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The equipment that he has are from the day he opened the shop back to 1987, which became outdated and not useful anymore, that's why upgrading his shop became essential for him so that he won't lose more costumers.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

Samaher workes as a school teacher since 2018, her husband Nidal is a government employee and they have two children; Shahd (13 years old) and Jude (10 years old). When the parents were no longer able to bear the increasing burdens of life, she took upon her herself the responsibility to support her family through utilizing her skills in makeup, which she first started as a hobby. 

Insisting on improving her family's living conditions, Samaher attended courses in the field of beauty and tattoo then allocated a part of her living room, and started to receive clients by using some simple kit she had at home. While the clients loved her special work, the ambitious woman had a dream to improve her project that she began back in 2020, but she couldn't afford that due to the high costs, and having a salon remained one of her dreams for the future. 

After she knew about the Micro Projects Program, Samaher visited the center and filled out an application in hopes to get the support she needed. Now that she bought all the essential tools and materials to complete her project, Samaher is excited to widely open her door to more clients and she's preparing to open a small salon where she can practice the profession she loves. 

Ammar and his sister Samia were forced to leave their home village "Al Qusayr" after they witnessed the horrors of the vicious war. The small family's experience wasn't easy at all; Ammar was kidnapped for three days by an armed group and when he was thankfully freed, the two siblings left everything behind and fled to Damascus city seeking safety. 

Ammar and Samia stayed in Damascus for 18 months then moved to Fairouza village where they settled down in a rented apartment. 

Before the war, Ammar's career started in 2003 when he worked for IntraCo. until 2010, when he found a better opportunity in KIA company but unfortunately, he had to leave his work at the onset of the war because he wasn't able to reach the company, which later closed its doors as a result. 

However, after leaving "Al Qusayr", Ammar and Samia lost the family's house in the village and decided to start a new chapter from scratch; in 2014, Ammar rented a small garage in the industrial area of Fairouza with the available and simple capabilities he had, in hopes to compensate for the great loss, but lacking much important equipment affected his income, in addition to the need for a sufficient power supply, that's why he applied for an electric generator. 

Equipping his workshop with the requirements helped him improve the productivity and profit of his project and thus provide a better living conditions.

When Diana was asked about her project, she said: "This is the profession that I love, I have been practicing it for four years now and I became professional in it." 

She is a beauty specialist and trainer, her start was at her parents' house in Safita town, then she moved to Homs city after her marriage in 2021, her husband Amjad works as a government employee while she continued providing her services in nail care, makeup, skincare, tattoo, and other beauty services at her house in Al-Hamidia neighborhood.

Over time, ladies loved her work and encouraged her to open her own salon, especially since her clients began to increase. However, Diana and Amjad live in a rented apartment and both their incomes combined are barely enough to cover their financial obligations, taking into consideration that they're establishing a new life.

Running her own salon remained a dream until she heard about the Micro Projects Program, which gave her the chance to buy all the tools and requirements to have a well-equipped salon. 

Now, Diana's income will improve and this project will help her support her husband too so the young couple can start their own family hoping for better days to come their way.

Nadine's started in the field of hair styling in 2011, when she used to work in a hair salon owned by a known hairdresser called Hassan, who became later her husband. He taught Nadine all she needs to know in order to practice this profession and in 2013, they got married and shared together the work in the salon, and after one year, the couple had their first child Christian. 

Over time, Hassan began to suffer from health problems due to this tiring profession and the fumes from the chemicals; he was forced to leave this responsibility for Nadine to continue and he kept helping her in some simple tasks.

Using the same equipment since 2010 has become a real barrier and hindered the work productivity, especially since this type of projects are heavily affected by the quality of used equipment.

The Micro Projects Program is a great chance for Nadine to renew her salon and enhance the family's only source of providing a dignified life. 

During the hard journey of life, George had only one thing in mind that kept him strong, it was the love of the family who count on him. He works as a plumber since 1973, and throughout the years, he faced many challenges that he patiently overcame. 

Back to 2010, George decided to expand his business by opening a plumbing requirement shop beside his main profession but unfortunately, the war began and he lost everything; two houses of the family's property, his shop, and all of the plumbing equipment, and he was injured by a shell and he was left with shrapnel in his head and arm. 

