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.

“For my family to be well, secure, with the basics of living, is all I seek in life”

Firas is 44, married to Hadeel Dahdal and they have two adorable daughters Marita, born in 2013, and Marcel born in 2016.

Firas got employed at the Ministry of Electricity in 1999, but his salary wasn’t good enough to secure a decent living so he started studying at university and in the afternoons he worked at a Foul and Falafel restaurant in Al-Dwalaa neighborhood.

He graduated from the faculty of trade and economics in 2009, then Firas and his brother started a devices maintenance shop in Jaramana and at the same time, they were benefiting from the olives harvest from their village “Tasia” in Daraa governorate. 

Unfortunately, A couple of years after, the war started in the country and its violent effect spread all over to reach their village, all the houses were destroyed and the olive trees were cut, and their farming land was burnt which was a devastating loss for the family. As a result, the shop’s income became insufficient to meet the living expenses which made his brother leave the country and Firas was facing all the financial obligations of the shop alone, so he had to close it soon after.

However, despite all those losses, Firas didn’t despair and he took part-time jobs to increase his income so he could afford the basic needs of livelihood which were increasing year after year until he became incapable of meeting them no matter how long he worked. 

With the help of the Micro Project initiative, Firas now has started his Foul and Falafel Restaurant in Bab Sharqi and he is full of determination and enthusiasm to make this project succeed in order to improve his living conditions and regain his independence. 

For most of his life, Samer was struggling against his life calamities which hit one after another stealing many years of his life.

He started working in maintenance back in 1994, and for many years he kept doing his hard work and paying installments to buy a pickup truck so he could have another source of income and improve his living conditions.

But the life wheel has turned upside down and in 2010 Samer was diagnosed with lower-jaw cancer, and for the next two years, he had to go through twelve surgeries that cost a lot of money and forced him to sell his pick-up truck.

Soon after, Samer had his two kids Selina and Mark who brought happiness to his heart and helped him to overcome his painful affliction so he returned to his work trying to secure his family the best living conditions.

Unfortunately, his peaceful life collapsed by the beginning of 2020 when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and needed surgery to remove the tumor, in addition to chemical therapy which he couldn’t afford so he had to borrow money from his friends and got help from his family for his wife who is still under treatment.

Despite all, Samer had faith that after every storm, there will be a rainbow and this strong faith brought him to our office to apply for the Taxi project which was approved, and now after having his own Taxi, Samer said:

“I was sure that God won’t let me down, this chance he gave me will change my life and help me to secure a better future”

Firas Malaab, 27, has proven that no matter how hard life pushes against you, your faith should be stronger to push right back.

He is married to Safaa Falouh and they have two kids; Mark was born in 2018 and Roy was born in 2019. They live in two small rooms built on top of his parent’s flat roof.

When he was sixteen, Firas had to leave school and work to help his parents with the living expenses, he learned the hairdressing profession for nine years and then became well-known in the area due to his good work.

During that period Firas was diagnosed of having Retinitis Pigmentosa and needed to undergo surgery, but unfortunately, it was unsuccessful and his sight deteriorated badly which affected his career and he became barely able to work. So he took a part-time job at a hospital as a cleaner trying his best to afford basic living needs. 

Soon after, his father was diagnosed of having cancer which was a devastating period for the family as Firas had to borrow money to treat him but he passed away in 2021 leaving Firas and his mother in deep sadness.

Despite his bad health condition, Firas was struggling to secure his family at least their daily food especially since he became responsible for his mother as well so he and his wife were working together full of determination and hope that better days are coming.

Indeed, Firas found his way to our office where he applied for a mini-market and he was financed with the equipment and goods that will allow him to start his mini-market close to his house where the family will work and support each other hoping for better days to come.

For a long period of his life, Essam Alsamara was struggling to secure a decent life for his family, and he never hesitated to make all his efforts to raise his children “Fadi and Joel” in a safe environment and provide them with a good education.

