Zohrab is a young man who had to face life's hardships at an early age, he left his education and started working when he was only 15 years in mobile and computer maintenance, to help his parents provide the daily needs.

He worked in this domain for about 4 years. He also worked as a vendor in a pharmacy for one year, then as he became 18 he was called for military service. Zohran spent the next ten years of his service in the electronics section, gaining experience in this field.

After the service finished, Zohrab submitted for an electronics maintenance course to improve his skills and follow the fast developments in this domain. He earned the certificate with an excellent degree. But he didn't have a personal laptop, so he started using the one in the clothes shop that he was working for to fix mobile phones.

Due to the hard living conditions, all the family members had to work to provide a decent livelihood, especially after the father passed away due to a heart attack, after all of the stress he went through trying to get a visa for his family, but only the younger brother was able to get the chance and travel to France.

Despite these harsh circumstances, Zohrab refused to give up. Instead, he focused on his goal of initiating his own maintenance work, so he rented a place with the church aid and applied to the Hope Center to purchase the needed equipment to become a freelancer and ensure a better livelihood and more stability of his business. 

Elias the owner of a car mechanics workshop who has been working in this field since 1985, gaining the skills and building good reputation in the industry. For two decades, Elias who is forty now has been the sole provider for his family who depended on him for their daily bread. 

Like any business this workshop was hit hard by the economy, Elias thought it was best to sell it and seek another opportunity abroad, but three months later he came back home regretting his decision but unknowing how to start over now that his business is all gone. Unfortunately, that loss was only the beginning, hardships were about to arise with the start of the war to make Elias' goal to regain his business even harder. 

The devoted man was willing to try everything; he worked in machine maintenance, selling fuel, he even worked as a driver for a private company; a job that turned out to be more dangerous than he ever imagined. While driving on his usual route, Elias found himself a victim of armed robbery and kidnapping that he miraculously outlived.

Losses burdened Elias' shoulders, but they never succeeded in hindering his will to go on. Despite all, he kept knocking on every door he came across and did his absolute best to get the workshop he always desired. 

The micro-projects answered Elias' prayers, and with the funds his long-lost dream of owning a car inspecting machinery drew his first steps on the track of work success and independence.

“Poverty matters when it’s related to the way of thinking, not to the financial situation…”

That’s how Garabet started his conversation…

This ambitious man did not let the hard conditions he faced stop him from following his dream and starting a lovely family, in addition, to initiating a job in Syria after years of living abroad.

Garabet lived in Lebanon for a long time, where he started his career as a sweets and pastries chef. Also, he worked for a Cinematography company, to ensure the family’s livelihood, as he was the only breadwinner for his family.

During this period, he made good money, but unfortunately, the his mother's illness forced him to pay a big portion of his savings for her treatment costs.

Further, he spent a lot of money from his savings on his wedding party, thinking that he would recompensate all those expenses when he returned to his job. But unfortunately, Covid-19 hit the scales, and soom Garabet found himself stuck in Syria with no work and no income.

He had a long experience, and a great amount of resilience within him, so he didn’t give up and bought a mixer and fridge by installments. He borrowed some equipment he needed, as well. He rented a workshop from the a church in exchange of a small cost and started baking.

The taste of his pastries is special, that once, when he didn't have a penny, he borrowed some money to pay for joining a fair, at the end of the fair, he didn’t only pay the money back, he profits exceeded the amount by the double.

Gearabet stilll needs an electric oven, which can increase his capacity, so when Garabet applied to the Hope Center, we were happy to support this persevering man in expanding his work and joining his journey of success.

Starting from scratch, losing his brother, serving in the military for four years, made being the sole provider for a whole family, seem nothing compared to all those agonies for Jamil. 

After he was discharged from the military. Jamil began taking care of his sick father, who was suffering from cancer for several years before losing his battle with illness. 

The death of his father and brother, those who were always supportive of him, caused him a big shock in his life. They used to work together in a blacksmithing, but unfortunately, due to the war, even their rented workshop was lost.

to top all of those struggles, Jamil and his wife, son, and his mother, were displaced from their house because it was in a very dangerous area. 

All these circumstances stole any hope of returning to their damaged house, and their workshop. Jamil had to do anything to meet his family's requirements. He worked as a cleaner, gardener, and salesperson. Later, he traveled for a while to Damascus, but he came back to Aleppo after two years of trying to seek an appropriate job.

After all this suffering, he decided to go back to his main profession, and specialize in manufacturing innovative designs of chairs and tables that were not used before, but Jamil still needed the necessary equipment to initiate such a business.