Life was turned upside down in a blink of an eye, and now George lives with his wife and son in a rented apartment. The hardworking man didn’t know the meaning of surrender, in 2012, he worked in someone else's shop for three years then the owner sold it, so George immediately searched for another solution. There was a vacancy in an oil factory, and as a man who's responsible for a family, he accepted this offer despite the modest salary until he managed to buy a few simple tools, which enabled him to leave this tiring job and resume the profession he loves.

The limited tools deprived George of many good opportunities and The Micro Projects Program gave him the chance to improve his situation hoping to compensate for a part of what his family had lost because of the vicious war. 

Elias has been working as a plumber since 1997, he is a married man and a father of three beautiful girls; Celine (9 years old), Patricia (12 years old), and Marita, the youngest, (2 years old). He lives with his wife Victoria, who's a school teacher, and their daughters in addition to his mother-in-law, Hayat (56 years old) who fled from the terrors of war in her home city, "Deir Al-Zor" and moved to stay with them. 

The skilled plumber has been suffering, just like many Syrians, from the severe lack of electricity which affected his work a lot; finishing work on time became a real challenge and started to take a long time. 

Having the electric generator will save him time, ensure a suitable power supply, and bring more work opportunities, thus, all that will reflect on his income and improve it hoping for a better livelihood for the lovely family. 

The cruel war in Syria has left behind many negative effects that people are still suffering from today. While the hardest thing they had to cope with is the severe economic crisis, family providers started to search for more than a source of livelihood to afford the growing living burdens.

Abdul-Massih lives with his family of six; his wife and their two-year-old son, in addition to his elderly parents in Fairouza village. He got married to his wife Suzan back in 2011 and settled down with his parents because they couldn’t rent a house, in 2012, the lovely couple was blessed with a son, who had special needs and unfortunately, passed away after struggling for 11 years. 

Abdul-Massih works in the construction field since 2000, but when the war came, the income he used to get from this work was no longer sufficient to cover all of the family's needs. In 2013, he decided to begin working as a DJ at simple parties around the village, just to secure a decent income. However, he couldn’t accept work offers to throw bigger events due to the lack of important devices and equipment. 

Supporting the hardworking man with all the essentials improved his opportunities and made a change in the family's living conditions, hoping that someday, he will be able to have an independent life with his wife and their toddler in the near future. 

"With the increasing costs of living, the head of the family must search for an independent micro project to improve his income and make it sufficient to ensure covering all their needs." Nader described his situation, as the sole breadwinner for his wife and their two children, they live together in a rented apartment, and he works in goods distribution.

When his income became barely enough compared to his financial obligations, he thought about another solution to enhance his circumstances. 

Nader found that there's a growing population in Al-Hamidia and the surrounding area, which contributed to an increase in the number of shops and restaurants, he also noticed that there's no shop that provides ice to these restaurants.

This encouraged him to prepare a feasibility study of an ice-making machine and he applied to the Micro Projects Program, his comprehensive study showed the success chances of such a project and it was approved. 

Nader rented a suitable place for his work, then bought the main machine, and now, he is ready to work and start producing to guarantee his family a better livelihood.

Al-Fadi band was established in 2006 by Maher Al-Akhras, aiming to restore the Syrian folkloric wedding, the band consists of 40 young people, who perform folkloric music and dance professionally during wedding parties and other religious festivals.

Maher is a married man and a father of 2 daughters, he works as a maintenance technician in the university, besides being the responsible for Al-Fadi band. He came up with this idea and with very simple abilities, he bought the required tools, musical instruments, and Syrian traditional clothes, and started their work.

And just like many families, Maher's family were displaced from their house in Bab Al-Sebaa neighborhood and lost everything they had, in addition to losing all of the band's instruments, after the place they used as a warehouse was burned to the ground.

In 2022, Maher and his family returned home and repaired their house, as the situation stabilized in Homs, he decided to resume his old work with the band; he bought a part of the instruments and uniforms but couldn’t compensate for their big loss during the war.

Al-Fadi band got back to their work and spread joy around Homs and its villages again, but the main challenge they faced was not being able to buy all the requirements due to the high costs, especially the transportation costs and they had to rent the needed instruments.

