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. 

Twenty years ago, Maryam launched her small shop to assist her husband; the mini-market is a part of their home because they converted a room rather than renting a place to save the financial responsibilities. The fact that she sold a variety of goods in a busy neighborhood, including food commodities, coffee, and cleaning supplies, in addition to making her own dairy products, increased the project's chances of success there.

Yet, the extreme inflation had an impact on Maryam's shop and led to a shortage of merchandise to the point that she could not keep up with the sharp rise in pricing. She has three sons; the youngest had health issues that stunted his growth, and he needs special care and permanent medication.

The hard-working lady strives to preserve her family's only way to a life of dignity, and the Micro Projects Program enabled her to strengthen her shop, ensure a larger variety of products for her customers, and increase her family's income.

After being displaced from their home village of Al-Qaryatein and losing everything, Ibtihaj did all she could to ensure that her family of four got a dignified life. 

She is married and the mother of a boy and a girl; they live in a rented house in Fairouza village, her husband, Waleed, has a genetic disease that has rendered him blind, while her children are still school students, thus Ibtihaj has taken on the role of the family's main breadwinner. 

With simple capabilities, Ibtihaj managed to rent and open a mini-market, which was the only way to cover the family's needs and their monthly obligations.

However, the mini-market was heavily affected the economic crisis and the sharp rise of prices that left it short on many goods and necessities.

This initiative brought new hope to the project, and Ibtihaj is looking forward to a new beginning that will enable her to secure a better livelihood for her son and daughter.

Akram used to work with his father and brother in floor tiling, and throughout the years, the hardworking man gained new skills in stone cladding and decoration besides his main profession.

His work was very good, and in 2009, he saved some money and bought a basement in Fairouza village, which became his family's only shelter when the cruel war began in Homs.

He is a married man and the father of a daughter named Jessica; after his father passed away, Akram became his mother's provider. His wife Nisreen runs souvenirs shop and helps him in covering the family's needs, while their daughter, Jessica, is at the ninth grade.

For Akram to be able to work and provide a sufficient income for his loved ones, he needed some important tools, so he applied for the necessary equipment and an electric generator to overcome the lack of electricity challenge that was affecting his productivity and preventing him from pursuing more opportunities.

Hanna is the only provider for his wife, their two children, Maya and Fadi, as well as his elderly mother.

He has more than 35 years of experience as a floor tiler, which he has gained through hard work between Homs' urban center and its rural outposts.

Hanna had most of the essential equipment, but he needed some additional tools to improve his work since he was forced to stop working for four years during the war and spent all the family's savings to cover their needs. Later, he couldn’t afford to buy them, taking into consideration the economic situation in the country and the financial obligations of living that are growing continuously.

Hanna's productivity will increase now that he has everything he needs, especially the electric generator, in addition to the electric bike, which will allow him to save on the daily expenses he used to pay for transportation costs.

Samer fought cancer bravely after a painful battle in 2019 and resumed working in his profession as a floor tiler. He lives with his wife Ragheda who is, unfortunately, suffering from cancer too, in addition to their two sons Asaad (18 years old) and Ronny (14 years old). 

In 2012, Samer lost all of his equipment and in order to provide for his family, he started to buy used tools each time he had the chance, but they became worn out over years and negatively affected his work, however, what made things harder for him was not having an electric generator that is necessary for his work. At the same time, he couldn't afford to buy new equipment being the sole breadwinner for his family.

Samer applied for new equipment and an electric generator to improve his business productivity, which will enhance his income and allow him to ensure a better life for his family. 

Elias is a young man who was compelled by the cruelties of life to abandon his childhood and school to support his family when his father was diagnosed with a psychological disease.

The 11-year-old boy was forced to find a way to support his parents and sister; his mother used to be a seamstress, but she was sadly diagnosed with cancer, which stopped her from working, since her profession was tiring and she underwent a critical surgery.