Unfortunately, His continuous pursuit and long working hours became no longer useful during the years of war, because the living situation deteriorated badly, not to mention the daily dangers and shelling which affected Essam’s work and his income was no longer enough to meet the household demands. His great loss was in 2015, when the armed groups seized his house in Kharaba village, Daraa governorate, looted everything inside and left it damaged and uninhabitable 

Essam felt that after all these tough years, he did not yield any results from his hard work, on the contrary, his responsibilities became doubled as he was supporting his brother who was diagnosed with cancer, he became also responsible for his daughter’s family, especially since she had a newborn baby and her husband was unemployed 

Essam did not let despair penetrate his heart. Rather, he kept working for long hours behind the wheel, trying hard to secure at least the daily food, as he was sharing half of his income with the taxi owner, he needed to gain his independency in work so he could be able to improve his income and afford better living conditions for his family.

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.

‘What an iron girl, compared to such pity life’

One can do nothing but feel sorrow and compassion when hearing the suffering and misfortunes of Nermin Albezreh. In 2003, her father passed away leaving this 13-year-old girl sad and alone facing huge responsibilities.

The whole family’s life was turned upside down by losing their only supporter, forcing her mother to work as a cleaner to afford her children’s bread. Nermin couldn’t watch her mother suffer alone, so she left school and started to work as an assistant to a physiotherapist in order to help with the living expenses and at the same time help with looking after her younger brothers.

Nermin loved her work a lot and was dreaming of having her own clinic in the future, but in 2014, she was working when she was electrocuted and miraculously survived, so she quit and started to work with her friend at an undergarments shop. 

During the previous years, Nermin and her mother were working hard and fighting their deteriorating health conditions as her mother suffers from back Disc pains and knee problems, and Nermin suffers from toxoplasmosis in the eyes with no treatment available. Moreover, during the military service of her younger brother, he was exposed to many explosions that ended with having his fingers amputated and Neuropathy disease, he was discharged from the service and returned to his family unable of doing any real job to support them.

In face of such great responsibilities, Nermin didn’t hesitate to take any job available so she could afford her family’s living, the last one was as a secretary at a clinic and was taking a very low salary in return.

Now, after applying to the Micro-project in Damascus, Nermin was financed with all the equipment and goods necessary to start her own undergarments shop which will be a new start for this strong-will woman who deserves after all those calamities to have a better livelihood and secure her future.

Ehab Al-Bitar is one of the self-made men who are ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of their families.

The 30-year-old man is married to Nour Alqablan, living in a small flat near his mom and siblings in Al-Dwalaa neighborhood.

within the severe years of war, Ehab was able to finish his university study and in 2016 he graduated from the faculty of trade and economics, he wanted to start working but the situation in that period was precarious and his father who was a baker, could hardly secure the daily bread for his family, so Ehab had no choice but to leave his country and travel to Lebanon, where he worked hard for more than two years sending the living expenses to his family every month. but the economic situation began to deteriorate in Lebanon, which affected the Syrians there so he returned to Syria where he was called to serve the military in Hama which was hard for him, especially since his parents and brothers live under very harsh conditions.

However, in 2020, Ehab got engaged but his happiness didn’t last long because his father had a heart attack which caused his sudden death and left the whole family in a great shock. As a result, he was released from military service as he became the only supporter of his family and young brothers.

Ehab had to face a difficult decision regarding his work under these circumstances, as he became responsible for two families, so he decided to start a mini-market in the neighborhood where he was working till midnight in order to provide the basic living needs while his wife was also working hard to support him, but the economic conditions prevented Ehab from developing his work in the grocery store and buying new goods, which greatly affected the monthly income and he became barely able to cover the shop’s rent.

Ehab was in need to support his shop with goods to be able to continue, and through the Micro-project program, he was financed with the necessary goods that will form a new start for the shop and allow him to develop his work and increase his income with all hope to improve the living conditions of this strong-willed man and his family.

