Amin and Hadi are partners, they opened a grocery shop together after losing their jobs when COVID-19 started to spread in Syria and affected all the economic activities. Amin lives with his wife and their three children and he is the only provider for the family. He worked in many professions to be able to take care of his family since 1993, until he had to stop working in 2019. He decided to start a simple business with his brother-in-law Hadi who is a father of twin boys, he worked in many restaurants between Syria and Lebanon and lost his source of livelihood at that same year. 

Opening a shop in 2020 was like a dangerous adventure but thankfully, they managed to gain a great reputation in the area, in addition to their strategic location in a popular neighborhood. Unfortunately, these strong points were not enough to save their shop from the economic crisis and the continuous price changes, which caused a shortage of many basic commodities. Supporting their shop will help them to ensure their families a decent income and a better livelihood.

Ibrahim is a single man who lives with his mother, his sister and his brother. His start in the field of artistic carpentry was from his house with very simple tools. In 2008, his business improved so he rented a shop to show the wooden handicrafts he was creating and he participated in many exhibitions around Syria and became very popular for the beautiful pieces he made. The business was going very well until 2011, when the devastating war came and changed everything he was planning for, in this year Ibrahim was called to serve in the army, without knowing that this period of his life will extend for nine years. 

During those years Ibrahim was exposed to many dangers and the hardest thing he experienced was being kidnapped for two months, his family had to sell their land in the village to pay the demanded ransom. In 2019, Ibrahim finally returned home after finishing his military service and got back to his old job. Unfortunately, not having the essential machinery and the new technologies affected Ibrahim’s business a lot, and consumed a lot of time and effort from him especially that the demand on his art has increased. Despite all the difficulties he faced, Ibrahim didn’t lose hope of developing the business he loved. Now, after having his own workshop, he found the independence and stability he lost in the war, and it’s time for him to settle down and focus on his artworks.

Working as an employee with a very low salary forced Bassam (the only provider for his family) to find another source of livelihood which would allow him to take care of their basic needs. The married man and the father of three, had a health condition since he was young which prevented him from walking and moving his legs. In 1993, he decided to open a perfume shop, this job didn’t require any physical effort and it was suitable for his condition. His shop was in a well-populated area and he created wide relations with many clients, all that enabled him to make a sufficient income and to preserve a dignified life. 

Unfortunately, like the majority of trading businesses, Bassam’s business was damaged heavily during the severe inflation, buying the essential supplies for his work started to get more and more difficult, and that for sure decreased his profit. Providing his shop with the important materials will help him to guarantee a decent income for his family. 

Wissam is a married woman and a mother of two, when the economic crisis began, the heavy burdens of life increased on her husband who works in bread distribution, he barely managed to provide for his family’s everyday needs. Wissam couldn’t just wait and watch, she decided to work and help her family, as a housewife the best thing she could do was utilizing her skills in cooking to support her husband and she found a job in a church as a cook, but unluckily, it was limited by a period of time and ended in 2019, Wissam didn’t give up and started working at home with very simple tools. Her kitchen “Al-Habeeb” became well-known in the area for the delicious food she prepares and she had many clients. 

Currently, Wissam is suffering from several difficulties like the high prices of basic foodstuff and also the lack of electricity and gas which made things even harder. Providing her with the essential kitchen equipment and tools will help Wissam to overcome all the obstacles she is facing and will give her the ability to support her family.

“Things don’t always go according to planned.” That was exactly what happened with Malaz who works as a photographer since 2007. Over the years Malaz worked very hard to prepare a well-equipped studio and he became very popular in the area for his great experience in this field. As a single man, he used to save money in an effort to keep up with modern technologies and update his old equipment. 

Unfortunately, in 2020, a sudden medical condition forced Malaz to go through many surgeries and drained all of his savings until he became unable to buy any new equipment, especially during this fast-changing period and the hard economic circumstances. Using his old camera affected his business a lot in a negative way, he had to rent a camera and pay very high costs in return in order not to lose more clients. Supporting him to purchase new photographing equipment will allow him to achieve the work prosperity he needs to save his studio, and to continue his successful career. 