Applying to Micro-Project was a perfect choice because it’s the best way to receive the support he deserves to be a successful entrepreneur. 

It all began in 2014 when Moses, the father of Kaytana and Hagop, was walking back home late at night, making his way in pitch darkness, and suddenly fell into an 8m deep trench. the most frightening thing was the loss of his sight and knowing that if he would ever be rescued, he is going to be hospitalized to save his injured eye. Help was on the way, eventually Moses was thankful this nightmare ended, but he was still worried about his sight which was heavily damaged and didn't respond well to all the treatments.

For a photographer to lose his sight was devastating and catastrophic. Before the eye injury, he worked with his father in their photography shop, but after the incident his career's future was vague.

It took a lot of determination to get used to living with one eye, but this young man made his mind to save what he still had, especially that due to war he lost his rented house and had to move in with his parents along with his family.

With one eyesight, an old camera, and a lot of determination, Moses made his way back into photography which he was not willing to abandon, but it was extremely hard with the weary equipment. Things were getting overwhelming, but he needed hope to face the challenges ahead and it came in the form of a new camera.

The Micro-Projects initiative was the only way to purchase photography gear and save a career from an evident end. Moses now has a chance to build a better future for his family, a future full of hope.

The 34-years-old Yacoub spent most of his life building a career in car mechanics; from an early age, he worked in several workshops and attended many masterclasses to get acquainted with engines and latest methods, each and every step of the way, he learned new things adding to his growing experience. 

To achieve his goals, this fast-learning man worked in a specialized company which was sadly closed after one year because of the unstable situation in the country, but he did not give up, instead, Yacoub joined a course to focus more closely on car electronics, hoping that someday he will be able to purchase his own car inspection device and set.

Unfortunately, the odds were against him for so long; he had to postpone his dream of independence and worry about making a living from his modest job in a cars' body part retail shop until a good opportunity comes up, and indeed, he found the microprojects program to be the perfect chance. It all came together as his current job gave him the contacts and relations with the market, he discovered how much his income can improve if he obtains the car inspection device while having his first job. The combination of his skills in cars' retail and the inspection device will surely upgrade his lifestyle significantly.       

It is said that a mother spares no means to take care of her family and offer the best for her children and loved ones and sometimes does what seems to be impossible, like Siranoush. 

Siranoush's biggest challenge was the loss of her husband who passed away leaving her behind, to face life alone with no source of income no roof over her head and with the great responsibility of taking care of her disabled.

By the time her husband passed away she had already been through a lot, she had lost her house because of the mortar shells, and moved back in her parents' house and not only she settled in the house where she lived her childhood in but also she went back to practice sewing which she learned from her mother when she was little.

long story short, when Siranoush's financial situation was getting worse she decided to work from home on an old sewing machine even though that machine couldn't operate as she wanted, but having no money to replace it with a better one forced her to stick to what she had in hand.

When the outdated machine started to become an obstacle in the way of Siranoush's small business and started compromising the workflow it became a necessity for her to apply for the micro projects to be able to upgrade her sewing machine, especially that Siranoush's opportunities have increased due to her growing experience and the fact that her daughter also worked in the same domain, which meant that she could provide better job opportunities for her hardworking mother.

Eventually, Siranoush's micro-project turned out to be a family business, where all members of her family can participate in, even her son will help around despite his disability. That way Siranoush will become an independent breadwinner and live in dignity.

Aboud, his wife Huda and his two sons Nicholas and Carlos (12 and 6 years old) live together in the family residence in Aleppo, along with Aboud’s mother Mouna.

At the beginning of war, Aboud couldn’t reach his carpentry workshop in Handarat area, all the roads were cut off and the armed groups took complete control of the area. When dangers of mortar shells became closer and more severe, Aboud took his family and fled to Marmaritta village far from the war beaten Aleppo. 

Eventually Aboud couldn’t stay away from his hometown. So, in 2018 he made the decision of coming back and settling in his parents’ house. In order to financially support the family, he rented a modest carpentry workshop. The problem is that the workshop lacks many important equipment and machines that Aboud can’t purchase on his own.

With your help, Aboud will be able to obtain all the tools to upgrade his production and thus, his profit will increase significantly in the future. 

Vecken has been battling with the hardships of life to take care of his wife and two boys; Garo and Hagop. The war may have ceased in the fighting sense, but its impact on families is still overwhelming. 

Through the first years of war hundreds of shells were falling in their neighborhood, the building in front of theirs was destroyed by one of those shells and their house was severely damaged. Those explosion terrifying sounds affected their youngest son’s physiological health and he has been stuttering ever since.

