Youssef lives with his wife, parents and sister in his family's house. After marriage he was planning to live in a borrowed house and he had started to renovate, but during the war the house was damaged. Then they traveled to Lebanon for three years but he didn’t succeed there so he came back to his country.

During his time in Lebanon, he worked as a blacksmith in a company, after which he worked for two years in maintaining air conditioners, but his income from this work was less than that of blacksmithing. For this reason, he started working in his father's workshop and using old tools and machines.

Unfortunately, after the earthquake that hit Syria, because of their fear they traveled to Hama for a short period of time.

As a young married man, he wants to be the boss of his own business & tools, this way he’d be able to secure his family’s needs and live in a separate house. Now all of these dreams are possible after he got funded.

Harout is 41 years old and a father of two daughters and a son, living in a rented house, his first job was in his father's shoe workshop, then they sold it to cover living expenses. Afterwards he started working as a plumber in a monastery and learned the profession there. 

In 2010 he traveled to Lebanon and continued in the same profession.
At the end of 2011 the family returned to Aleppo and bought a house, unfortunately after nearly just one month, they had to sell the house due to their financial instability; they moved between several provinces in search for a better life and during their absence, the plumbing kit that he has bought was stolen, after which they returned to Aleppo and settled here. 

Harout now works as a plumber in the Salesian monastery along with some other clients but his only problem is that he has a primitive kit so he rents the equipment, which constitutes additional costs.

Harout’s only wish is to raise his children under stable and good conditions, which requires him to search for new ways to increase his income and fulfill his family’s needs. Now with the fund he has all the equipment and he is looking forward to better days to come.

Mikhaiel is a newly married man who recently moved to a rental apartment subsequent to living in his parent’s house since his financial situation was unstable.

Mikhaiel started his career back in his early twenties when he rented his friend’s taxi and worked as an uber driver but this didn’t last long because he got called for military service in 2007 for two years and then he worked in a sewing workshop approximately for 8 years. 

In 2017 he got injured by a shrapnel in his leg and then he got recalled for reserve military service till the end of 2021. after his discharge he couldn’t turn back to the sewing domain because of his injury that made it hard on him to stand for long hours which led him to work as a keeper in a sewing workshop and that is where he currently works, but his income from this job is not enough to cover the livelihood expenses.

The consequences of the earthquake were harsh on his wife, it caused her onset of hemiplegia and her treatment expenses are high so his need to a new and better income became a necessity.

Mikhaiel heard about Hope Center’s Micro projects program and decided to apply for a taxi, because of his health condition this is the most appropriate job for him. Now that he owns the taxi, he is so thankful and full of hope that he will be capable of covering his wife’s medical treatment costs and their livelihood expenses.

Ghassan 55 years old has been working as a carpenter for more than 40 years, he learned this profession and worked in many workshops for more than twenty years, then he decided to become independent and work separately between homes and workshops upon request.

Today, Ghassan is the father of two sons who live in his grandmother’s house, after the loss of their own home, which he bought in 2012. As a result, the family moved to the city of Homs for 4 years to start over. He worked there again with his profession, and he was able to buy new equipment after his old equipment were stolen. 

Currently, his wife helps him with the daily expenses through her work as a teacher in a private school, and he works between homes and workshops, where his specialty is detailing bedrooms and upholstering chairs with primitive carpentry tools.

Ghassan now has a chance of a new start with the new equipment that helps him save time, effort, and expenses.

Pamela lives with her parents and her younger sister in a rented apartment, she has been working since she was 17 and they moved to Tartus to escape from the war and the shells that were falling all over Aleppo.

In Tartus she worked in so many different domains, later, she started taking photographs as a hobby then, that hobby turned to a passion and profession.

In 2017 the family came back to Aleppo and Pamela's friends were the biggest supporters who encouraged her to pursue her passion.

Pamela wanted to take her talent to the next level and upgrade her skills by taking a design and montage course along with continuous self-improving.

She specialized in surgical photography because one of her friends was a dentist who believed in her and they agreed on working together, which enlarged her customers' circle and she became a well-known photographer among doctors who prefer this kind of promotions.

Pamela didn’t have any professional equipment; she used her mobile phone’s camera and when the doctors demanded a professional camera, she had to rent it.

Today after the support of Micro Projects, she has all the equipment and the confident to work independently and increase her income. 

Katia is married with two kids; she loves to take care of her family and pamper them along with prioritizing time for her hobbies and her work.