Elias found that the best solution was to learn his uncle's profession; he stayed for 2 years in a village near Homs where his uncle lived and worked with him in his car repairing workshop.

Being the only son, he returned to the city of Homs to take care of his family, which counts on him; Elias had one goal that he focused on throughout the years, which was ensuring his family a decent income. 

He moved between many workshops and traveled to Lebanon to acquire the needed skills, which helped him a lot, but again, he couldn’t leave his family for a long time.

The difficult financial situation was the obstacle that stopped him from launching his own project; he worked for a workshop in Fairouza village, and his sister Mary left her university to work and support him. The Micro Projects Program was a great chance to take his first step, which will allow him to support his family. 

Elias's heart was full of hope that this project would be the light in his family's life and the way to improve their living conditions.

Antoinette played the roles of both a father and a mother for her children and carried the entire burdens by herself.

Her husband died after 11 years of suffering from cancer and kidney failure; she is the mother of two children, a boy named Rami, who is 14 years old, and a girl named Naya, who is 15.

She worked as a cleaner on a farm in order to provide for her children's needs and secure a place for them to live when they were forced to leave their home in Wadi Al-Sayed neighborhood due to the war in 2012, and everything she did was in an effort to ensure that her little family lived a decent life. Antoinette took care of the farm for eight years until its owner sold it, posing a new challenge for the mother and her two children.

However, being a strong woman, she didn't give up and moved with Naya and Rami to a rented apartment in Fairouza village, where she worked in the preparation and sale of homemade meals, and later, with the aid of her brother, she was able to rent a small shop and open a modest mini-market, providing for her and her family with a source of livelihood.

Inflation had a bad influence on Antoinette's mini-market, and sadly, her brother, who used to assist her, is now battling cancer.

The Micro Projects Program gave this hard-working woman new hope for the future by giving her the necessary support to revive her project.

Ghada is a strong lady who bravely faced the hardships of life on her own after losing her husband, who was her only family. She overcame throat cancer and went through a long treatment journey.

She has worked as a seamstress for more than 40 years, and thankfully, when her health began to gradually improve, she was able to resume her work. Also, for 29 years prior to her retirement in 2011, Ghada worked as a school bus assistant.

However, she wasn’t spared the calamities of the devastating war, and her house was destroyed in Bab Al-Sebaa neighborhood. Today, she lives in a small rented apartment and relies on her simple pension, in addition to sewing for a living, but the bad situation of electricity decreased her productivity and sometimes, she had to borrow her relative's manual machine to finish on time.

Helping her to solve this problem by providing the suitable batteries guaranteed the continuity of her main source of livelihood and ensured this woman, who has always depended on herself, a life of dignity.

Simon's story with this profession began back in 2000, when he learned all about sewing from his wife Amal, converted a room of their house into a workshop, and worked for more than 20 years.

The couple were specialists in producing women's pants, and their small business was flourishing, which allowed them to ensure a decent living for their family, which consists of two children and Simon's mother, who lives with them.

The simple workshop was impacted by the war, particularly the economic crisis and the severe lack of electricity, which hampered productivity for the past three years.

Simon and Amal were left with no choice but to switch to a different energy source in order to save their project, and for the family providers, who barely had enough money to cover the necessities, that was almost impossible. 

With this initiative, Simon managed to buy sewing machines powered by batteries, which will guarantee sustainable work and a better income for the family.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Every loss in life could be compensated except for health"

This is how Sohail Maydaa 44, expressed his tragedy

Sohail is married to Afaf Dheifo and has two adorable daughters Mariam and Ritta, he worked hard to secure them a decent living. Sohail's financial situation was not stable, but they were satisfied and thankful to God for everything in their life.

Unfortunately, the year 2012 had the greatest impact on this family, as the birth of his daughter Rita coincided with the survival of his daughter Mariam from a huge explosion that occurred in the Al-Qazzaz area while she was on her way to school. 