The financial situation was not good either. Long time ago Vecken was a car mechanic, but for medical reasons he had to quit that field of work. Later he became a janitor at Al-Sharek school. However, the salary is poorly able to support four people during this economic crisis, that’s why Vecken started thinking about finding another source of income to be able to put bread on the table and afford all the educational expenses of his boys. 

The taxi is a life changing step for Vecken, who was happy that he found the type of career that won't interfere with his part-time job, suits his health condition and at the same time will give him a good income.

Albert Gergi is a 45-years-old industrial man, who has 30 years of work experience in Metal lathing.

Albert is married, and a father of Mark; his 15-years-old son. He lives with his family in their house in Al-Serian neighborhood, which was relatively safer than other areas in Aleppo during the war. Unlike Al-Sheikh Najjar where he works. 

While all his relatives have left the country during the war, Albert chose to stay in Aleppo his home town for many reasons; besides being the place where he spent his whole life and loved so much, he also has established his work here and his roots, but most importantly his elderly parents live here and it is impossible for Albert to leave them behind. He is the only one left to take care of them, as one of his brothers lives in Austria while the other is in Sweden. 

Although the family life was stable for Albert, but the business world was not the same. In his domain establishing a thriving business requires a massive capital, Albert made a partnership to be able to obtain the needed machinery. Years went by and he was successful in his job, despite the economic situation which was associated with war, he was financially surviving. But what Albert didn’t expect was that his partner withdrawal from the partnership which Albert can’t afford in this difficult time.

The three months of lock-down due to the Corona Virus, the lack of transportation to the industrial area of Al-Sheikh Najjar (where his workshop is) and the over the roof prices of everything in the market had its toll on Albert. 

Albert applied for the micro projects program hoping that the funding he gets will be a savior for his business because unless he doesn’t take action and find a way to obtain his machinery, he will lose the machines, and that simply means that he will lose his workshop and his life work will be gone to no use. This support for Albert will create a second chance in business and more stability for his family in their foreseeable future. 

Rania comes from a big family, she lives with her mother, both of her brothers and their own families, all in the same household. From early on Rania grew to be an independent, strong woman on every aspect. Her long years of experience in the sewing field enabled her to open her own workshop just before the war started.

Like many people, Rania was affected by the ramification of war. The lack of electricity, the bombing and the bad economics in general forced Rania to sell some of her equipment in order to pay the last salaries of her employees before having to close. Beside the loss of her business, Rania also went through a life-threatening experience when in 2014 she was injured by a falling shell near her house while she was playing with her niece on the balcony, her injuries were critical, luckily doctors removed the shrapnel from Rania’s face and she recovered well.   

The old and small apartment does not suit the large family, That’s why Rania’s brothers will try to move out, this puts all the responsibilities of taking care of her ill mother and the daily life needs on her shoulders alone. 

With determination and hard work Rania is reopening a sewing workshop of her own. She finally bought a part of the machinery that she lacks and now is establishing a good business, taking advantage of her experience, good relations in the business community and the most important the well-known quality of her work. 

Joseph is a graduated architect, but besides his studies he has always been a hardworking and self-dependent man.

His father had lost his workshop and the machinery, and when the family lost their livelihood, Joseph started seriously considering having a full-time job. First, he volunteered with an organization then in 2018 he started working on a laser cutting machine. Utilizing his designer skills, Joseph started making a living by selling architectural models, wooden accessories and many other items. The problem arose when the owner of this machine decided to end their partnership and sell the machine. Joseph would had lost his work because he couldn’t afford to buy a similar machine on his own. 

But Joseph did not give up, he applied to micro project hoping to save his business and indeed he purchased his own laser machine and used his father’s workshop space, and now he is looking forward to have a successful work. 

Elias built a peaceful life in his small village Al-Dwair, without realizing that he would lose it all in a blink of an eye. 

The sole provider for his wife and their three children is a carpenter who opened his first workshop with his brother back in 1985. 

Elias's family lost everything they had and was displaced to the city of Homs, just like all the other families in this village who witnessed the horrors of the war, but, the skilled carpenter didn't let the difficulties get in the way of his work for the sake of the people he loves. 

Every now and then, Elias was able to buy a new machine; however, starting from scratch was not easy in a country that was just coming out of a war, and despite the fact that he worked nonstop, he was unable to afford the missing equipment, particularly the electric generator, that would have increased the productivity of his work.

Elias wants to develop his workshop and guarantee that it is equipped with everything needed to maintain his project successfully.

At the age of 16, Ayman decided to take responsibility and learn a profession; he worked for a hair salon in Al-Arman neighborhood where his family used to live before the war.