Katia discovered her passion which was making pastries and sweets, she took a course from a professional chef to gain more knowledge in her specialization.

She started evolving slowly, and her first few orders were from her close friends and her relatives, everyone who tried her sweets and pastries encouraged her to keep up her good work and take it a step forward, Katia chose to work at home just so she’ll be next to her family and take care of them.

Later on, She got well-known and decided to participate in exhibitions to increase her income along with marketing purposes. Katia had some primitive tools that helped her so far but now that she has many more clients it requires her to renew and expand the equipment.

Hope Center’s fund helped to turn her dreams into a reality, and now that she has all the essential tools, she’ll be able to gain more orders confidently and help her husband with their family’s livelihood expenses.

Antoine is married with 2 kids, they live in a modest apartment, his wife and him both work hard for their daughters.

Antoine has made his way in this world by working at air conditioning maintenance since he was a young man, he started as a worker and after taking a course he developed his work range.

First few years of learning the profession were somehow harsh on him, but his aim and hard work paid off and he became skilled and wanted to be more independent; he was planning to open his own workshop, but his financial instability created an obstacle so he ended up as a partner in a workshop with a small share of the profit.

Soon after, the family’s expenses were getting bigger and bigger and his share of the profit was no longer enough as the only income source.

Micro project’s fund planted hope and joy in his soul, now that he is the boss of his own project and has all the machinery he needs, Antoine believes he will conquer most of the financial difficulties he may face in the future.

Antoine is a divorced man living with his daughter who is preparing for the bachelor’s exam and they live a small apartment.

Antoine had a vehicle which he used to drive when he was a round trip driver at a transportation company and he was satisfied with his income but after the war and its consequences the company decided to close and he became unemployed. 

Because he has a daughter to take care of, he needed to quickly search for a new income source so he rented a shop and opened a market from his savings but sadly his market got robbed, to refund his business he sold his car and worked till 2021, then the owner of the shop told him to move out. He started working as a bus driver at the deaf school where he works till now. However the expenses were increasing rapidly and the salary became insufficient. 

Now he got the Taxi, he is happy and thankful for being able to secure his family’s needs and insure a better income.

Mikhaiel served in military for 10 years and now he thrives to start his life from scratch; despite all the difficulties that he has been facing, decided to focus on the opportunities and not the obstacles.

He had started working in the rubber molding domain with his father since he was young, gained experience and even worked during the vacations of his military service.

Moreover, they've lost all of their equipment during the war due to the fact that their workshop’s region was under the control of armed groups for a long period of time. 

Now that he’s a father of two and also takes care of his parents accordingly his responsibility became bigger than ever, but that’s not a hindrance for him, cause he finds all the courage he needs every time he looks at his beautiful family.

So, he applied for Hope Center, hoping to use his great experience to commence his own business and provide a better life for his children. 

"I love my country Syria and I'll keep up working at my shop no matter what" 

Salem who is 66 years old, lives in one of the parish's houses with his wife and three children, during the war they were forced to leave their home for a short period of time and sadly his daughter got injured by a stray bullet and she is still carrying a piece of it in her hand, moreover his stationery shop was damaged by the missiles that were falling around it like rain.

Despite this all, he didn't lose hope and persisted to open his shop and tried to continue his regular life, because he is a strong-willed, hardworking person, who looks at life from a positive perspective, with considering the fact that he is the only breadwinner in his family, whose only wish is to secure the basics for his family.

The equipment that he has are from the day he opened the shop back to 1987, which became outdated and not useful anymore, that's why upgrading his shop became essential for him so that he won't lose more costumers.

With the help of Hope Center, Salem now has all the tools he needs that will increase his income and provide a decent life for his family.

Salim is a hardworking and strong-willed man, who lives with his three siblings along with being the main breadwinner in his family. 

Salim laid the foundation of his sewing experience back when he was young by helping his father in his free time and during his summer vacations.

In 1986, he opened his own workshop and everything was great, the business was profitable, which made him enlarge the project and specialize in sewing uniforms.

The story of his big success was torn apart after the war that hit Syria, which left him with a mounting burden of debt, later on he sold off most of his machinery and his workshop to pay them back.

But he didn’t give up and turned back to his business with the simple machinery that he has kept; day after day he realized, that what he makes is not enough comparing with the market demand.

