Micro-Projects is a livelihood-support program which helps family providers who had either lost their livelihood during the war, or aspire to be a productive and financially independent part of the community by starting their own income generating business. By financing their micro-projects, Christian Hope Center is helping Christian families to have a sustainable source of income, through the provision of equipment, machinery and tools. This will eventually mitigate the economic harm caused by increasing poverty and insecurity, preserve their dignity, and alleviate the calamities of war and the economic crisis, which will ultimately preserve the existence of an active Christian community in Syria. In addition to the Micro-Projects supported in Cities of Aleppo, Homs and Damascus, the program also supports families who rely on agriculture as their principal source of income in rural Homs.


612

Aleppo

467

Homs

176

Damascus

Blacksmith Workshop


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,...


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Plumbing Equipment


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...


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Taxi


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...


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Carpentry Equipment


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...


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Photography Equipment


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...


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Sweets and pastries at home


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...


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Air conditioning and refrigerator maintenance


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...


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Taxi


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...


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Rubber Mold Workshop


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...


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Stationery shop


"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...


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Sewing workshop


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...


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Rubber Molding


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...


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Mini-Market


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...


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Mini-Market


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...


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Mini-Market


Raghida helps her husband provide for their two children through a mini-market she has run since 2010, which she opened from a part of her house in Fairouza village. 

Her husband, Elian, is a goods distributor who drives a rented pick-up truck, and the two of them have never missed an opportunity to work and provide for their family. Their son, Elias, is learning hairstyling in a barbershop to cover his own expenses, while their daughter, Marylin is unemployed. 

Raghida applied to supply her mini-market with sufficient commodities so it can endure the challenging economic difficulties of the country and provide for her family of four with a decent income.

Floor Tiling Equipment


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...


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Wall Painting Equipment


Despite his advanced age, Michel is still working and providing for his wife Laila and their granddaughter, Maria.

He is a well-known painter in Homs, where his career began in 1975; unfortunately, he lost all of his tools during the brutal war and many job opportunities along with them, because he was forced to rely on manual labor, which demanded more time and effort, while, on the other hand, borrowing the necessary equipment was nearly impossible.

Michel applied to get his own tools and ensure that he would continue to provide a good life for his family and become self-independent. 

Floor Tiling Equipment


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...


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Floor Tiling Equipment


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...


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Car Repairing Workshop


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...


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Mini-Market


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...


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Mini-Market


Claire works with her husband, Samir, in the mini-market they opened in 2012, using a part of their house. They live with their two daughters, Mary (14 years old) and Jessica (8 years old), along with Samir's mother.

This shop became the family's only source of livelihood after Samir lost his mobile phone store during the war. However, this mini-market started to suffer from the hard economic situation, and its results appeared when the couple were no longer able to supply their shop with sufficient merchandise, which increased their financial burdens.  

Claire knew about this initiative and applied to develop her family's project, hoping that it would flourish again and ensure them a decent living.

Sewing at home


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...


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Sewing Workshop


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...


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Foul and Falafel Restaurant


“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...


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Taxi


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...


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Mini-Market


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...


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Taxi


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...


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Mobile Maintenance


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...


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Undergarments shop


‘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...


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Mini-Market


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...


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Taxi


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...


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Taxi


“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...


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Plumbing Workshop


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...


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Nuts Shop


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...


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Hairdressing Salon


“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...


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