Unfortunately, their house was hit by a shell and it was severely damaged, which forced them to move and settle down in Fairouza village. Today, Ayman lives with his parents and only brother, and the two sons are providing for the family after their father had critical health condition that prevented him from working.

The young man worked in Lebanon for one year then when he returned, he continued working at home because he couldn’t afford to open his own salon.

Ayman applied to the Micro Projects Program aspiring to make his first step towards a better future, helping the enthusiastic hairstylist was the beginning of achieving his dream and he is ready to continue by himself depending on his talent and the skills he gained while working in several salons.

Milad's love for his family was his only source of inspiration when things got difficult.

He is a dentist from Homs, lives with his wife Julie, their two sons, Boulos and Nour, and their daughter, Angela, along with his elderly mother. He converted a room in his home into a dental clinic and began offering his services to the residents of the area.

His daughter Angela (24 years old) was born with Dandy-Walker Syndrome, which affected her mental abilities and she requires special care and when his life partner was tragically diagnosed with colon cancer, Milad had to work alone to support the family who relies on him.

The growing responsibilities stopped him from enhancing his work, and all of his income was hardly enough for basic needs and the monthly cost of his wife and daughter's treatment. 

Milad applied to the Micro Projects Program in the hopes that he would be able to renovate the old dental chair that he had been using since 2000. Now that his clinic is fully equipped, he has everything he needs to raise the quality of his work and increase his income. 

Haifaa is a young lady who moved to the city aiming to work and help her family during the hard circumstances. 

She left her parents' house in the village to a rented an apartment she shared with her cousins in Al-Hamidia neighborhood, where she worked in the field of marketing just to cover her own expenses as a beginning.

Haifaa didn't stop at this point; in 2020, she started as a trainee in a nail care center, besides attending a specialized course that enriched her skills and provided her with the necessary experience to work by herself at home using some simple tools she managed to buy. 

In June 2022, she visited us at the center with great enthusiasm and lots of creative ideas for her project and needed support to launch her nail care salon that will improve her profession and ensure a better income. 

Haifaa's ambition of working independently has come true thanks to the Micro Projects Program, and she is now ready to offer her clients the finest service, wishing to maintain a great business as an independent working woman. 

Being his parents' only child taught Rober to take responsibility from a very young age and to be a productive person. His father used to work in Lebanon and when Rober was 12 years old, he moved with his mother to live with him, where he started working at a hair salon and throughout the years, he worked for several salons until he obtained the required skills.

However, when things in Lebanon continued to deteriorate, Rober's family made the decision to leave the country in 2020 and to return back home; the son helped his father and the two of them bought a house in Fairouza village, while the father invested his savings in a micro-bus to provide for the family.

After working at a hair salon for a year and buying a few tools for himself, he started to work at home with the available possibilities. The talented hairstylist built great relationships with local clients around the village, but opening his own salon remained a dream due to the economic crisis in the country, which forced him to go for another line of work as a Latin dance trainer. 

Rober needed this support to make the first steps toward a successful career, especially since he has the experience to be a strong competitor.

Milad is a floor tiler from Homs city, he is the only provider for his wife and their two daughters. He has been in this business since 2002 and gained great experience over the years working between Syria and Lebanon.

Milad and his family used to live in his father's house in Al-Sabeel neighborhood, which they were forced to leave when the vicious war began; the family stayed in a rented apartment in Al-Arman neighborhood, while unfortunately, their old home was destroyed and Milad lost his equipment in a construction site in Al-Dwair village that witnessed the terrors of war.

"I'm borrowing my friends' equipment and sometimes, I have to skip many job offers because I don’t have the needed tools." Milad described his situation, which was a tough experience for the sole breadwinner who had to struggle in order to secure a decent living for his family. 

Now, Milad's life has changed as he can work independently after getting the new equipment and ensure a good income without needing anybody's help, and a new hope was lit in this family's path. 

Hisham works as a floor tiler and has great experience in dealing with thermal bricks with a good recommendation from the company he worked for back in 2001. He is a married man and a father of three, two daughters who are university students and a son who is still in middle school. 

Hisham lost all his equipment during the devastating war as he was living in a dangerous area. However, in order to continue working and providing for his family, he started to borrow equipment from his friends, which was time-consuming. 

A friend told him about the Micro Projects Program; he immediately prepared the required documents and applied for the essential equipment and a generator, which is the most important part of his work. 

Now that Hisham has all he needs, he will not worry about finishing his work on time and he will guarantee a better income for his family. 

Despite his young age, Alaa managed to start his own project and be successful in the profession he chose. He is the only son of his parents; he lives with them in addition to his sister and he supports his father in providing for the family.