For the last 30 years, Nabil Alhosh, 52, has never hesitated to work day and night from behind his steering wheel to provide his family with the best living; Nabil worked as a microbus driver, doing many shifts during the day because his main priority in life was securing a decent life for his family and good education for his four kids: Linda, Kinda, Mirna, and Yousef.

Yet, this endeavor was not easy during the years of war as the drivers were exposed to many dangers during their duty, from explosions, bombing, and robbing which made earning their daily bread full of risks all the time.

However, Nabil didn’t mind sacrificing everything for the sake of his children, but as the time passed his long working hours and low income became no longer compatible with the increasing living expenses, so he quit his job as a microbus driver and rented a taxi to work on hoping to improve his income.

Unfortunately, within the difficult economic situation in the country and the increasing costs of living, Nabil realized that he is working just to pay the rent of the taxi while his family is deprived of the simplest demands and their living conditions are deteriorating.

Nabil dreamed of having his own taxi to be independent, and that came true when he applied at the Hope Center, now after all those tiring years, Nabil will finally be able to secure a sustainable income to improve his life.

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up”

Despite all calamities, Youssef Al-Samara has never stopped fighting and was full of hope that the coming days are going to be better.

He worked as a hairdresser since 2002 and his income was good to afford his living expenses, but after the outbreak of the Syrian war, he was called to join the military service as he served in fierce war zones which put him under dangerous accidents.

He was living in a rented flat in Dhaheit Alassad but during the war, the area was surrounded by armed groups and his flat was totally damaged and his furniture was looted.

During that period, he got married to Amal Hamzah and started to work as a taxi driver after his service duty to support his family while his wife started to work looking after elderly people to help with house demands. 

Youssef’s service was very destructive for him, as he was shot in the left hand and then injured by missile fragments until the year 2018 when he was affected by a chemical attack that led to lung irritation.

As a result, Youssef was discharged from the military service and put under treatment until his recovery but due to his health condition, he couldn’t continue to work in his profession as a hairdresser and was forced to work on a rented taxi and pay most of his income to the taxi owner trying his best to work as hard as possible to secure the basic demands for his wife and kids Joud and Taya.

After applying to the Micro-project and being financed to have his own taxi, Youssef said:

“The project will change my life forever because instead of paying half my income to the taxi owner, I will be paying for improving my life and securing my kids’ future”

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.

“The human’s will is what defines a person and how far he is going in his life journey”

Iskandar was raised by loving and supporting parents, his father used to work as a tiler and handled his tough work to afford his family a decent living.

As soon as he grew up, Iskandar realized he wanted to be a hairdresser, so he started learning about this profession and worked hard to gain field experience dreaming to have his own Salon in the future and be independent.

Unfortunately, with the beginning of the war in 2011, all of his dreams have gone as the family went through many dangers and horrors in addition to the lack of work and livelihood necessities, until the great disaster in 2013 when Iskandar was injured by a mortar explosion in the shoulder behind Al-Jahez Park where he was taken to the hospital and underwent a surgical operation.

After recovering from the incident, Iskandar was in a bad psychological situation since he spent all of his savings on treatment, so he traveled to Lebanon seeking safety but he wasn’t lucky in finding a proper job and his family was in a bad financial situation so he decided to defeat his fears and go back to Syria where he returned to work in his profession until he was able in 2019 to have his own hairdressing salon in Aldwalaa to be close to his family as his sister Miray grown to be a talented make-up artist and started working with her brother at the Salon.

However, in the past three years, Iskandar was struggling due to the terrible electricity situation and long cuts which affected his job greatly and led to decreasing his income as a result.

After applying to the micro-project program, Iskandar was financed with the electricity generator that will provide him with more working hours and increase his income, as a result, hoping that this improvement will enable him to support his parents and at the same time get married and establish his own family.