Although Mariam survived that incident, she witnessed horrors, fear, and dead bodies all over which affected her psychological situation, and she needed many therapy sessions to restore her strength, yet she refused to go back to school after that.  After a while, his newborn daughter, Rita, was diagnosed with autism, after which Sohail and his wife began a long journey of treatment and care in light of the cruel war and daily hardships.

Suhail worked for 20 years on a rented taxi, but during the war and due to  the expenses of his two daughters' treatments, the taxi income was no longer sufficient to meet all those obligations, so he started working in a restaurant a part-time shift additional to his work on the taxi and was striving to provide his family with the basic living demands.

Sohail applied for the taxi project, hoping that he will finally get his independence at work and get the opportunity to improve his income.

He is now focusing his efforts to work on his new taxi, especially after he was relieved of the high rent which will improve his living conditions and provide his daughters with the needed care.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Issam Heilaneh is 28 years old living with his mother and sister in a rented small flat in Jaramana, Damascus suburbs.

He used to live with his family in Heineh village, his father passed in 2007 after long suffering from heart disease leaving Issam responsible for his mother and sister.

Issam left school at a very young age and began to do any job available to afford his family's living expenses because they were living in a poor financial situation. During the years of war, their village became surrounded by armed groups from all borders and they became isolated and unable to go out with a lack of all living necessities such as electricity, water, and food products.

life in Heineh was getting hard year after year, and when he finished his baccalaureate and needed to continue his education, Issam decided to move to Jaramana with his mother and sister. He started to work at a cafe, then in 2018, he worked as a taxi driver paying a third of his profit to the taxi owner which made his income not enough to meet his living demands.

After applying for the taxi project and being funded, Issam started a new chapter in his life, as he is now the master of his work and with the new Taxi, he can work to increase his income and afford his mother and sister decent living.

Firas Al-Rasheed is an ambitious young man who did not allow the years of war to waste his life. Despite all the horrors of the war that he went through, he was determined to continue close to his family.

Firas' father was working as a janitor in the monastery of St. Ibrahim Al-Khalil in Kashkoul, he did his best to afford his family a decent living and educate his two sons.

when the security and economic conditions began to deteriorate, Firas decided not to continue his study and traveled to Lebanon where he started working as a driver to transport wood, and at the same time, worked at a carpentry workshop to save as much money as possible and support his parents.

When the war was about to end, he returned to Syria and started a mini-market in his neighborhood. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus epidemic came with quarantine, which affected the economic situation and prevented Firas from turning his capital and renewing his goods.

At the beginning of 2022, Firas got married and two months later, his flat was burnt including all his furniture and belongings in addition to having his face and hands burnt while trying to put off the fire, that incident was a great loss for Firas especially since his flat was rented and he had to pay for its renovation.

Firas had no choice but to sell his wife's gold jewelry to compensate for the losses, the couple moved to live at his parent’s house. He was determined to work and improve his living conditions so he applied for the taxi project hoping to have the opportunity to compensate for all his previous misfortunes. 

After having his own taxi, Firas now is working hard with hope to improve his income and secure decent living conditions for his wife and parents.

Amer Shehadeh is a 32-year-old young man, who lived within a humble family that used to work and support each other to continue in life.

since he was twenty, Amer didn't hesitate to do any work to help with the house demands; he worked as a cleaner and many other jobs to have additional income. unfortunately, the war broke down to end his endeavor, as he was called for military service where he spent more than a decade of his life serving in the most dangerous places.

During those years, he went through very difficult circumstances and suffered from hunger, and fear, in addition to living in constant danger daily. however, Amer has survived all of that putting all his hope in the mercy of God, with all faith that life will smile at him one day.

His main concerns were related to his elderly parents, who suffer from several diseases and although his brother was working in electrical maintenance, his income was barely enough to secure food and medicine.

