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The equipment that he has are from the day he opened the shop back to 1987, which became outdated and not useful anymore, that's why upgrading his shop became essential for him so that he won't lose more costumers.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

Nidal’s military service lasted nearly nine years, then after being discharged from military, he faced the harshness of life as well as the vague future.

Immediately after his service, he worked in his brother’s sewing workshop, but being new in this domain made his journey harder.

All of Nidal’s family members work in their own specialization, which motivates him to have his own business and to care of his family’s livelihood expenses.

The opportunity of having his own taxi planted a seed of hope in his soul, he applied and got accepted which made him extremely happy.

After the long years of sacrifice he made, Nidal now is thankful for the chance that he got from Hope Center, which made him the boss of himself, and the idea of ensuring a better income for him and his family made him more confident than ever. 

Melkon started working when he was in his early twenties with plans in his head to create a secure future for him and his mother.

From a young age he worked in two different domains to learn more skills and gain experience; his first job was in a mechanic workshop and in a short notice he started working on a lathing machine to increase his income, by time he became gifted in both jobs.

When the war hit the city of Aleppo, Melkon thought about a plan to save his career and he decided on traveling, in 2011 he left Syria looking for a better opportunities to make money and help his family.

Melkon worked in Lebanon nearly 11 years in both of the domains, in 2022 he decided to come back, start a family and settle in Aleppo now, he is a newly-married young man and they live together with his mother hoping that someday they will be able to buy their own house.

Supporting Melkon with the important equipment will have a positive effect on his work and he’ll be able to create a secure future for his child and provide his family’s needs and livelihood expenses.

Fredy served in the army for two years and after his discharge he was recalled for reserve military service, which lasted nearly seven years.

After that he thought of working in the aluminum manufacturing domain, but the lack of experience and costumers together with his financial circumstances weren’t encouraging for him.

Fredy is a newly married man and they are blessed with a daughter, but due to the economic crises they are living with his wife’s family. He is currently spending from his savings plus he is the only one responsible for all of his family’s expenses.

Fredy is aiming to work and be able to move out to their own apartment, provide a happy and secure future for his family.

After he heard about Hope Center, he was grateful for the opportunity to start working independently on his taxi and improve his income. 

Archelous lives with her husband and son in their modest house located in Al-Midan area; they were able to buy it many years before the war through the help of her family and a small loan from the bank that was repaid, in addition to selling the gold that she owned.

She used to work as a teacher in the Faculty of Science at the University of Aleppo, in addition to working as a nurse in hospitals and between houses, but because of her advanced age and the decline in her health status, she resigned and worked in selling Homemade food supplies, which she had been practicing since 1989.

Being the only breadwinner for the house, as her husband suffers from hearing and sight impairment, and he cannot work well in any profession. Her son works in a warehouse selling car parts, with a small salary that is not enough to cover his own expenses. 

The family used to own a house and agricultural land in Al-Yaqoubia village, but they were displaced from it and it was no longer possible to benefit from the agricultural lands that they had there.

Today, with the help of donors, Archelous was able to purchase the equipment that help her in her work and facilitates the preparation process in order to sell Homemade food supplies quickly and with higher efficiency, in addition to the ability to introduce new items that provide her with additional money to meet the difficulties of daily life.

"Holding a great responsibility at a young age is a huge challenge” .

in 2014 Hovsep’s family fled to Lebanon after selling their house and all their possessions to escape the harshness of the war and search for a better life.

When Hovsep was young, he loved all professions related to car repairing, especially since his father was a famous mechanic, so he benefited from this passion in Lebanon and learned a new profession, which is car spraying.

He worked there for 6 years until he gained a lot of experience, However, when the war hit Lebanon in 2020, it led directly to the deterioration of the economic situation in the country. Therefore, they decided to return to Aleppo.. Shortly after their return, Hovsep rented a small shop with a partner.

Unfortunately, the father suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed, and he became in need of special care, which forced the mother to work in a sewing workshop to help with the household expenses. After two years of working in Aleppo, Hovsep’s partner traveled abroad after selling the shop’s equipment, which was a shock for Hovsep, who did not give up and began borrowing the required equipment from his neighbors.

Today, thanks to the micro projects program, he owns the entire shop’s equipment and he became independent at work.