This project helps more than 30 university students to cover their own expenses and supporting their band will save the big amount of money they used to pay as rental costs and improve their income, hoping that their lovely music, will alleviate the burdens of bad war memories. 

Waleed is a married man and a father of three, two girls and a son. 

In 1982, he opened his own maintenance workshop, where he repaired washing machines and different types of engines. 

The hard-working man has always given his family love and support and ensured them a dignified life. Although the cruel war forced him to close his workshop, which was damaged by the falling shells, Waleed kept practicing his profession at home, and provided his services for the clients, using some simple tools.

When the situation in the city of Homs stabilized, he couldn’t improve his equipment due to the economic crisis that was followed by the war, and his limited financial ability.

Hearing about The Micro Projects Program from his relatives, revived a new hope in his heart, that he still has a chance to develop his life project and knowing that all his efforts and striving for long years didn’t go in vain. 

When the burdens of life were getting heavier, Kinda, like many Syrian ladies, chose to help her husband Andre and alleviate a part of the heavyweight.

Kinda is a mother of lovely twin girls; Thouraya who studies computer technology and Mary who was born with cerebral palsy and needs special care. Her husband Andre is a retired school teacher, the striving mother spent 12 years working in the field of clothes-making and this allowed her to guarantee an additional source of income, but unfortunately, nothing comes without a price, this tiring work had left her exhausted and the result was a poor sight, which forced her to search for another way to support her family.

In 2017, Kinda decided to work at home, where she can take care of Mary, so she utilized her cooking skills to work in preparing and selling food, and relied on her simple kitchen tools. 

People loved her homemade products and over time she managed to create good relations with many customers. The demand increased and more equipment, devices, and professional kitchen tools have become a necessity to cover her customers' needs. 

However, acquiring all these tools was unaffordable for Kinda and Andre who have lots of monthly obligations. 

A well-equipped kitchen is all she needs to improve her productivity and work conditions, hoping to help this mother make a real change in her family's life. 

Iftikar finished her years of service as a school teacher and retired in 2019, but being a working woman, she couldn't just stay without a job, so she started giving private English language lessons at home. Her husband Marwan is a lawyer who lost his office during the vicious war and couldn't compensate for that loss.

Iftikar and Marwan are parents of three children; two girls and a boy, under the current economic circumstances in the country, the family of five needed an additional source of income to cover their growing needs. 

Based on her former experience in teaching, Iftikar found that opening a stationery store would be convenient, especially since her family has previously prepared a room in their house that could be used like a shop, which is located in a populated neighborhood surrounded by schools.

This encouraged her to visit the Micro Projects Program office and share her idea with the team, who advised her to apply and fill out the application form. 

Iftikar's project was approved, she has the chance to work again, and her family will have a stable source of livelihood for the future, while Marwan can now focus on repairing his damaged office and resuming his work hoping to restore a peaceful life they were used to before the war.

Milad Dawood is a 36-year-old man, married to Laura Toma, and has a son named Eliea, born in 2011, the family lives in a small two-rooms flat in Kashkoul, Damascus countryside.

He was born into a modest family and since he became an adult he had to work and support his parents with the living expenses. The hardworking man was able to handle the house obligations and save some money to get married and start his own project in selling eggs in 2010.

However, a year after he was exposed to fraud by his worker who stole all the products from the shop which made Milad lose all that he worked for in the previous years. Yet, he didn't hesitate to overcome this incident and returned to work as a pickup driver, delivering products to the shops until the beginning of the war when he was called for military service in 2012.

his service was in the most dangerous places and soon after he was exposed to shooting; the bullet penetrated his body from his stomach to his back. his condition was critical and he had to go under treatment but he was kept in service until his discharge in 2022.

Milad returned to his family in a difficult psychological situation and started to do freelance jobs to secure the livelihood demands but his financial conditions were very bad which forced his wife to take their son and live with her parents until he could manage the living expenses again which was a devastating point in Milad's life because all he was dreaming about in his ten-year service was to go back to his family and make up for his absence years from his son's life.

Milad visited the micro-project office in Damascus and applied for the pickup car looking for any ray of hope to achieve his dream of having his life back.

Indeed, he deserved this chance because he was a self-made man seeking for a chance to work, restore his dignity, and reunite his family.