Now, that he got the opportunity to open a new workshop and turn it step by step to what it was before, he is so thankful to Hope Center for giving him the chance to fulfill his family’s needs and livelihood expenses.

Everyone appreciates his valuable possessions and it is difficult to sell a property in order to face the difficulty of life and the difficult living conditions.

Ohaness faced this problem when he had to sell their house because of the lack of work at that time after he was discharged from the military.

He is 31 years old, served the military for more than nine years, now he lives with his brother, who serves in the military, and his mother in their small house.

He returned to his previous profession in rubber molding after completing his service. But his savings were not enough to open a business, he decided to apply to the Hope Center to get help with a purchase of a press machine.

This initiative helped him have the essential machine to continue and save the family's only source of livelihood. 

Imad learned this profession from his father and developed his skills over time, he used to work with him before the military service that lasted for nine years.

He lives with his parents and brother; he immediately resumed working when he was discharged in order to help in providing for the family.

His craft heavily relies on electricity, which was the thing that hindered Imad's productivity during the current circumstances. He tried to carry on working while using an electric generator that he had rented, but he missed many work chances when renting was not possible.

Imad is determined to overcome the challenges brought by the crisis and achieve his goals, in hopes that with the new equipment, he will not only be able to provide for his family but also save up for his dream of working independently.

Elian, a construction worker who struggled due to the mounting financial obligations and lack of opportunities, thought of a way to increase his income and added another service to his work, which involves lifting construction materials with a mini-winch that he bought with some friends' assistance.

He lives with his brother Adel after their parents passed away and all of their siblings got married and went into their own lives.

But Elian's inability to generate a sufficient income was actually hindered by the lack of electricity, and he couldn't afford the cost of an electric generator.

He wanted the generator to continue working because, as he gets older, his construction work will become more difficult and exhausting, and the mini-winch will ensure he has a source of income because it requires less physical effort.

Shireen represents the strong working woman and the selfless mother who devoted her entire life for her family and didn’t give up no matter how hard the circumstances were.

She is married and the mother of three children, two boys and a girl, and her family is originally from the war-torn village of Al-Qaryatein. 

2015 was the year Shireen and her family were kidnapped by the armed groups that attacked their home village and deprived them of the peaceful life they used to live. Fortunately, they were able to escape and make it to Fairouza village, where they began to rebuild their lives from scratch, just like many other displaced families.

Today, Shireen shares a home with her husband, who is an employee, her only daughter, who is a high school student, her mother-in-law, and her brother-in-law, while the two sons left to find their own paths. She couldn't just stand by and watch, so she made the decision to utilize her sewing skills. Since the experienced seamstress has a long history of working in this industry both teaching and working in it. 

While switching between several workshops in Fairouza over the previous few years, working for others didn’t provide decent living for the family until she applied to the Micro Projects Program in 2022, where she got the needed support to buy the main machines and start practicing her profession at home.

Life was tough on Shireen and her family, and having a project will preserve her dignity and allow her to secure a better income.

Maria and her family were left with a lot of responsibility, but the resilient young woman has shown strength in overcoming all the difficulties following her father's tragic passing.

She lives with her mother and older brother, Alaa, while her younger brother, Elie, traveled abroad to seek his opportunities.

Maria had previously worked for six years in the field of selling accessories and clothes, which helped her gain valuable expertise, and encouraged her to start a business, and in order to assure the project's success, she also drew on her older brother's extensive sales experience. 

The two of them launched a simple accessory shop in 2020 with the goal of finding a way to support the family, which had good profits over the first few months, but in 2021, when the family lost their sole provider, it ended up being their only source of livelihood.

The situation of the country, especially the huge inflation, had an impact on the project, but the true obstacle in their path was the rental expenses, which had recently risen and increased their financial burdens.

Maria and Alaa studied the possibility of developing their shop and decided to apply new ideas, including selling handmade accessories. Based on that, Maria applied for the essential tools required for that and some merchandise to support it, in the hopes that the family's business would succeed and secure them a better future.

Subhi left school at an early age and immediately started looking for a source of livelihood in order to support his family as the only son of his parents. He tried a variety of professions before his brother-in-law taught him about electrical installation, and they began working together in 2014.

Today, Subhi lives in Fairouza village with his wife and their 3-year-old son, along with his elderly parents.

After nine years of working in this field, Subhi managed to acquire all the required skills to work independently, but due to his financial responsibilities, he was unable to buy his own tools and was barely able to provide for his family's basic necessities.