Hagob lived with his mother and his sister until the war came and took everything from him; their lives turned upside down like many Syrian families.

“We had tools and equipment in our workshop in Bustan Al Basha that were stolen during war. The workshop was also damaged and has recently been restored.”

Rehabilitating the workshop consumed all of their savings, and they were left with no source of income. Although their workplace is renovated, they still needed to buy the essential machinery to start the work.

Hagob started this career back in 2008 and now he does not own any tools, but rather works in another car body shop with a low salary, he decided to reopen his father's workshop.

He said: “My father taught me his profession in auto body repair workshop and everything related to this field that can help me in the future.”

All he needs is the support to get the equipment to start working again, with the help provided by Hope Center, he will be able to achieve a better income and then hopefully things will turn out for the better.

Like many other professions, sellers are going through some changes nowadays. Karahkin is the father of two kids Carine and Hagob,41 years old, and lives with his family. His wife works but with a low salary.

He said: “I’ve been in the selling business for 14 years. I'm driving my friend's pickup truck. I've always dreamed of having my own pickup truck, it’s so much easier when I drive to the shops and load goods”.

Karahkin and his family were safe throughout the war and were not injured, so they were grateful. Due to the high cost of living and the pick-up truck's high rents, he suffers from many financial obligations. One of the most important things that help him in his work and increase his income is buying a car, and thus he can save his money and his work will be easier.

His job requires transportation for the shipping and services and this car will allow karahkin to make a good living on his own.

One of the most difficult decisions taken by the Rezkallah's family was when they decided to sell their house to face the difficult living and economic conditions.

Although all family members work, all their salaries combined are no longer enough to cover the rising livelihood costs.

His father works as an employee in a mall, his mother is a clothing saleswoman, and his little sister is still studying. This young man is trying to help his family with expenses, and his work in Mobile software requires more development which is necessary because technology is constantly changing.

This ambitious young man, 22 years old, started working as a salesman in a mobile store in 2018. After two months, he decided to learn a new interest and enter computer and software maintenance to increase his income.

What distinguishes Rezkallah is the pursuit of self-development, and through his work for four years in this domain, Rezkallah became known for his skills, and the mobile shops near him began to provide him with work as well, despite his young age.

Now, Rezkallah has all he needs to run a successful business and secure a decent income for his family. 

Duraid is a retired school teacher, he is the sole provider for his wife and their three children; two sons and a daughter. Besides his previous job, Duraid comes from a family of farmers and this is their main source of livelihood. 

When their home village, Al-Dwair was attacked, the family was displaced to Homs city for seven years, after losing all they had; their farmland and house, which were severely damaged and stolen, during these seven years the family was not able to benefit from their land. Thankfully, a local association helped them repair the house, and now, they are doing their best to settle down and compensate for their loss. 

Duraid planted a part of the land with olive trees and he is aspiring to plant the remaining part with wheat his land is prepared with a water well and a source of power. However, what stood in his way was losing the water pump he had, which he used to extract water for irrigation.

This support will give him the chance to expand and improve his project and ensure him and his family a decent income. 

Fadl-Allah is the sole breadwinner for a big family, he is a married man and a father of six; five daughters and a son. 

He used to work with a partner in his spacious land; at first, there was no water well so all of the crops depended on rain-fed irrigation, then the two partners decided to develop their agricultural project. They put all of their money and borrowed some to continue, starting with a water well and a solar power system. 

However, the partners had a few problems, which ended by splitting up leaving Fadl-Allah in a financial trouble, and in order for his land of potatoes to produce, it needed a drip irrigation system that he couldn’t afford. 

Since installing the irrigation system would guarantee good potato crops and income, he applied to the Micro Projects Program seeking support and his project was approved.

His land is well-prepared and now Fadl-Allah is ready to work hard and provide a decent income. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mttanos and his family work together in their land, which has been their only source of livelihood for generations. He is a married man and a father of three; two sons who help him in farming and a daughter who is a school teacher.

The family planted different crops such as almonds, olives, grapes, and potatoes in order to benefit from its bounties around the whole year, but this variety requires special conditions to get good seasons like watering the trees at least six times a year, which became a real financial burden for most of the farmers nowadays. 