Anton tried to overcome all obstacles to provide his wife and kids with his care and love and worked hard to secure them a decent living. 

the 43-years-old man is married to Diana Shamoun and they have two kids Elias born in 2005, and Polin born in 2009, the family live in a rented small flat in Jaramana, Damascus suburbs, under very bad circumstances.

Many years ago, Anton started to work as a valet parking at a hotel until the start of the crisis as he had to move to a safer area but with a lower salary because of the security conditions.

In 2013, his wife Diana was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo surgery and long treatment sessions which affected their psychological and financial conditions especially since Anton had to work for more than twelve hours daily far from his house and family. However, Anton was still unable to match his income with the increasing costs of living so he decided to quit his job and with the money he saved, he started his own Mini-market in Jaramana trying his best to secure a better living for his family.

Anton's shop was poor in materials and equipment because he started it with a little amount of money which made its income lower than other shops.

Supporting Anton with the necessary equipment and proper amount of goods and products was a strong push for his project hoping to enable him of having a better and sustainable income to improve his living conditions.

George Shamma is 30 years old, living with his mother in a modest rented flat in Al-Dwalaa area but before the war, he used to live with his parents and seven siblings in Daria town in the countryside of Damascus in peace and security. 

When he was seventeen, he started working with his father at his carpentry workshop in order to support him and learn the profession. George was full of hope and energy, trying to establish a career for his future but unfortunately, with the war outbreak in 2011, he was called for military service, and for the next nine years he had to serve in the most intense conflict areas, Daraa and Alqaboun.

During that period, George has been through many difficult incidents that affected his life, but the most painful one was in 2012 when the family was gathering to celebrate his brother’s wedding in Daria, his father was exposed to sniping that led to his immediate death and the wedding turned into a Funeral.

This devastating incident affected the whole family especially since soon after, the armed groups entered the area forcing George and his family to be displaced from their house and they were informed later that their house and his father’s workshop were completely destroyed.

Those terrible losses led to spreading the family members on many parts of the country and George ended up alone with his old mother putting him under great responsibility since he became the breadwinner of the house.

However, after his discharge in 2019, George started to work as a taxi driver because he couldn’t learn any profession during the years of service but the taxi rent was very expensive and his income was barely matching the high costs of living.

With the help of Hope center, George was able to purchase his own taxi which will enable him to be independent and have a sustainable source of income to secure his future.

life is based on the fight for survival, especially in a country that witnessed ten years of a brutal war that drained every opportunity of decent living. Fadi Albadeen is one of those fighters who went through many hardships in his life and kept his strong faith.

He is 29 years old and lives with his parents and his brother’s family in Kashkoul area in Damascus.

In 2008, Fadi started working at a hairdressing salon at a very young age in order to support himself and help his parents with the living expenses as they were living in poor financial conditions. He learned about this career and became good at it and was dreaming to establish his own salon, but in 2013 after about two years of the war outbreak, he was called to serve in the military service which made him lose his job.

Fadi stayed in the service for nine years, during which his family went through many incidents as his father had a car accident that caused him three fractions and made him disabled from doing any job and his brother was shot in his hand which caused the amputation of his fingers, and Fadi himself was hurt greatly due to his severe service which made him undergo critical back surgery.

Fadi was discharged from military service in 2022 and he didn’t hesitate to start working at a hairdressing salon to handle the living expenses but the salary was very low and didn’t match the increasing costs of living especially since he was responsible for his family and his brother’s family because his brother is at the military service in Edleb city.

Fadi found his way to the micro-project office in Damascus where he applied for a hairdressing salon and was funded with all the equipment and tools needed to start his project hoping that he will be independent and have a proper income to secure a decent living for him and his family.

Like most young men of his age, Murshid did not have the opportunity to complete his education or learn a profession as he was called up for military service in 2012 and stayed there for nine years, after which he was discharged to face the difficult conditions of life without any profession or career, which formed a heavy burden on him, especially since he had to find a proper job with good income quickly because he became the only responsible for his family after his father's death.

The financial situation for Murshid and his family was affected greatly by his father's sickness; they used to have a pick-up car and a piece of land in Hama which they had to sell to afford the costs of treatment and Intensive care.