Alaa finished high school and decided to learn a craft that would allow him to cover his expenses and at the same time, ensures him a decent income.

He worked for four years at an aluminum workshop and learned all the needed skills to work by himself. In 2018, the young man managed to open his workshop with the available abilities he had.

However, during the last few years, Alaa suffered from the severe lack of electricity, although he had an electric generator, he couldn’t rely on that as he sometimes has to work among his clients' houses. 

He applied for some essential equipment, which is powered by batteries. Supporting his life project and improving his work conditions will encourage Alaa to settle down in his country. 

Syrian ladies have always shown great examples of love and sacrifice and played a very important role in supporting their families with unlimited giving from the heart.

Marilyn is a seamstress from Homs, who chose to work and be a productive part of her society when ensuring a good life became one of the hardest challenges. She is a married woman and a mother of an only daughter called Emeline, who studies civil engineering. 

The hardworking woman started a micro project in the family's shop ten years ago with simple capabilities. Her husband Elian is a tailor too, he used to work for a well-known company until he unfortunately, suffered from cancer and had to quit to get his treatment. 

However, the responsibility of providing for the family fell on Marilyn's shoulders, while Elian went through a long journey of treatment, which financially drained the small family and prevented Marilyn from improving her project. 

Thankfully, Elian got better and he became able to help his wife in their shop and when Marilyn heard about the Micro Projects Program, she found it as an excellent chance to compensate for what they missed and enhance the old machines, in addition to securing the suitable power supply for the workshop hoping for better future for their daughter. 

Firas took responsibility from a young age and had to leave his university in order to work and take care of his elderly parents being their sole support in life. 

He is a single man, in 2020, he moved to Homs city where his older brother lives seeking a decent livelihood and to provide for his parents who stayed in their home village Sadad. 

Firas's experience as a driver began in Damascus city after he was forced to quit studying and work on a taxi. In 2018, he joined the mandatory service, which lasted for two years then he immediately searched for a work opportunity. 

However, the cruel war left very limited work opportunities, and that was the reason why Firas had to work in the field of goods and furniture transporting by using his brother's mini pick-up truck. 

His financial burdens were growing every single day until he became unable to cover all the obligations depending on his income. Firas applied to the Micro Projects Program and aspired to have his own project and work by himself. Thus, he will be capable of helping his sick father and start thinking of establishing his own family. 

Christine Fanouneh is 39 years old, she lives with her mother and brother in Jaramana, Damascus suburbs.

During her childhood, Christine lived in a very harmful environment as her father used to abuse her mother on daily basis in front of her and her sister, her brother was born with Down’s syndrome in addition to many health problems which made him in a continuous of medication and lots of love, care, and attention that the family was missing.

When Christine and her sister became adults, they stood in the face of their father defending their mother which angered him so he kicked them out of the house. Christine didn’t sit around feeling sorry for herself, on the contrary, she started working as a seamstress assistant and took care of the house expenses and her brother's medicine costs.

In 2009, Christine decided to start a job at a telecommunications company where she could meet people and have a social life until 2019 when she volunteered at the GOPA DERD organization.

During those years she kept working in sewing as a part-time job and managed to continue her education and graduate from the faculty of English literature.

Unfortunately, the health condition of her brother Elias was deteriorating and he needed intensive care that her mother couldn’t handle alone as she was not in a good mental situation and suffering from a lack of concentration due to the severe abuse that she was exposed to during her life with her husband, which forced Christine to miss many work days so she can be with her mom and brother.

Christine realized that she needs a job where she could manage her time and look after her family at the same time. She found her way to the micro-projects initiative and applied for a sewing machines, tools, and equipment that will enable her to have a new start in this field hoping that this opportunity will help her provide a proper income to look after her family.

Elie Istanboly, 30 years old, is like many young men of his age who had to spend years of the war facing dangers and horrors during their military service, and in Elie's case, it took nine difficult years of his youth.

Before the war began, Elie worked as a taxi driver and after he was discharged in 2019, he wanted to learn a profession so he could have a career for the future and make up for the previous years.

Elie started working at a metal casting workshop and in the afternoon, he continued working as a taxi driver trying his best to pay all his expenses and provide the living demands for his family.

However, the metal casting profession affected his health as he was exposed to lung poisoning due to inhaling poisoned gases. After his treatment, his doctor recommended that he doesn't go back to the same job because his lungs were damaged, and continuing in the same work might lead to serious outcomes.

But working as a taxi driver wasn’t enough to meet the livelihood costs because he had to give half of his income to the taxi owner, which forced him to sacrifice his health and face the dangers of keep working in the metal workshop for the sake of his family.