Mttanos's family owns a tractor that they use for many agricultural activities, mainly for plowing. Lately, the tires of the tractor became worn out and using it was dangerous. The lack of plowing caused a deterioration in production, especially since there were already watering difficulties. 

Aspiring to revive the land and create a positive change, Mttanos applied for new tires to be able to use the tractor, in addition to a water tanker to save the high costs, thus, the land will generously give again and ensure this hardworking family good profit. 

Ramez lives with his wife and their daughter in addition to his elderly parents and sister in the family's house in Al-Hamra village. He was a school teacher besides his main work as a farmer and when he retired, back in 2018, the hardworking man dedicated all of his time to his land of almond trees. 

Ramez's land is divided into two parts, the first is planted with almond trees while the other part is planted with small seedlings and prepared with a water well. 

The family have a tractor which they use for many agricultural activities but they couldn’t buy a water tanker and benefit from this vehicle in irrigation. At the same time, renting a tanker has become a huge financial burden nowadays. 

Many years ago, the level of rainfall was enough to water the lands, but as a result of climate changes, depending on the rain was no longer sufficient and securing a sustainable water supply has become a necessity. 

Ramez applied for a water tanker to secure watering for his land, which will reflect on his income and production. 

Zaki inherited this profession from his father and has been practicing it since 2004 with high-quality work and strong experience. 

He lives with his wife Rana who is a school teacher and the couple are parents of a five-year-old son called Émile and a one-year-old daughter called Heaven. 

When the war began, Zaki was still single and living with his parents; in 2012, he was displaced with them to Mashta Al-Helou village, while their house in Al-Hamidia was damaged and the majority of Zaki's equipment was stolen. 

In 2015, they returned to Homs and he repaired his parents' house and then tried to compensate for his loss through his own work without asking for anybody's help. The self-made man managed to buy most of the main equipment but being responsible for a family with two children, Zaki had to focus on covering their needs as a first priority. 

The selfless father made a sacrifice for the sake of his family and he deserves a chance to improve his work, which will eventually reflect positively on their living situation. 

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

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

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

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

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

Even when being away from the terrors of the cruel war, no one was spared of its calamities. Although Al-Maamoura village wasn’t affected directly by the bombs and shells, however, its people suffered like all the Syrians from the difficult economic situation and their agricultural activity was heavily affected. 

Mansour is a farmer from Al-Maamoura village, he is a married man and a father of six, four daughters and two sons. He has a spacious land of almonds, which he inherited from his father, in addition to a tractor.

Lately, Mansour couldn’t benefit from the whole land due to the huge costs, especially since the tractor he used to plow and water his land became useless after its tires were worn out. His income rapidly decreased and he only managed to plant a small quarter of the land because renting a tractor was very expensive, on the other hand, buying new tires while covering the growing needs of his big family was impossible.

Today thanks to this support, Mansour will be able to revive the other parts of his almond land and guarantee a better livelihood.

At the age of 15, Khalil Khoury started working to help his parents, as their financial condition wasn't good, and he had to work to secure his expenses and help his parents with household obligations.

He began working as an assistant to a Plumbing & Sanitary Maintenance Supervisor and soon became skilled in that profession and began to take his own workshops as customers began to ask him to do their work because of his skills and his low wages.

Khalil wanted to have his maintenance store so he could work at bigger workshops and expand his work so he began saving money for this purpose, but as soon as the war broke out in Syria, all his efforts were in vain because he was called for military service, and it lasted for nine difficult years, during which he faced the horrors and dangers of war.

however, during his holiday permissions, Khalil didn't hesitate to work and secure some money to help his parents in light of the bad conditions they were living in.

After he was released, Khalil returned to work, and his friend helped him buy simple tools to use at work, so he began to work hard to compensate for the lost years of his life.

he was full of determination to work and improve his living conditions, and despite all the obstacles such as lack of electricity and lack of money to buy new equipment, he continued to strive, hoping for an improvement in his situation one day.

this is when one of his friends told him to apply to the micro-projects program and he immediately applied for support in equipment, machinery, and the electric generator, which will constitute a great leap in his field of work and he will be able to receive larger workshops and work for more hours

Today, Khalil is thanking God that those nine years have been compensated, and he was given a new chance in life to develop his work and secure a better future.

sometimes, all a person needs to regain his balance in life is to turn the page of the past and start over.

