capable of growing her business and increasing her income doing the one thing she loves the most.

Carla Ishak is an ambitious dentist who recently graduated from Aleppo university, being a dentist was her long-lasting dream. When she was a little girl, she used to go to her father’s clinic to watch him at his job while pretending to be his assistant.

Going through the war in Syria was harsh for Carla and her family, as they had to evacuate their home due to several bombings. The prolonged fights and the damage it caused forced the family to move to the grandparents’ and even though the fight was halted, the financial hardships prevented them from rehabilitating their house and kept them from going back.

Carla began practicing dentistry right after her graduation with her father’s support in making her dream come true. Once she cultivated her skills, she decided to take another step towards her big dream and open her own practice.

By applying for micro-project, she had the awaited opportunity to a fresh start in her career after getting engaged to the love of her life.

Now dr. Carla is living her life dream; treating patients, making people smile and also helping her family to move back to their home.

Fania's life took an unexpected turn when her husband, Bassam, fell ill, leaving him unable to provide for their family. With a studying son to support, her mother-in-law, and her husband's health deteriorating, Fania knew she had to act fast. 

Determined to secure a future for her family, she seized the opportunity presented by their small shop. With hope, She applied for assistance from the Micro Projects Program, seeking support to stock shelves, buy a refrigerator, and purchase goods to transform the shop into a mini-market and dairy shop, envisioning a lifeline for her family.

Her shop flourished and Bassam will find solace in being able to contribute as much as possible. 

Through her microproject and the support of the program, Fania not only sustained her family's livelihood, but also inspired others with her resilience in the face of hardships.

Rami Yacoub, his mother, and three sisters accumulated courage by surviving difficult times and challenging conditions.

When he was only thirteen, Rami’s father passed away, which didn’t just affect the family and made them live in sorrow and grief, but also forced Rami to leave his school, abandon his childhood, and start working to afford the daily living demands.

He took a job as a worker in a medical shoe workshop to support his mother who was also working long hours at a shoe-making workshop trying as much as possible to secure a decent living for her kids. Together, Rami and his mother were fighting against the life hardships and the difficult living circumstances especially since his elder sister became a widow and returned along with her son to live with them.

Rami became responsible for three sisters, a young nephew, and a sick mother whose job was very difficult and affected her health. He tried to start a shoe workshops but it cost was very high and the demand for medical shoes declined due to the increases in the prices of the materials that prevented normal people to purchase them which made him quit this profession.

Yet, Rami didn’t hesitate to learn another profession so he took a men's barbering course and worked at many salons but the low wages he took made it impossible which led him to apply at the micro projects program to become independent and have his own salon.

"During all those tough years, I always felt God lighting my way and leading me to a better place”

this is how Rami expressed his feelings after his project was funded, now he is able to work, have a proper income and provide his mother and sisters with decent living conditions.

Shafy Bashour is 38 years old, married to Nadine Maqsoud and they have two adorable kids, George born in 2012, and Rimon in 2016.

Before the war in Syria, Shafy was working as a tiling worker in Qatar and he returned to Syria in 2011 to get married and start his own family but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned; his marriage coincided with the start of the crisis in Syria which prevented him from returning to Qatar and he found himself suddenly in a critical situation without any source of income.

Yet his determination never faded, and he decided to take any job to secure his living; he worked as a taxi driver between Syria and Lebanon and his situation started to enhance. He didn’t care about the bad security situation or any dangers he might face on the road, because his main concern was about providing his family with decent living. Until one day, in 2016, he went to Lebanon and couldn’t get back as he was called for the reserve military service for more than two years.

He stayed unemployed until his brother decided to serve instead of him so Shafy could be released and return to his house and family. However, Shafi couldn’t go back to his job due to the corona virus and the borders restrictions so he started to work locally and had to pay most of his income to the taxi owner, but he had no other choice during the giving circumstances.

Supporting Shafy to have his own taxi, had a great impact on his life, as he became independent and started to have his own source of income which enabled him to improve his conditions. 

sometimes, all a person needs to regain his balance in life is to turn the page of the past and start over.

This is what Rashid Al-Abdoun, 55 years old, has been trying to do for the past nine years, but unfortunately, life obstacles and the difficult conditions he was going through, have always blocked his way.

