Like a broken record the struggle of Syrian families has been playing again and again for a long time now even though the armed fight is over but it seems that the collateral damage continues to put the remaining Hope out and diminishes the dreams of a brilliant future for people like Rita and her father Jack among many.

What a 10-year-old war can do to a small business is excruciating. Jack the 56 years old well experienced hairdresser saw his self-made business crumble, the fight, the mortar shells were horrendous but the economic struggle was another story… 

The fiscal strain made Jack unable to keep up with the maintenance needs of the old salon nor to balance between the falling apart business and the simplest life necessities of his family’s. Being displaced for two years during the darkest years didn’t help either. Jack and his family fled to Tartous seeking safety, and found there a refuge from the bombs and hazards. While Jacks son embarked on the catering business and found in the new city a place to settle, Jack was employed in a local hair salon to earn what’s enough to survive. By this time Rita was starting to cultivate her skills in makeup and nails art, a domain she found herself talented in.

However, coming back home was not easy, they came back to find their house stolen, their salon was in bad condition too and without support it was almost impossible to start over. 

In order to revive the salon, Jack and his daughter Rita are teaming up to make things work, and here the financial support can be very useful. The next step will require fixing up the equipment, investing in new tools and preparing the place to be a welcoming hair and makeup salon for the ambitious father-daughter team 

One of the most harmful things that can happen to a person is losing a child.

No words could describe what's happened to Kevork after the excruciating events Kevork, his wife Suzi and their daughter Rozali went through.

Kevork was born and raised in Al-Kuwait He started working as an employee in a traditional Kuwaiti restaurant since he was a teenager, and kept developing himself until he became a chief supervisor in the restaurant. Later in 2016, he returned to his hometown, Syria.

In 2018, he and his family fled to Germany seeking a safe life and gave up on his Armenian nationality to get refugee approval. But unfortunately, his request was declined, and they had to get back to Aleppo. These adversities happened while his wife was pregnant, and caused her trauma. that might have affected the baby because few days into giving birth to a baby boy, the infant passed away, Leaving his parents in a very miserable situation.

Suzi kept it together, since Kevork couldn't find a job, she became the sole provider for her family, teaching English for a living.

After two years of being unemployed, Kevork decided to take a step and apply to the Hope Center, searching for support to start his dream of having a mini-restaurant. All he wanted for himself and for his family is to put the past behind, make  a good income, and start a new hopeful chapter in life. 

Gabi has always been a good father who depends on himself to meet his family's daily requirements and who is always looking after his three young son, George, Fadi, and Elias, two of whom are now serving in the military.

They are one of Al-Sheikh Maqsood families, who have been displaced from their houses to a safer one because of the shells that destroyed their houses. One of the biggest shocks their family went through was after they tried to return home, all the destruction and the loss of belongings they saw. Even though theiy wanted to go back but it was uninhabitable. With the church's help though now they are settled back in their home after equipping it with barely essential furniture pieces that were purchased in debt.

career-wise, Gabi used to work as a guard in several facilities such as restaurants, clinics, and residential buildings, but due to the war, after the people's emigration, and the evacuation of homes and buildings, he was no longer able to work in this profession. In 2013, he began working in a private hospital, transporting patients to surgery rooms and other tasks. Only one job with a modest salary won't support a family of five, knowing that made Gabi's wife work as a caregiver for elderlies.

What is interesting about this family's story, is that no matter how hard life could be, they have the power the be resilient, the determination to make it work even if they had to take a third job, an additional source of income.

Gabi and his wife, have put enormous effort to pull their project off; their cleaning supplies shop is their way to hang on to Hope and they are sparing no means to make it work. their idea is backed up with a solid market study as the couple noticed a gap in the market for detergent wholesale shop and decided to take the chance and hope for the best. 

They came to the Hope Center believing that their project would be supported and it would give them the chance to provide a better income for them without needing any help and providing this shop with all the needed supplies will cover the clients’ needs of these products, especially that it is located in a popular neighborhood.

Fouad,18 years old, is an ambitious young man who is always looking for a way to support his family, especially in these difficult economic conditions. Lately, he noticed that the best option was to leave his education and start looking for career choices in different fields of work. He tried everything, computer maintenance, sewing, and finally he found his interest in making desserts, cakes and pastry. 