Elie was seeking any chance to improve his situation so he applied for the Micro-projects program for a taxi hoping that his life would change for the better.

Today after being funded to buy a taxi, Elie is delighted to have a project of his own. At the same time, he can work harder and improve his living conditions to provide his family and kids with a decent life.

Hassan Jolan, 33, didn’t have the chance to work or learn any profession after turning into his twenties because he was called for military service. He thought it would be a short period and pass in peace, but he did not know that a fierce war would strike his country to steal nine years from his life in which he had to be far from his family and friends under very difficult circumstances until his discharge in 2019.

He went home full of hope, got married to Suzan Altheib, and had adorable two kids who compensated him for the bitterness of wartime. During that period, he started to work as a taxi driver but he encountered critical conditions due to the corona virus and the restrictions that were followed by a huge increase in prices.

Unfortunately, no matter how long he worked, he kept suffering from the insufficient income and he became unable to handle the living expenses and his kids’ demands, especially since the taxi owner started to increase the rent which prevented him from having any additional savings.

However, even though all his relatives and friends were encouraging him to travel abroad, deep in his heart Hassan was praying to have a chance in his country, close to his parents and among his friends, and that’s what he got as he was funded with the taxi project that turned his life around as he has now a taxi of his own, and independence to have a better and sustainable income to improve his living conditions.

At the age of five, the life of Adeeb Haddad completely changed from a young child living in a safe environment with his parents to a homeless orphan moving from house to house.

His father's death in 2001 put his mother in a state of grieving and shock and also affected Adeeb who lost security and stability. Their financial conditions were very bad as his mother wasn’t working, so they moved to live with their relatives until his mother decided to marry and move with her husband to Homs.

Unfortunately, his stepfather was very cruel to him, while his mother was too weak to protect him so Adeeb moved back to his relatives' house and never saw his mother for the next eight years. Adeeb has suffered a lot from deprivation as his relatives were also living in extreme poverty; he was forced to leave school in the sixth grade and worked in cleaning bathrooms and washing dishes, or any other job he could find.

In 2017, Adeeb worked with his friend in a mobile maintenance workshop, where he found his interest, as he liked the profession and learned it quickly until he became well-known in his neighborhood for being a skilled maintenance worker. However, his friend wanted to travel, so Adeeb decided to borrow some money and buy the equipment from him to continue in the workshop alone which gave him the opportunity he was looking for to be independent and start his own project.

Adeeb was working in his shop seeking to improve his living conditions to get married, but no matter how hard he worked, that little dream kept becoming farther because the living circumstances were very tough, and with his modest workshop and old tools, he was unable to save money or improve his conditions.

With the help of micro-projects, Adeeb was supported with new tools and proper amounts of goods to enhance his work and income, hoping that after all those tough days, life will smile on him and he will be able to improve his situation and establish his own family.

Often, we are born to encounter many life obstacles, but the defining point is either giving up or challenging and accepting these obstacles and continuing our lives while we are full of hope and optimism, which was the choice of thirty-two-year-old Johnny Mardini.

Johnny was born into a humble family consisting of a hardworking father who worked day and night for the sake of his family and a loving mother who did everything she could to give love and care, especially since Johnny's older brother George suffers from a mental disability since birth that stopped his growth.

However, Johnny never hesitated to be responsible for his brother or his parents; so he learned the plumbing profession from his father and began to work with him at the workshops and at the plumbing store, trying his best to help with the household expenses.

unfortunately, in 2011 a fierce war broke out and stole Johnny from his family, as he was taken for military service to serve in conflict areas, where he used to be absent for many months without being able to communicate with his family, the thing that made them live in great fear and affected their health. After ten bitter years of suffering and life threats, Johnny was finally released in the year 2021.

After he returned, Johnny did not hesitate to work as a plumber, in the evenings he stayed with his father in the store and tried to give his brother the care he missed in his absence.

Johnny was striving to secure the most basic needs of the house, not to mention the monthly medicine costs for his parents, and despite his tight conditions and poor financial situation, his warm smile did not leave his face, and he kept hoping that life would reward him for his endeavors one day.

Indeed, this self-made man deserved the support of the Micro-project Program in Damascus, where his plumbing store was funded with the necessary equipment and materials that will increase his income and improve his living situation, in the hope it will reflect positively on his life and future.

losing her husband at the age of 26, and being responsible for a newborn baby at the same time is tough for any woman to handle, but Nancy Alshoufi decided to direct her love and care to her baby who will grow up without his father's support.