By providing him with the equipment he needs, Subhi will be able to work independently and ensure a better income.

In 2010, Nidal and his wife Badiaa started their small family, and today they are the parents of two boys, Elias (10 years old) and Elie (8 years old). The family of four lives in a rented apartment, and Nidal is their sole provider.

They used to live in the war-torn neighborhood of Bab Al-Sebaa until they were compelled to leave because of the war dangers, and Fairouza village was their new home after starting a new life there. 

Nidal is an electrician, and during his career, he went through many experiences that helped him develop his great skills, particularly in maintenance.

After being forced to leave Homs, he continued to work using the few tools he was able to bring with him. Although it was difficult because he was in need of some necessary tools, the hard-working man never gave up.

Having all the tools will make a positive change and Nidal will guarantee his family a better future.

Catherine, the family's youngest daughter, made the decision to pursue her own career and life path.

When she realized that the major she had been studying was not what she was passionate about, she began working in a hair salon, where she discovered her true passion. The experience she gained at the salon was not enough for the ambitious young lady, who attended specialized courses to broaden her skills and utilize her talent in the best way.

She lives with her parents; her father was a plumber, but lately, he became no longer able to continue in this tiring work due to a health condition, and her mother works as a seamstress at home, their situation made Catherine more eager to work and support her family during the tough economic circumstances.

She intended to take her first step by offering nail care services at home, but acquiring the necessary tools and materials was challenging without assistance.

With her unique skills and good experience, Catherine now has the tools necessary to provide the best service to her clients thanks to this initiative.

Jackie and her husband Mikhail are young parents who are doing their best to give their 3-year-old daughter Tatiana a happy life. The small family rents an apartment in Fairouza village; Mikhail owns a vegetable shop, and when their financial obligations started to increase, Jackie decided to support him in finding an additional income.

For Jackie, nail art was just a hobby until she realized she could use her talent to support her family. In 2021, Jackie turned a spare room in her home into a workspace and began taking on clients. Over time, she was able to acquire a few tools and supplies, but Jackie still required more equipment; particularly a battery to make up for the electricity shortage, in order to ensure better services.

This project is now complete since Jackie possesses the required skills and qualifications, in addition to all the requirements, and she intends to open her own salon in the future once her lovely daughter grows up and starts going to school.

After retiring from his job as a craft trainer at the electrical institute, Khaddour was able to devote all of his time to his career in electrical installation and maintenance, which he started in 1984.

He is the sole provider for his wife and their two children, Ornina and Fadi, who are university students.

Khaddour's entire equipment was stolen while he was working at a construction site in February 2022, which caused him to lose his primary source of income. His wife is, unfortunately, a cancer patient, so his pension barely covered the family's essential expenses. He was also unable to pay for new equipment, which caused him to lose out on many opportunities.

Khaddour was able to resume working thanks to this support, which also ensured him an additional source of livelihood during this difficult times.

For more than 20 years old the 50 years old Aziz Shakur would wake up every day put on his uniform, kiss his wife and three children goodbye, and head to his job as a traffic officer in the streets of the Syrian capital.

His long hours of work under the glaring sun and frosty wind would end only to jump into the other side of the road and pick up on his second job this time as a driver on Damascus' busiest routes called "Al Dwalaa".

During the war in Syria, "Al Dwalaa" became under constant danger as many killing and kidnapping incidents were occurring, and being on the streets made him more exposed to many dangers and threats, that he didn't even have the luxury to comprehend and be scared of in comparison with his main concern; to secure all the household supplies and life basics for his beloved family. In fact, his family was what made him strong to endure all the hardest years of war until they all reached the shores of safety.

While war couldn't shake the ground under this strong man's feet, his daughters recently diagnosed tumor surely did.

inheriting her father's resilience Joelle went through two major surgeries and a long journey of treatments and tests ahead. Her medical condition cost a lot of money and Aziz had to spend all his pension to afford it.

Despite Aziz having reached the age of fifty, he is still in the same spirit and same determination to wake up in the early morning doing his work for the sake of his family.

His hope is renewed with every shining sun and with every rising opportunity that hope of owning a livelihood and providing a better future for his family would be renewed. And even after he retired and reached the traffic department, he wanted to become a self self-employed that roams the street of Damascus looking forward to living with dignity and make his best to support the family that counts on him.