Rashid is married and has three children, Lina, Musa, and Issa. His main concern is to give his children the best possible care and get them to university, which was achieved despite all his troubles, as the three of them are now university students and achieving one of their father's greatest wishes.

Rashid’s situation was not always bad; before the war, Rashid had his own mini-market in Al-Dukhaniya area in the countryside of Damascus. His work was very good and for more than 13 years, he was able to provide his family with a good living, but unfortunately, two years after the start of the war, specifically in 2013, the militants entered Al-Dukhaniya area and wreaked terror, violence, and devastation which left Rashid with no choice but to flee out of the region leaving everything behind.

Despite his survival, he lost everything he owned and worked for in the past years and suddenly found himself jobless without any source of income to meet his expenses and obligations, that's when the journey of loss and misery started; Rashid wanted to do any kind of work but due to the dangerous conditions, he wasn't able to secure any good income, until he finally started working as an employee in a real estate office, but his low salary affected the family's situation.

He was trying hard to change this reality, but unfortunately, bad circumstances prevented him. Even after the end of the war, everything began to deteriorate more than before, and with the rise in prices, he found himself unable to fulfill his obligations and was praying for any glimmer of hope that would enable him to change his reality and start over.

Now, after supporting him with the mini-market project, Rashid finally found himself restoring his life balance and starting a new chart in his life with hope that this project will make a difference in this family's life.

Khalil Mikhail is 51 years old, married, and has three children, Antoun, Nicolas, and Marian. he was living with his family in Hineh village and working as a driver and worker in the municipality of Hineh. 

During his duty, he fell on his head from 6 meters high and needed 35 stitches to close his wound but as soon as he recovered, he returned to his hard work where he used to carry 150kg jute sacks of anise daily which affected him on the long-term and led to severe pains in his back and neck as he had to undergo Disk surgery at the expense of charities due to his bad financial situation.

however, during wartime, he moved with his family to live in Al-Dwallaa neighborhood in Damascus due to the difficult security situation in his village and the lack of services and transportation means but his bad health condition prevented him from doing hard jobs so his wife started to work as elderly’s caregiver in order to support him with the house rent and the living expenses until her health started to deteriorate and she had to undergo nerve operation with her both hands and couldn’t continue working which affected their financial situation.

In addition to all of that, Khalil had to support his elder son Antoun, who was called to the military service and is still serving not knowing when he would be released.

Khalil is currently working as a taxi driver for one of his relatives and sometimes he works as a laborer because the important thing to him is feeding his family, even at the expense of his health.

Khalil gathered his hope and applied for the taxi project putting his belief in God's great mercy.

and his faith was never disappointed as he was approved to be financed with the taxi project so he could be independent and have a sustainable income to improve his family's conditions.

Gaby Abou Samra is 45 years old, he is married to Christine Kassab and they have a son, Sharbel born in 2007, and a daughter Jouel born in 2010.

Before the war, Gaby and his family were living in a peaceful and secure environment because he was working as a plumber and sanitary supervisor, his workshop was in Almleiha area in the countryside of Damascus. 

Gabi was working hard and he had many customers which made him in a good financial situation.

however, all of that changed after the beginning of the war in Syria as Almleiha area was destroyed completely and Gaby was among the people who lost everything including his workshop and all of his equipment.

He found himself after many years of working, getting back to zero, with no tools and equipment to work, and his situation started to deteriorate rapidly.

He had no choice but to take other jobs so he worked on his friend’s Suzuki car for five years, then when his friend needed money, he sold the car which left Gaby jobless but he started working as a Valet parking employee in Bab Toma because as he said: 

“I don’t care what work to do, as long I am working in dignity and affording my family’s food and expenses”

Despite all his hard work, his income was barely meeting his living demands and they became in a critical financial situation but they didn’t let that weaken their faith and hope so they applied to the Micro-project program for the pickup truck.

Today, after the funding, Gaby is full of determination and enthusiasm to improve his situation and provide his family with the decent life they deserve.

“For my family to be well, secure, with the basics of living, is all I seek in life”

Firas is 44, married to Hadeel Dahdal and they have two adorable daughters Marita, born in 2013, and Marcel born in 2016.

Firas got employed at the Ministry of Electricity in 1999, but his salary wasn’t good enough to secure a decent living so he started studying at university and in the afternoons he worked at a Foul and Falafel restaurant in Al-Dwalaa neighborhood.