His mother also went through bad health condition; as she suffered two blood clots, after which she was forced to undergo surgery and permanent treatment and his brother Elias was called for military service, so Murshid was fighting the harsh living situation alone.

He decided to work in a restaurant in Ain Tarma and as a pickup driver so he could be able to secure medicine for his mother and his brother’s expenses in addition to household demands. 

The challenge was very difficult under the harsh economic situation and no matter how hard he worked; his income was barely enough to secure the daily basics.

Through the micro-project program in Damascus, Murshid was funded to buy a pick-up car, which will provide him with a sustainable income suitable to bear the high costs of life and fulfill his family obligations.

During his life journey, Pier Haddad 42, has proven that "Service is what life is all about and great acts could be made from small deeds."

Pier spent his childhood between catechism activities and church service dreaming to grow up and become a part of this great message, which he achieved during the past years as he became a piano teacher and he invested his talent to give free lessons to the children in the neighborhood.

After that, he started cooperating with the Franciscan Music Center, Saint Musa Al-Habashi Monastery, and the Jesus and Mary Sisters Center for Music in giving music lessons to the kids for very low wages because all he cared about was that each child has the right to learn music no matter what his financial situation was.

However, Pier was living in a modest house in Al-Dwalaa area but during the wartime his parents were deceased and his siblings traveled abroad and tried to take him with them but he refused to travel because he was very passionate about his service so after staying alone at the house, he decided to turn it to a music teaching center for the poor kids in the area and with the help of his friends he could teach them Piano, Oud, and violin. 

Although Pier was doing a great service for the area and the church, he wasn't getting any income and in the past couple of years he started to suffer from financial hardships so he decided to start a recording studio to get some income but he didn’t have the needed equipment so he applied at the Micro-project center asking for support.

Pier has surely deserved to be supported by the Micro-project program and he was funded with all the equipment that will allow him to start his own recording studio that will provide him with a reasonable source of income and at the same time continue his message in teaching music for the kids and achieving his dream in recording hymns for churches, assuring again that “Goodness is the only investment that never fails”.

At the age of 17 Elie Hannoun decided to leave school and start working at a hairdressing salon in his hometown Saydnaya to support his family and handle his own expenses.

soon he became very skilled and well-known in the town but he couldn't expand his work because after the war outbreak, the devastating impact spread to Saydnaya region, and all its residents became living under danger and threat, which led to the cessation of work in most professions, including Elie’s work, as he was forced to move with his parents to live in Damascus.

unfortunately, their displacement synchronized with the deterioration of his father's health as he was diagnosed with cancer which forced Elie to stop working and support his father throughout the treatment period, which lasted for four painful and harsh years and ended with his father's death in 2014.

Elie and his mother remained alone living in a small and poor flat in Jaramana and he became the breadwinner of the house, so he started working at a hairdressing salon in Jaramana to cope with the difficult circumstances but with the Corona pandemic and the quarantine started which affected his work and forced him to stay jobless for a period until he was able to continue working trying as much as possible to provide the simplest requirements of life and even his mother started looking for a job to help he son.

Elie was seeking to have his own salon, through which he could be independent and obtain a stable income matching the high cost of living.

Therefore, as soon as his friends told him about the Micro-projects program in Damascus, he immediately applied for the hairdressing salon project in Jaramana, and today, after his project was approved, Elie regained his energy and enthusiasm for work and he is opening his salon from the early morning with all faith that this opportunity he got will change his life for the better and help him secure a decent life for him and his mother.

Being a child in a large family was never easy for Nahi, he was a brother of eight siblings and a child of loving and caring parents who did their best to secure a proper livelihood for their kids which wasn't available for them especially since they were living in a small village that didn't have enough resources or work opportunities so most of its villagers were forced to move to secure their future.

Nahi and his siblings left the village as soon as they turned 18 heading to the city, trying to work and secure their own expenses. In 2008, Nahi started working as a maintenance worker and for the following six years, he was able to send money to his parents and sick sister in the village.

However, during the war, his income started to decrease and he became unable to match his expenses so he quit his job and started working as a pick-up driver delivering goods and products between the city and village, but during the economic collapse and the fuel crisis, his job became unprofitable especially since he had to pay a huge rent to the pick-up owner so he started to learn the sanitary maintenance profession from his cousin and during the year 2022 he was learning and working with his cousin who unfortunately passed away leaving Nahi in sorrow.