During the current hard circumstances of living, Juliette did her best to help her husband who works as an employee with a very low salary to provide for their three children. In 2018, she opened a second-hand clothes shop and things went well for two years until COVID-19 started to spread and affected all the economic activities, Juliette became unable to buy more goods at that time and she had to close the shop. 

Giving up had no place in her life and she kept thinking of a way around this problem, she noticed that there aren’t any coffee shops in her neighborhood but unfortunately, her limited financial resources prevented her from buying a coffee grinder and starting her project. When she heard about the Micro Projects, she knew that it was her chance to move forward into improving her living situation, so she applied to open a coffee shop and got the needed support. This project will allow Juliette to be a productive woman and help her husband to ensure a better livelihood for their children. 

Mohannad worked in selling clothes and women’s accessories during his military service which lasted for ten years in the city of Damascus. After finishing his service, he had to leave everything behind and return home; being the sole provider for his parents, but he was very excited about getting back and seeing his family again. Unfortunately, he found his father in a serious health condition as he was diagnosed with cancer and went through many surgeries. 

The treatment costs were a huge burden on Mohannad’s shoulders who spent all of his savings, as he couldn’t leave his father and work back then. He wanted to have a new beginning by opening his father’s shop where he could work again and take care of his family. Supporting Mohannad to start his own business will help him to settle down and be able to focus on his future about starting a new family. 

Despite their young age, the two friends; Nagham and Bassel had the courage after graduation to start their dream project together. In 2019, they established “Pharma Bank” which is a warehouse for medical supplies, they hired four university students to help them in their new business, their main objectives were to support young people and secure them with job opportunities and also to help provide a dignified life for more than one family. 

In a less than one year, Pharma Bank created a great reputation, cooperated with all the pharmacies around the city and gained a wide experience through working on the field. Lately, the huge inflation has affected their business a lot in many ways, especially their ability to purchase more goods and supplies which dropped down during the economic crisis. The support of the Micro Projects helped this young team to continue their career successfully, today Nagham and Bassel aspire to cover more needs from outside the city of Homs, hoping that their business will grow and get bigger. 

“Although we didn’t have a house before the war, we lost everything and started from scratch!”

Imad was living a simple life with his wife and their three sons in a rented apartment in Al-Hamidia until the cruel war started in 2011 and forced them to leave. Their displacement journey lasted four years; they spent the first two years in a small village called (Fairouza), and the rest in the city of Homs in Al-Arman neighborhood. During that time, Imad didn’t stop working in wall painting, which is his main profession since 1980, Al-Hamidia became safe in 2015 and this family was eventually able to go back home, unfortunately, everything they had inside the house was stolen. but the family decided to have the determination to establish a new life together all over again. 

After the war, the lack of electricity affected all activities of life negatively and Imad’s business was damaged heavily, the frequent blackouts and the old equipment, made it very difficult to finish working on time, which in result decreased his productivity and caused big losses for the business. Having the necessary equipment especially the electric generator will allow him to step up his work and improve his family’s situation in the future. 

The hard economic circumstances forced Jack, the sole support for his family, to find additional sources of livelihood. He is a single man who lives with his old parents, he started working as a nurse in 2014 with a modest salary which was not even enough to cover his family’s needs, so he had to think of a way to enhance his living situation. He took advantage of living near a school and used a small room from their house to sell some biscuits to children. 

His business improved over the years and his profits started to increase while the shop became popular in the area. Unfortunately, this period didn’t last for long due to the hard financial situation and inflation, which affected Jack’s small shop badly leaving it in a real need to be supported with essentials. 

Helping him to buy more goods and commodities will save the business Jack worked very hard for, and will also give him the chance to settle down and plan his upcoming future. 

Samer has been working as a DJ since 2008, and he is well-known in Homs for his great experience in this field. He is the only provider for his wife and two sons. In 2013, someone broke into the place he used to keep his equipment and stole everything, his loss was very big and he couldn’t buy new equipment by himself as it became very expensive.

Since that day, he had to rent the essential equipment each time he got a working offer, the renting costs were getting higher every day and consumed a big amount of his income, making it insufficient for his family’s basic needs. 

Helping him to buy his own equipment through the Micro Projects program will open up more business opportunities for Samer and ensure him and his family a better livelihood during the current harsh circumstances.