Given the reality we're living in, one has to work day and night just so he can manage to secure the simplest life expenses, especially if he is the sole breadwinner of the family and has young children like the case of Sarkis Al Haddad (42 years old), husband and father for Serjios, Pamela and Paula.

Before 2011, Sarkis worked as a restaurant manager in Jaramana, he was happily planning for his wedding, renovating his house, and having his furniture custom-made. Unfortunately, those plans were postponed for several years because of the war outbreak, as the security situation worsened a lot and Sarkis' job at a restaurant deteriorated rapidly until he became unemployed. He also couldn’t finish his house renovation, the family house in Maaloula was hit by a mortar shell and severely damaged, all the furniture was lost after the carpentry workshop was looted then destroyed in the countryside of Damascus.

Sarkis suddenly found himself starting over from scratch; struggling to find a job and establish a family, but he had to find a solution and start a new career, so he took a bold step outside his comfort zone and applied at the television and radio administration, and through the new job he learned about photography and became a channel photographer. Sarkis loved his new profession and got skillful, he even collaborated with other photographers for covering private celebrations. 

Despite the long working hours and having two jobs, Sarkis’s financial situation was still weak, half of his income was going straight to his employers and he was hardly able to afford the basics for his family.

Sarkis needed a strong push to improve his situation, by applying to the Micro-project program he was supported with the necessary equipment that would allow him to be self-independent and achieve better livelihood circumstances. 

"It takes a lot of courage to push through hard times, a lot of love to care for others, and a lot of faith to go on in Life", those words are a good description of Elias Najjar as a person. 

Elias grew up in a modest house, between loving parents. After attaining his baccalaureate, he didn’t have the chance to continue his studies because he had to work and support his parents and siblings with basic living needs. Although their financial situation wasn’t good, they were glad to have each other.

However, things got harder during the years of war, the father went back to the village and worked as a farmer while Elias kept working in a restaurant for three years but the income was very low despite the long working hours, so he quit and decided to travel abroad hoping to improve his situation. He traveled to Lebanon where he stayed for another hardworking two years until the Lebanese security situation deteriorated rapidly by the end of 2019 whin in turn reflected badly on the economic situation that resulted in Elias losing his job.

He returned to Syria hoping to have a better chance and started to work with his cousin in electrical maintenance workshops. His cousin was an expert in this field and Elias began to learn until they decided to start a workshop together. Sadly his cousin was infected with Coronavirus and passed away, leaving Elias heartbroken in great shock.

Elias had no time to grief because, at the same period, his mother was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo serious surgery and radiology sessions (that she is still continuing).

Despite all the hardships he has been through, Elias never gave up and kept believing that good things are coming his way. He wanted to work but he had to stay beside his mother to look after her, that's why he had the idea of turning a room from the house into a mini-market.

Supporting Elias with the goods and equipment to start his mini-market will make a positive impact on the family’s life, and at the same time allow him to take care of his mother during this difficult period. 

Despite all the ugliness in the world, one can still be inspired by how much love and care the human relationships hide, that’s the moral message we took from Ibrahim and Bashar’s partnership.

Ibrahim Alkhouli was born in 1967 in Al Zabadani town. When he was only 14, he started to work as a blacksmith then when he got older he opened his own workshop, where he shared work with his childhood friend Bashar, even after Bashar got married, he kept working with Ibrahim and they shared good days as well as their life and work challenges. 

However, When the war broke out in Al Zabadani, the town was daily hit by dozens of mortar shells in addition to the armed conflict. Ibrahim and Bashar witnessed the brutality of war and were forced to flee out of the area under bombing and shooting to save their lives leaving everything behind. They went to Bloudan where they stayed for two years, where they spent all the savings just to afford their basic living needs. They were informed that their houses and workshop were destroyed completely with all the possessions and equipment. 

As a result, Ibrahim decided to move to Damascus and start working in any field so he could support himself, he stayed at his nephew’s house in Jaramana and worked as a blacksmith in different workshops then Bashar followed him and they once again spent countless hours working together and shared living expenses; especially that Bashar’s daughter Dalaa was suffering from diabetes and needed high-cost treatment every month.

“We suffered a lot, lost everything we worked for, started from scratch to fight for our daily food, but God manage our life with his great mercy every day” Those were Ibrahim’s words. 

Indeed, God’s hand reached out to the two friends, and through the Micro-project, they were supported with machines, equipment, tools, and electric generator so they could start over their blacksmithing workshop and have a second chance in life.