In January 2022, Amer was finally discharged from the military service, he returned to his home feeling that he was born again, but during his service time, he didn't have the chance to gain experience or have any profession.

Amer was confused and didn't know where to start or what to do until one of his relatives told him about the Micro-projects program, and he immediately applied for the pick-up truck project, assuring that he still had the strength and determination to do any hard work to secure his livelihood and handle his parents' expenses.

Indeed, Life smiled at him, as he was financed with the pick-up truck project to start establishing his life and make up for the lost years, hoping that this brave young man will get a good income to secure a decent life for himself and his family.

Bassam Gerges, 60 years old, is married to Aida Haddad, and they have four daughters, who, as he put it, are the most valuable thing in his life.

For over thirty years, Bassam worked hard, trying as much as possible to provide the means of livelihood for his family and get his daughters to university. His dream was for his girls to be educated and independent to prove their success in life without the help of anyone.

Bassam was working in a company as a transaction facilitator, but at the same time, he worked as a sales representative using his minivan to sell milk products trying as much as possible to take care of his family. 

At the beginning of 2008, the owner of Bassam's house raised the rent and Bassam became unable to pay so he decided to sell his minivan and buy a fifth-floor flat in Jaramana to shelter himself and his family, and despite its small size and modest condition, it formed the perfect shelter for them during the time of explosions and horrors.

However, in the past years, Bassam's biggest dreams started to come true as his four daughters entered university and after their studies, they are working to support themselves and help their father with their expenses.

His daughter, Josephine, said: "My father worked hard to provide us with the best conditions and secure our future and he was always kind and supportive"

At the age of 60, Bassam became unable to handle his work hardships especially since his salary is low and no longer enough for their daily food so he applied for the mini-van project seeking better work conditions and sustainable income that will help improve his living conditions.

For over twenty years, Tanous Qadmous 55, was struggling to provide his family with the best possible living. 

He is married with two kids, Joseph born in 2000, and Jessy born in 2002, living along with his family in Alqseir village.

Tanous realized that his income was quite low so he moved to Damascus and started working as a barista man at a restaurant while his wife and kids stayed in the village. for many years Tanous sacrificed being far from his family and worked long hours daily so he could send them money every month and secure their living, especially since his daughter was born with mental retardation and needed a lot of care and attention.

Soon after the beginning of the Syrian war, Alqseir village was affected by the armed conflict and its citizens became victims of the violent acts so Tanous had no choice but to bring his family to Damascus to save them from constant danger. 

Tanous kept working at the restaurant until 2016 when he wasn’t able to meet his living expenses anymore and his health started to deteriorate due to his long working hours, so he quit and started working as a taxi driver hoping to increase his income but in the last years, with the increasing prices and the fuel crisis, Tanous realized that most of his profits were going to the taxi owner at the end of the month and his living condition was getting worse.

During that period, his son Joseph who was suffering from Dysarthria started working to support his father but despite all their hard work, Tanous became incapable of securing the simplest living demands.

Helping Tanous with the Taxi project will provide him with a sustainable source of income to provide his family with a decent livelihood and secure their future, assuring his faith that hard days won't last forever.

"Nothing wrong with whatever you do for a living, as long as you do it with dignity"

This is what Ghazi Al-Nasir, 59 years old, has proven.

He is married and lives with his wife and two sons in a small modest flat in Jaramana, Damascus suburbs.

since 1995, Ghazi worked as a school janitor and for more than twenty years he didn't mind doing the hard cleaning work because his main concern was to secure a decent livelihood for his children and support them to complete their education; his eldest son is studying now at the Faculty of Commerce and Economics, and the youngest is studying in the Faculty of Informatics.

Ghazi was very proud of his sons and considered the fact they are studying at the university his biggest achievement in life.

However, in the year 2019, Ghazi had an injury during his work at school, which caused him a severe fracture in his foot, and because he couldn't afford the high costs of the operations, he ended up suffering from a 30% disability in his leg and wasn't able to work anymore, so he started a small buffet service in the school for students, and for two years he was able to support his family through its income.