Her in-laws were also in great shock as they lost their son at a very young age, Nancy decided to keep living with them trying her best to look after them after their huge loss.

This young lady’s sacrifice had no limits as she took a full-time job to afford her son’s basic demands and at the same time help her in-laws with the house expenses. She also decided to finish her education at the faculty of translation as she is now in her third year continuing her journey in work and study with great passion.

In 2019, Nancy took a Micro project management course at GOPA and won funding for starting a small nuts shop in the neighborhood which will be additional income for her but unfortunately, the start of her project was in parallel with the Corona crisis in the country which led to a huge increase in the prices and the fund she got wasn’t enough for buying 20 percent of the shop’s goods and materials.

Yet, she kept trying with the help of her father to sustain the shop and manage its capital to buy new goods, but that became difficult as time passed because of the hard economic conditions of the last two years.

Although Nancy was struggling to make a balance between her living expenses and raising her son in good conditions, she didn’t lose faith in God who led her to apply at the micro-project office in Damascus and she was supported with the necessary goods and materials that will increase her income and ensure the stable and secured income.

Behind the great amount of sadness and calamities that Fahed has been through in his life, there is a loving, confident heart and a solid will to improve himself and save his family from their tragic situation.

Fahed Farah, 34, is a caring husband and father of two sons; Farah, born in 2017, and Charbel born in 2019. He lives along with his family in a dilapidated flat in Al-Dwalaa neighborhood.

At the beginning of his twenties, Fahed was called to the military service for eight tough years of his life, he had to face the most difficult conditions until his discharge in 2018. He was then facing a harsher reality as his son was diagnosed with a brain tumor and needed to undergo a surgical operation which cost Fahed all his savings in addition to selling his wife’s gold jewelry.

Fahed was on the edge of a breakdown, but his will was stronger than his conditions, so he decided to defeat all the obstacles and start over. He returned to the physics college to continue his education in the morning, and in the afternoon, he started working as a taxi driver and a physics tutor at the same time, trying his best to secure the living demands and his son’s medications for misfunction in the Hypothyroidism which led to lack of growth.

Sorrowfully, such an effort didn’t improve his situation because half of his income was going straight to the taxi owner and he was looking for a miracle to save him from his hardship.

Now, after applying to the Hope center to have his own Taxi, Fahed is determined to improve his livelihood, finish his university study and provide his family with decent living circumstances.

Wadie Abou Assaleh, a 60-year-old man, is married to Claire and they have two sons George who since his born in 1994 suffers from a mental disability, and Elias born in 1991. 

From 1985 to 2011 Wadie worked as a goldsmith along with his brother at their workshop but after the outbreak of the war, their profession was affected badly. Hence, his brother traveled abroad and Wadie was forced to close the workshop and work as a private driver for an archbishop on the Damascus-Beirut international road which provided him with a decent income during the years of war.

Wadie dedicated his life to the sake of his boys as he provided his son George with all the love and care he needs; he wanted to support his son and prove to him that disability is not an inability, so in 2012 he rented a mini-market near his house and filled it with goods so his son could do something valuable and be socially involved with the people every day.

His other son Elias traveled to Erbil but he couldn’t’ find a proper job and Wadie had to send him money every month to secure his living. Unfortunately, by the end of 2019, the corona epidemic affected the situation all over the world and the travel movement stopped between Syria and Lebanon which left Wadie jobless.

His son Elias was also in a bad financial situation in Erbil and wanted to return to Syria so Wadie had no choice but to sell his car to pay him the military service fees.

Although Wadie started the market to enhance his son's social abilities, now even with its poor amount of goods, it became the only source of income for the whole family. Giving him the chance to renew his goods will help him overcome all the tough days and allow him to improve his family’s situation.

As long as you keep smiling in the face of your difficulties, life will reward your great hope. 

Simon Tannous is 44 years old, he is married and has two adorable girls, Hala born in 2008, and Lana born in 2013.

Simon and his family live in a small rented flat in Kashkoul and he also works in his mini-market in the same area.

He was an employee as a driver at the construction administration in Damascus since 1996, but his low income wasn't matching his living expenses which made him decide to have additional income, he started his own mini-market shop in 2010 where he used to work in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, after about three years of the war’s outbreak, the violent acts spread all over and as a result, the armed groups robbed and vandalized his shop which cost him many losses.

Yet, Simon didn’t hesitate to borrow some money and buy new goods to keep the work going which annoyed the troublemakers in the area and they reported him to the police station for selling alcoholic drinks illegally. That cost Simon five years of his life in prison until the church intervened to prove his innocence and he was set free in 2019.