He graduated from the faculty of trade and economics in 2009, then Firas and his brother started a devices maintenance shop in Jaramana and at the same time, they were benefiting from the olives harvest from their village “Tasia” in Daraa governorate. 

Unfortunately, A couple of years after, the war started in the country and its violent effect spread all over to reach their village, all the houses were destroyed and the olive trees were cut, and their farming land was burnt which was a devastating loss for the family. As a result, the shop’s income became insufficient to meet the living expenses which made his brother leave the country and Firas was facing all the financial obligations of the shop alone, so he had to close it soon after.

However, despite all those losses, Firas didn’t despair and he took part-time jobs to increase his income so he could afford the basic needs of livelihood which were increasing year after year until he became incapable of meeting them no matter how long he worked. 

With the help of the Micro Project initiative, Firas now has started his Foul and Falafel Restaurant in Bab Sharqi and he is full of determination and enthusiasm to make this project succeed in order to improve his living conditions and regain his independence. 

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up”

Despite all calamities, Youssef Al-Samara has never stopped fighting and was full of hope that the coming days are going to be better.

He worked as a hairdresser since 2002 and his income was good to afford his living expenses, but after the outbreak of the Syrian war, he was called to join the military service as he served in fierce war zones which put him under dangerous accidents.

He was living in a rented flat in Dhaheit Alassad but during the war, the area was surrounded by armed groups and his flat was totally damaged and his furniture was looted.

During that period, he got married to Amal Hamzah and started to work as a taxi driver after his service duty to support his family while his wife started to work looking after elderly people to help with house demands. 

Youssef’s service was very destructive for him, as he was shot in the left hand and then injured by missile fragments until the year 2018 when he was affected by a chemical attack that led to lung irritation.

As a result, Youssef was discharged from the military service and put under treatment until his recovery but due to his health condition, he couldn’t continue to work in his profession as a hairdresser and was forced to work on a rented taxi and pay most of his income to the taxi owner trying his best to work as hard as possible to secure the basic demands for his wife and kids Joud and Taya.

After applying to the Micro-project and being financed to have his own taxi, Youssef said:

“The project will change my life forever because instead of paying half my income to the taxi owner, I will be paying for improving my life and securing my kids’ future”

“The human’s will is what defines a person and how far he is going in his life journey”

Iskandar was raised by loving and supporting parents, his father used to work as a tiler and handled his tough work to afford his family a decent living.

As soon as he grew up, Iskandar realized he wanted to be a hairdresser, so he started learning about this profession and worked hard to gain field experience dreaming to have his own Salon in the future and be independent.

Unfortunately, with the beginning of the war in 2011, all of his dreams have gone as the family went through many dangers and horrors in addition to the lack of work and livelihood necessities, until the great disaster in 2013 when Iskandar was injured by a mortar explosion in the shoulder behind Al-Jahez Park where he was taken to the hospital and underwent a surgical operation.

After recovering from the incident, Iskandar was in a bad psychological situation since he spent all of his savings on treatment, so he traveled to Lebanon seeking safety but he wasn’t lucky in finding a proper job and his family was in a bad financial situation so he decided to defeat his fears and go back to Syria where he returned to work in his profession until he was able in 2019 to have his own hairdressing salon in Aldwalaa to be close to his family as his sister Miray grown to be a talented make-up artist and started working with her brother at the Salon.

However, in the past three years, Iskandar was struggling due to the terrible electricity situation and long cuts which affected his job greatly and led to decreasing his income as a result.

After applying to the micro-project program, Iskandar was financed with the electricity generator that will provide him with more working hours and increase his income, as a result, hoping that this improvement will enable him to support his parents and at the same time get married and establish his own family.

"A hero is someone who gives without thought of himself, and Shadi was that hero in his son’s eyes”

Shady Maqsoud 48, never hesitated to give all for the sake of his family and kids.

He is married to Jumana Qazi and they have two sons Johnathan born in 2003, and Julian born in 2007 

Shady started working as a painter at the age of nineteen to support his parents with the living expenses, and for many years he worked as hard as he could to save his dignity and never need anyone’s help.

He also continued to work in his profession during the difficult years of war and when his income decreased, he immediately searched for a part-time job to support himself as he got employed as a driver at Damascus-health-administration.