Unfortunately, at the end of 2021, the ministry of education stopped all the school buffets, which made him without any job.

"When God closes a door, he always opens a window"

Through the Micro-projects program, Ghazi was financed with the necessary goods and equipment to start his small mini-market, which he and his family will work in, hoping to obtain a sustainable income that will provide them a decent life.

The effects of the horrific war have reached everyone on several levels, but the biggest impact that we are suffering from is the people’s migration which most likely comes with very negative results such as the case of Michele Othman and his wife.

Michele is 47 years old, he is married to Fadia al-Jat, the couple used to handle all hardships together and even during the time of war, they faced danger and insecurity by supporting each other to pass that difficult period.

Michele was working in his mini-market daily trying to secure their living but in the post-war period, the economic situation became worse and they were barely able to afford their daily food. 

they were dreaming to live the rest of their life in better circumstances so they decided to risk everything as his wife borrowed some money and started her journey abroad toward that dream. Unfortunately, she went through five tough months of homelessness until her husband finally managed to bring her back to the country.

that attempt had a significant impact on the couple and their living conditions because Michele had to spend all his savings to bring his wife back, which affected his Mini-market as he didn't have the money to renew the goods.

Michele and his wife were striving for a better life, but they returned to scratch after losing everything they worked for.

However, Michele decided not to give up, so he applied to the Micro-project program for support, hoping to restore his sustainable source of income and have the opportunity to improve his living conditions and secure his future.

It is always promising to see young people who have emerged from the horrible years of war, full of hope and determination to make a difference in their lives and their surrounding society. Nael Al-Saad, 25, is the perfect example of that.

Nael’s father was a tiler and his mother was a school teacher, they worked hard to secure their children's livelihood and education despite the bad situation they were living in, the harsh living conditions, and the old dilapidated flat, but they were able to put their children on the first steps of success; as Nael is at the fourth years of the faculty of Law and his sister Wisal have finished her university education and started working as a school teacher.

However, in the past few years, his mother retired and his father's health began to deteriorate due to his hard work, so Nael had no choice but to start working in addition to his study to support his parents and secure the house expenses.

in 2016, Nael began voluntary work with the Syrian Society for Social Development and worked hard to positively impact his surrounding community. For 5 years, Nael used to work, study and improve himself, trying as much as possible to secure the family’s expenses and financial obligations, which became more difficult during the current circumstances and the increasing prices, so he took a part-time job at a stationary store to increase his income.

during the time, Nael found himself with this work and had many ideas to add; such as securing university services for students, their lectures, and many other ideas, so he decided to apply to the Micro-projects program, asking for support to start his own project.

Indeed, this creative self-made young man deserved a chance in life and was supported to start his stationary store hoping that it would be a supportive project for the whole family to improve their living conditions and provide them with sustainable income and at the same time allow Nael to finish his education.

Marwan El Khoury is married and has two sons. Elias, who since his birth in 1995 was suffering from cerebral palsy, and Majd was born in 2000.

For more than thirty years, Marwan worked hard as a painter trying his best to secure his family a decent life and provide his son Elias with the needed medicine, and the necessary care.

He did not hesitate to take a second job to increase his income, so he started working on his brother's pick-up car, transporting goods and everything available.

However, the horrific war affected the life of this simple family; the severe bombing and constant dangers forced them to sell the truck.

At the same time, Marwan's work in painting began to decrease gradually due to the high prices of materials, but he did not lose hope and kept working on whatever he could, trying to secure the simplest living demands for his family.

His hard work for those long years had affected his health, and he became no longer able to carry out painting workshops as before, Marwan was seeking another job to support himself and his family, which led him to apply for a pick-up car.

This struggling man deserved to take another chance in life, and his request was approved, hoping to secure him a sustainable income that would provide his family with a decent life and secure their future.