After his release, Simon’s health was affected badly as he was suffering from Back disc pains which made him quit his job at the administration and returned to work at his mini-market.

During the last years, Simon’s family survived with the support of the church’s relief aid and the help of their friends and relatives. Simon couldn’t provide his shop with new goods to improve the work and increase his income.

However, despite all the difficulties he has been through, Simon’s smile never disappeared and he kept praying for a better future. Indeed, his hope wasn't disappointed and with the help of the Micro-project program, he was supported with a proper amount of goods that will increase his income and improve his situation.

Sometimes the only thing that can keep you fighting, is believing that one day everything is going to be better.

Najeh Ajaiby, 52, has never stopped believing that good things are coming on his way.

he is originally from Egypt and came to Syria in 1997 looking for better work opportunities, so he started to work in his profession as a carpenter in different workshops. Soon after he got married to Samar AL-Abdoun and had three children Ruba, Fadi, and Mina.

Najeh worked hard for many years in Al-Swaida until he became able to establish his own carpentry workshop in 2009 in the same area. His wife and kids were living in Damascus so Najeh was planning to move his workplace there to be close to them but in 2011, the war started in the country and the deteriorating security situation in the area prevented him from moving. For more than ten years, Najeh was forced to be far from his family working as hard as he could to secure all their living needs and provide his kids with proper education to secure their future.

Indeed, his daughter Ruba is studying now at the Engineering college, his son Mina is in the faculty of Medicine while the other son Fadi has won a scholarship to study flight engineering in Moscow.

Even though Najeh was delighted to see his kids succeed in their studies, he had to work harder to meet the increasing costs of living which were unbearable, especially within the electricity blackouts situation in the area which affected his work directly as his customers started to deal with other workshops which have electric generators and can do the work on time.

Now after being financed with the electric generator and the necessary equipment, this self-made man has the chance to improve his work which will change his situation for the better and secure decent living conditions.  

Salwan Alnasr is 43 years old, married to Rita with a 13-year-old son called Jack.

Salwan and his family live in a modest rented flat in Al-Dwalaa, He used to work as a tile setter for more than 13 years. Despite the fact that his work was very hard and affected his health on the long term, he kept working to afford the best life for his family because during the crisis years, no matter how hard he worked, his income didn’t level up with the high costs of livelihood.

Unfortunately, in 2017, Salwan started to suffer from severe pain in his back and the doctor told him that he has to go through surgery that he couldn’t afford, but “the Good Shepherd Association” covered the surgery’s costs and after the operation, he had to stay for about 18 months in bed rest. During that period, Salwan had to spend all his savings to afford the basic living needs and after his recovery, his brother helped him to start a small shop close to his house where he could be able to support his family without much physical effort.

He worked in the shop with his brother until his traveling in 2020 when Salwan took the responsibility of running the shop by himself and he became very popular in the neighborhood as people got used to buying from him.

However, due to the Corona and the huge increase in prices, Salwan couldn’t support his shop with new goods, and day after day it became empty besides a few materials that were left on the shelves. Salwan was in a bad financial situation and he wasn’t able to make a balance between his income and his family’s living demands. 

“Don’t let life bring you down. Remember that God gives you struggles to test your faith.”

Salwan’s faith was stronger than his struggles, and now after being supported by the micro-project program he is able to support his shop with a good amount of goods and products to improve his income and restore his life balance.

In 2010, Tony left his village and headed to the city of Damascus with hope and determination to make a change in the life of his family. He settled in Al-Dwalaa neighborhood and started to work in any available job and send most of his wages to his mother and brother who suffers from sight disability. 

Unfortunately in the first years of the war the security situation in Damascus deteriorated badly, and soon after, he was asked to serve in Hama.

Tony accepted the bitter reality and for more than eight years he served in very dangerous zones, went through several hardships, and survived many calamities. Yet, he didn’t let his situation bring him down, on the contrary, he learned the hairstyling profession and while he was serving in Hama, he worked at Marmarita village then when he was transferred to serve in Damascus, he continued his work there and gained good experience by the leading of professional hairstylists in the area.

The day that Tony was looking forward to, had arrived and he was discharged from the military service. He didn’t hesitate and started to work many shifts during the day to improve his financial situation, he wanted to save money to have his own salon, but his family’s situation wasn’t stable and he was sending them money every month to secure their basic living demands.

Tony’s dream of being independent and having his private job was fading away with the increasing costs of living, but he kept on the hard work until he heard about the micro-project program so he came with all hope asking for support.

Now, after being financed with the necessary equipment and the electric generator, Tony has finally reached his goal; having his own salon, and being independent to mprove his living circumstances.