This is what Rashid Al-Abdoun, 55 years old, has been trying to do for the past nine years, but unfortunately, life obstacles and the difficult conditions he was going through, have always blocked his way.

Rashid is married and has three children, Lina, Musa, and Issa. His main concern is to give his children the best possible care and get them to university, which was achieved despite all his troubles, as the three of them are now university students and achieving one of their father's greatest wishes.

Rashid’s situation was not always bad; before the war, Rashid had his own mini-market in Al-Dukhaniya area in the countryside of Damascus. His work was very good and for more than 13 years, he was able to provide his family with a good living, but unfortunately, two years after the start of the war, specifically in 2013, the militants entered Al-Dukhaniya area and wreaked terror, violence, and devastation which left Rashid with no choice but to flee out of the region leaving everything behind.

Despite his survival, he lost everything he owned and worked for in the past years and suddenly found himself jobless without any source of income to meet his expenses and obligations, that's when the journey of loss and misery started; Rashid wanted to do any kind of work but due to the dangerous conditions, he wasn't able to secure any good income, until he finally started working as an employee in a real estate office, but his low salary affected the family's situation.

He was trying hard to change this reality, but unfortunately, bad circumstances prevented him. Even after the end of the war, everything began to deteriorate more than before, and with the rise in prices, he found himself unable to fulfill his obligations and was praying for any glimmer of hope that would enable him to change his reality and start over.

Now, after supporting him with the mini-market project, Rashid finally found himself restoring his life balance and starting a new chart in his life with hope that this project will make a difference in this family's life.

For most of his life, Mousa Fares was struggling to support his family and keep them from need and poverty.

He is 38 years old and lives with his old parents and his brother in a 40-meter flat in Jaramana, yet he is always thankful to God for all the blessings in his life.

Before the crisis, Mousa was working at a beverages store in Jaramana and his income was enough to meet his household costs but during the war, two explosions happened in front of his shop which caused huge damage, and in the second one the damage was severe so they had to close the store.

Mousa didn’t hesitate to take a job at a travel office as an administrative employee and did the cleaning work as well to increase his income because his parents were old and sick while his younger brother was in military service. Unfortunately, a mortar shell exploded close to his office and he was hit by its fragments which took him more than three months to recover.

All of those calamities didn’t prevent Mousa from fighting to live in dignity; so he borrowed some money and started a perfume and gifts shop. Mousa used to open his store from the early morning to midnight seeking to improve his income but the coronavirus epidemic wasted all his efforts as there was a decrease in the purchasing capacity in addition to an increase in the prices of goods which made it impossible for him to renew his goods.

However, Mousa decided not to give up so he took a night shift at a supermarket after closing his shop, and for more than four months he had only 4 hours to sleep a day, but even with all that hard work, he was barely able to afford the house basics.

Mousa’s strong will to survive led him to apply at the Micro-project office and he was supported with the necessary goods and tools to enrich his shop and provide him with an opportunity to preserve his project and improve his living conditions.

Tolay Kashy is a 27-year-old woman, she is single and lives with her mother in an old and small flat in Kashkoul.

when she was only twelve, her father passed away after suffering from lung poisoning from an injury in the army, leaving her and her mother alone and without a supporter.

she saw her mother struggling for many years to provide the basic living needs and all she wanted was to help her, so as soon she became 18, she started working in the field of make-up and nail beauty and at the same time, she worked at a make-up factory to increase her income and help her mother with the living expenses.

since her childhood, Tolay was diagnosed of having lymphoma cancer and she went through a long journey of treatment, but this strong-willed woman didn't let her sickness stop her from standing by her mother and building her future so she started working from home and took a make-up course at Almaamoun institute to improve her skills.

she was full of determination to improve her condition and despite her modest capabilities and poor tools, she was able to have her own costumers due to her beautiful work and reasonable prices.

currently, she has little equipment and materials and needs support to expand and develop her business.

Tolay was fighting against the circumstances and kept praying to God for his great mercy so she applied to the micro project initiative full of hope to have the opportunity to improve her situation.

Now, after being financed with the make-up and nail beauty project, she is thanking God for this chance that will make a huge difference in her life.

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.