Nothing can describe the experience of having a disabled child, surviving a deadly war, living in a deteriorating economic situation while being responsible for your family. 

This is the case of Hani Fares, 57 years, married with two sons (Jean 1999, Dani 2001) and a daughter (Rama 2002), Dani suffers from cerebral palsy and requires a lot of love and extra care.

Before the crisis, Hani worked as a warehouse guard at Al Abbaseein Mall and his salary was enough to afford the basic living expenses, but with the outbreak of the war in Syria, Al Abbaseein area was exposed to shelling and sniping, thus the mall closed and all the employees were discharged including Hani who found himself all of a sudden unemployed facing huge responsibilities.

However, one must do what he has to do, so he started a new job and had to juggle all his life hardships. Especially with his son Dani who needs his attention more than anything else. Hani worked for ten years as a salesperson in a supermarket, gaining a big experience in this field, and although the salary was at the minimum, he was grateful for having a job under such difficult circumstances.

Unfortunately, the supermarket owner decided to sell it putting Hani once again at the edge of unemployment, but he did not surrender to despair, he borrowed some money from a relative to start his own mini market and the whole family started to work together for late hours to keep a steady income. Unfortunately, the current economic situation and price instability affected the work very negatively.

Supporting Hani with goods will secure the sustainability of their mini-market, and ensure that this close-knit family has a better livelihood in the future.

"When you have faith in God, you don’t have to worry too much about your daily bread, you just do what you can and let him manage your life” Those were the wise words of Khaled Al-Hreira.

Khaled is 58 years old, married with three sons (Oday born in1998, Qusay and Loay born in 1999).

He is a mechanical engineer and for the last 30 years, he has been working as an employee at the Drinking-Water Corporation in Damascus. During the years of war and under the most dangerous circumstances, Khaled kept going to his work every day because his main concern was to provide his kids with a decent life and proper education despite all difficulties.

khaled's children became the first in their classes, and they are now studying informatics engineering and helping their father as much as possible considering that they are in the age of military service which limits their work opportunities.

However, Khaled didn’t mind to start over, he transformed a room from his house into a small shop where he started to sell bread and some food materials. His good reputation made him very popular in the area, despite the shortage of goods in the shop, people became familiar with it. Khaled was so excited about his new project but the income was very low in comparison with the family's needs, which made him struggle to keep it open.

In the most challenging days, Khaled’s great faith in God didn't weaken, and through the Micro Project program, he was supported with the essential equipment and goods to save his shop and improve his income.

Samira Ayoub, 54 years old, is a single woman living with her sister in a very small and old house in Aldwalaa area in Damascus. Her sister Nawal suffers from some health issues and has no one else to look after her but her loving sister.

Samira worked as a seamstress in sewing factories since 1984, through the years she became highly experienced in the sewing process with all its details, she even made time for fixing clothes at her house in the afternoon after she was given a sewing machine from the ‘holy cross’ church.

Samira spent many years of hard work without hesitation or complaint, despite the significant hardships and the fact that she has no supporters, Samira still sought a better life. She is not able to achieve much in her current job because her salary is very low, but as soon as she became familiar with the micro projects concept, she decided to apply for a sewing workshop in which she can be independent and get a better income at the same time. 

Neither Samira’s age nor her life challenges have hindered her from taking this opportunity to fight for her success, and our role is to empower this strong woman to live the rest of her life in dignity without the need of anyone’s help.

Jamil Demmar is an efficient, hard-working man who spent the past thirty years of his life working as an employee in a goldsmithing workshop. Despite his great experience and professionality of work, he could not save enough money to get his own workshop because of the high costs. 

Jamil lives with his elderly parents and two brothers in a modest house in Bab Touma, the three siblings all work just to afford the house needs and the medical expenses for their parents.

However, within the difficult past years of the crisis, the economic situation became very tough, and his brothers’ income failed to meet all the financial obligations, which forced Jamil to work extra hours to be able to secure all the necessary needs. Unfortunately, his long hours behind the table and the nature of his difficult work led to the deterioration of his health, until he was forced in 2020 to go through three surgeries, after his recovery, the doctors warned him from going back to his old profession and he suddenly found himself unemployed. 

Jamil had no choice but to start searching for another source of living that doesn't require a previous experience, and through the Micro project Program, he was supported by a mini pick-up truck so that he could work and secure a good life for his family. 