He said that during the war, his family was displaced from one home to another for about two years in search of safety. and because of that the financial burdens kept piling up. He wanted to do everything possible to improve his income, so in addition to his day job he was planning to start his home-based business in pastry making, which would significantly reduce his family's financial obligations and help him gradually build his self-owned business.

In 2019, he found that baking cookies would be the perfect option, if he wants to help his father to make ends meet, while of course working for several pastry shops to secure a good paycheck.

His day job helps him to distribute his delicious pastry products through the acquaintances and friends.

Fouad's patience determination and skills have proven themselves and with the support he got, he can confidently build his small sweet factory in his family kitchen as a first step for a prosperous future in the confectionary world. 

It is said that “Behind every chronic illness is just a person trying to find their way in the world.” this could not be more realistic and true for Georges, the loving husband and father who could look past his wife's chronic illness and two years long suffering and see the amazing and strong person he has always been and offer his unconditional support.

Georges had to be strong not just for his wife but Hanna their eldest son also needed his support to fight against his Also, his gastroparesis condition. 

The challenges were surrounding this small family from every corner and the war was definitely making things harder by the day. 

As if they were not struggling enough, due to the crisis in 2011, their house was affected by the bombshells and they were displaced to Al-Jdaideh village.

Later on, in 2013, after the armed groups attacked their village, they had to move once again to Damascus searching for safety, and insuring treatment for his wife.

Financially, this constant movement made things harder for Georges who used to driven a mini pick-up in a juice company for over twenty-four years for a living after losing his ability to work as a carpenter, his original family business he was practicing back at the day.

The long driving job Georges has been in for over two decades now, has shaped his career in a way or another that's why Georges wants to stay in the same domain but increase his opportunities as well as his income by purchasing a pick up truck of his own, and becoming an independent supporter of his family.

When all the doors were closed for Marks in Lebanon, the 40-years-old man came back to Aleppo after spending nine years in Lebanon, with no money and no clue on what to do next. 

Marks had worked in many fields; his career has changed many times; from working in elevators' maintenance, owning a little restaurant, working as a salesperson, to a completely different domain in traditional "zaffeh" performer at weddings.

When he had to start over, he thought about continuing in wedding entertainment business, but the war and financial situation in Syria made it an impossible idea. Nevertheless, Marks made his mind to work based on another old experience of his, by opening a small diner for local popular dishes of “foul and falafels” in the neighborhood of Bustan Albasha.

The place will be in a location surrounded with lots of workshops, and workers will find at Marks place a delicious meal and a comfortable rest during their long day of work. For Marks it will be the new start he always wished for. 

"The extraordinary man" is Fathallah’s nickname which he deserved to be called by everyone who knows him.

Fathallah suffered a lot, starting with losing his foot and three toes from the other one because of diabetes, to developing a heart disease. But despite all these obstacles, in addition to the harsh financial and war conditions, this man refused to give up on working and supporting his family.

When Fathallah was still a child in the fourth grade at school, he started learning about jewelry and later he started working in the jewel domain for many years, but when the crisis started, and the jewelers he used to deal with traveled abroad, he had to find another career that could ensure at least the family's primary outlays, so he worked as a hawker for about a year.

Later on, one of his friends “who traveled to Germany” offered Fathallah to use his shop in the Al-Midan area, to make and sell sandwiches, and the whole family helped out, he uses a food cart to sell the sandwiches they make in the shop on the main streets in the city so he would reach out to all people. Since 2015, he has been well-known for his homemade food which differentiate him from others. 

Fathallah's health situation forced the family to leave their home and move to a rented one which is more suitable for him on the first floor. He still requires some equipment that can develop his work and improve his income. That’s why Hope Center took inspiration from this extraordinary man, and decided to stand with him and support his project, by sharing the dream and being the glimpse of light in his life. 

Kevork, a young man who lives with his family of five members, including his grandmother and his father who works as a worker on a lathing machine. 

Unfortunately, during the crisis in Aleppo, when their house was badly destroyed by a shell, they traveled to Latakia for five years, until the situation became safer in Aleppo, they returned to live in a rented house. Kevork worked in car brakes' maintenance for 9 years, he started this career in 2013, as a worker, but due to the low salary, he chose to begin his own project using the experience he gained through all these years. 