And even when his health started to deteriorate and the doctor recommended that he must stop doing any painting work as he suffers from allergic asthma and the smells are very harmful to him, he insisted to keep working to secure the basic demands for his family.

However, his son “Johnathan” realized how tired his father was, and all his efforts to put the food on the table at the end of the day so he decided to take a part-time job after his schooling trying to handle some of the huge burdens as much as possible.

Shady found his way to the Micro project program as he applied for the taxi project seeking a stable and better income.

He said after being financed:” Having a taxi of my own after all these hardships I been through is something unbelievable, the project will provide me a sustainable income that I will depend on in raising and educating my sons, as well as restoring the hope in my life”

George is a married man and the father of three daughters Dina, Rita, and Rima.

George suffers from speech disorder but that didn’t prevent him from working or having a normal lifestyle as for the last 30 years, he has been working at the Ministry of Health as a physical therapist.

He handled his tough work schedule for many years to ensure a dignified life for his family, because all he cared about was raising his daughters to become successful individuals in their lives, and that is what he gained as Dina is studying at the Faculty of Media, Rita is at the Faculty of Humanity science and Rima is at the Faculty of Law.

Although George's financial situation wasn’t going good, George tried to protect his family and provide them with all their living demands, but after being at the edge of his sixties and about to be retired he became unable to continue the same effort in his profession, and started to worry about how he will secure his daughters future, especially that they were living in bad condition and barely able to afford their expenses by the end of the month.

Now thanks to the micro-project program, George was supported to have his own mini-market that he will run with the help of his wife and daughters, so they get back on their feet again with a steady source of livelihood.

We are all aware of the violent acts of war during the last decade which affected the lives of many innocent people.

Edwar was one of those people who was exposed to a kidnapping incident that turned his life upside down.

Edwar Darwish was born in 1972, married and has a son ‘Gassan” born in 2014. He lives with his family in Kashkoul, a Damascus suburb and for more than 10 years, he worked as a bus driver on Damascus-Aleppo international road.

His tragic story began in 2012, a few months after he bought a taxi in installments. he was looking to be self-employed with a better and more sustainable income after completing the car's price but unfortunately, while he was working in the taxi, some masked men blocked his way with their guns and kidnapped him, and took his taxi.

He was captive for several days under severe torture until he was able to escape during the night and kept running till he reached Damascus suburb road as he headed to a police station and reported for his kidnap and the stolen car.

Edwar was in a pathetic situation as he stayed for more than a year recovering from the incident’s physical and psychological effects, his financial situation has also deteriorated as he had to pay back all the remained installments in addition to his treatment costs.

Edwar returned to his previous work and although the income was a lot less than the living expenses, he kept working hard trying his best to secure the basic demands for his family but with the increasing costs of living, his situation became worse than before and they were barely able to afford for their daily food.

Through the Micro project programs, Edwar was financed to have his own Taxi, which will provide him with a second chance to make up for his losses and restore his life by having a decent income.

After more than 20 years of a stable career and secure living conditions, Anwar Hanna, the 63-year-old man was a victim of displacement and losses.

Anwar was living with his family in Erbin area, in the countryside of Damascus, he was working as a blacksmith at his private carpentry workshop and their life was full of peace and security which all was ruined after 2011 as the terrorist groups broke into the area and spread their violence and horror at over. Anwar was very concerned about his family’s life and took them out of the city under shelling and bombing without being able to take any of their belongings, all that he cared about was to keep them far from being hurt.

They moved for a period to Sednaya then to Jaramana where they rented a small and modest flat to shelter themselves after losing everything they worked for in their entire life, their house, furniture in addition to the workshop tools, and equipment.

Anwar had to start from scratch so he got employed at a factory in the industrial Adraa where he worked for more than 10 hours a day so he could be able to put food on the table at the end of the day, his work was hard and the income was very low but Anwar was trying his best until his health condition started to deteriorate and he became unable to continue the hard work.

His son’s income was barely covering the house rent and expenses so Anwar had to keep working in order to secure the basic living needs.

He started to work as a taxi driver with 25% percent of the taxi wages a day and spent many days touring the streets trying to improve his financial situation but couldn't meet the high costs of living.

Anwar decided to apply for the taxi project because it will provide him with a sustainable and good source of income which will be enough for the house expenses and to improve their living circumstances.