From behind his old steering wheel and for over 9 years, Aara was fighting all the difficulties of life. The 55-year-old man has experienced many hardships and yet, still has a warm smile and strong will.

Aara Koiskian is married with two children Arda and Kevork. They lived in Al-Dekhanieh area in the countryside of Damascus, but after the beginning of the crisis in Syria their house was destroyed completely and they had to move out. In 2013, a shell exploded near him and his left hand was hit by shrapnel which hindered him from working in his profession as a goldsmith that he practiced for many years. Aara had to sell his car in order to pay for the treatment and he found himself losing everything; his house, his car, and his left’s hand ability to work. 

However, despair wasn’t in his dictionary, soon after his recovery, Aara rented a microbus and started to work as a driver for as much time as he could to support his family. Due to his respectable and honest personality, he was entrusted by a school to transport students to their houses. Unfortunately, half of his income was going straight to the microbus owner which forced him to work extra hours which he did with gratitude. 

He spoke with determination: “I am willing to work until the last breath I have to secure a decent life for my kids and support their future” 

By helping this self-esteemed man with a microbus, he can have a sustainable source of living to keep his dignity and take good care of the family. 

Although Abdullah Ajam is entering his seventies, he still has the strength of a young man ready to defy all life difficulties. He is originally from Aleppo but moved with his family to Jaramana, Damascus 20 years ago. Before the war in Syria, he worked at a goldsmith workshop but his profession deteriorated with the first months of the crisis. Abdullah stayed unemployed for about a year, but he was not willing to stay at home and wait for support from his sons.

He managed to borrow some money and started his own spices store and named it (Aleppo’s Supplies) and got special spices and goods from Aleppo to become the first of its kind in the area, people loved buying from this store. Abdullah became once again a supporter of his family and restored his independence, then he began to help the Latin church with the relief program of supporting other families. 

However, the past three years were very tough on all Syrians; with the worsening of the economic situation, Abdullah became unable to refill all the goods in his shop and was nearly broke.

By helping Abdullah, the store will continue its success, and the whole family will have the stability of livelihood thanks to the determination of this self-made man.

Being a mother of three little girls without a partner or a supporter within the most difficult circumstances is beyond stamina, yet Shadia had always gathered her strength to keep fighting and overcome obstacles for the sake of her daughters who were looking up to her knowing that she will always be there for them.

Shadia Sawaya is 46 years old, with three adorable girls: Sandi (2001), Sidra(2007), and sally(2012). Her husband passed away 8 years ago by a gunshot during the war leaving her heartbroken and alone. She had to get over her grief and depend on herself to support her family and work in the salon for long hours to put the food on the table at the end of the day.

Her mission was very difficult and she had to face many difficulties; from the increasing living expenses to the lack of electricity and water which affected her work directly as her income was not enough for the basic needs. However, the owner of the salon was generous enough to keep the rent low as she wasn’t able to afford a big monthly payment.

Years passed and her daughters grew to support their mother, Sandi started to work while Sidra helps her mother with house chores and in taking care of her sister Sally.

life has been tough on this family but Shadia didn’t lose her faith and through the Micro project program, she applied for an electric generator and other equipment that will give her a push to improve her salon and stand on her feet again.

Spending your life as an employee thinking that you will have a secure future and spend the rest of your days enjoying your time with your family, was the dream of Marwan AL Yousef who retired after 25 years of working at the Rubber Company, but sadly he found himself facing an overwhelming war that changed everything to the worse.

The 57-year-old man is married and has three lovely children; Rita, Maria, and Joseph. His main concern was always to offer them the best living and proper education but unfortunately, he struggled in the last few years just to keep them safe from terrors and violence, especially after his brother was killed in the explosion of Jaramana 2013. This shocking incident had a huge impact on Marwan, but his faith in God was stronger than this disaster, he just kept praying for the safety and security of his family.

After his retirement in 2016, Marwan decided to keep working and fighting all the difficulties. He turned one of the rooms of his house into a small shop to work from so he could afford the living expenses, until 2020 when his small business was affected badly by the coronavirus pandemic and was about to shut down.

However, sometimes life pushes us to the extremes and only our will and hope can allow us to survive. Thus, when Marwan heard about the micro initiative, he applied for supporting his shop with the goods to maintain the sustainability of his work and a stable income for his lovely family.