He rented a shop in Bustan Al-Basha industrial area, now Kevork is working in car brakes' maintenance using rented equipment. He was so blessed to have a chance to improve his income and be able to help his family, through our Micro Project program towards strengthening his business, and back on track to build a more stable future.

the year 2015 was a turning point for Gerges, when their house was completely destroyed by a shell, the family of four became homeless and devastated. Despite all the excruciating circumstances which the family went through to survive, the young Gerges came out of this distress stronger and more determined to build a good and stable future for him and for his family. 

Dropping out of school maybe wasn’t Gerges’ ideal decision but the young man did what seemed to be best for him at that time, and started focusing on building a career as an electrician. It’s been six years now since he made his first career steps and during this time Gerges has learnt a lot, each workshop he worked in taught him different techniques and gave him the opportunity to explore both household and industrial electrical maintenance domains. 

Although he is considerably young, but Gerges reached a point in his career, where he is both ready and confident enough to start a business of his own. And to do so all this young technician needs is the tools and equipment that will enable him to handle bigger work tasks.

The 48 years-old Fares, is an ambitious person and wants to do his best, no matter what difficulties come in his way. His dream was to own a mini pick-up truck to work on in addition to his regular job at the university hospital.

Fares's previous working experiences were diverse, He used to work in laundry and ironing services, then in electrical maintenance and in 2011 he started to work in a hospital.

The war years were hard on fares and his family, the thing that breaks his heart the most is the psychological trauma his son had been through because of all the horrific shell attacks around their house.  

When he was serving in the military, Fares had a military driver's license, but this license wouldn't allow him to drive in the civilian areas, that's why when he started considering having his own pickup truck, he went and got a driver's license to get the car.

He wants the mini pick-up truck to move the goods, and this work will help him to increase his income as he can use it in his current job and work on it later too, and this is a new chance to depend on himself as a provider for his family.

Osama, 52 years old, is the father of Yana and Hanna. He started working as an employee in the designing field since 1997, where he had good experience designing clothes-prints, medicine packages, and some other things.

later in 2002, he was able to buy an office and start his own business, but all businesses declined in this period and the factories he was dealing with were closed. So, he became an employee again in a designing company with a low salary. During the war period, Osama's life was not easy. The family suffered displacement and moved into 7 different houses over those years, escaping from shelling.

The shells hit their house several times. In addition, their car was badly damaged, which forced him to sell it at a very low price. Osama always wished to have his own work as he did before, in his office, but he still needed the equipment to restart, so he applied to Hope Center for a Micro-project.

He inherited this passion for to his son Hanna, who is also training in designing programs to help his father, and develop their work together.

His dream came true, and he was blessed to have this chance to improve his life.

Year after year, the effect of the war is decimating so much of Syria. More people are struggling to find food, and fewer people have jobs. The Impact of the war directly affected people's lives, who couldn’t feel safe outside or inside their homes. We can absolutely understand how difficult it is for people to get on with their lives, look forward, without any hope of a resolution, especially youths who had to help their parents to increase the family income. 

Merry Skaf is a 20-years-old young girl, who works in distributing food baskets to the elderly for charity, she participated in several courses to learn skills about hair, makeup, and nail art, in addition to joining online courses trying to improve herself in this work domain.

Recently, she started working in a women’s salon as a makeup artist, while She still needs the nails-care equipment to expand her work and increase her customers. In 2012, they moved to latakia for one year, after their rented house was destroyed and burned, they couldn’t save anything from their belongings, so they had to start all over from scratch. When livelihood became very expensive in Latakia, they decided to return back to Aleppo, and stay at their relative house, and started searching for jobs.

Now Merry’s mother is working in the church as a cleaner, while her father works in a cars’ spare parts, and he suffers from a heart disease. One of her two brothers is in the military service, while the other is working in a barbershop.

Merry wants to help her family to increase their income, despite her young age, by working in the career she loves, and can be successful in, Hope Center helped her by purchasing nails care equipment, so she can be able to work in a women’s salon as a beauty expert.