He felt that all paths are closing one after another so he turned to God praying for his great mercy.

Through the Micro-project program, Nahi was funded with the Pick-up, hoping that it will form a new start and allow him to work independently with a sustainable source of income.

“This support has renewed hope in my heart and it assured me that true faith means holding nothing back, it means putting every hope in God’s fidelity to his promises”

Raymon Al-Badawi, 30 years old, is married to Yara Haddad, and they have adorable twins, George and Charbel who were born in 2021.

Raymon, his family, and his old parents live in a small rented flat on Al-Qurayyat Street, Jaramana city. his father works as a tailor and his mother is retired so basically Raymon is also the responsible for their expenses.

At the beginning of his twenties, he started working at an aluminum workshop and soon after he was able to learn the profession and became very skilled in it, he wanted to empower himself more so he could have his own workshop in the future because he found that this profession provides stable and sustainable income that will secure his livelihood.

However, during the years of war, life became very difficult and despite all the hard work he was putting in, he was only earning 20% of the workshops income, while the rest was going to the workshop owner which made his wages barely enough to cover the daily food and he started to suffer from financial distress and became unable to meet the household demands.

Raymon was certain that if had the chance to have his own workshop, things will get better especially since he got the experience, acquaintances, and the demanded skills to run the project.

With great faith, Raymon applied at the Micro-project and his request was approved as he was funded with all the machines, tools, and equipment to start his own workshop which he considered the lifetime chance that will give him a strong push to be independent, have a better income and help to secure his family's future.

For the last 15 years, without missing a day, Munir was touring streets from behind his steering wheels, disciplined and determined to secure a decent living for his family.

He is married to Reem Al-labed and they have three adorable daughters Caroleen, Valentina, and Mary rose. Munir worked as a taxi driver, and during the crisis in Syria, he struggled a lot to afford the living obligations and his family's livelihood without needing anyone's help.

Unfortunately, that situation changed in 2019, as his daughter Carolyn started to feel sick, and after undergoing several tests, she was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in the brain which was devastating news for Munir and his family.

Since then, Carolyn had to go through two surgeries and a long and painful treatment journey which exhausted her body and her family, especially Munir whose health also deteriorated as a result and had to undergo heart surgery but he was always holding strong faith in his heart that his daughter will overcome this experience and be cured eventually. 

At the same time, Munir was working hard to cope with the increasing costs of living especially in the last couple of years during the terrible economic and fuel crisis, but no matter how hard he worked, his income was still not enough to afford the living expenses, his daughter’s medication, and the taxi rent.

they started to suffer even to afford their daily food and he had to ask for support from charities and churches to help him survive during these critical circumstances.

Munir was in dire need of having an independent project that will preserve his dignity and help him pass through these dark days which he got after applying to the Micro-project program as he was approved to be funded with the taxi project with all hope that this project will form a positive outcome in his life.

For most of his life, Jerious's main concerns were his family's comfort and safety; he never minded working hard for long hours for the past twenty years for this aim.

Jerious is 55, married to Taghreed Alabdoun, and has two sons Fady born in 1997, and Rami born in 2000.

They were living close to Al-dkhanieh area in the countryside of Damascus where he was also working at his carpentry workshop.

This all changed after 2011 as the armed conflict that took place in Al-dkhanieh forced them to be displaced from their house for many months, staying at their relatives' house, with no work or income.

however, when the security situation settled down, they returned to their area but found the house and workshop damaged which affected their living conditions as Jerious's work wasn't as profitable as before and his income was barely meeting the high living expenses.

Jerious tried his best and made an extra effort to improve his work which led to deteriorating his health condition as he had to undergo heart surgery which he couldn't afford so he sold his machines to cover the surgery costs.

After his recovery, he was forbidden to make any physical effort which made him unable to return to work in the carpentry workshop but he didn't accept to stay jobless so he rented a mini pickup and started to work as a driver delivering goods, vegetables, and products trying to secure the basic living needs for his family.

Nevertheless, the high rent of the pickup made all his work seems worthless and the only solution was to have his own pickup car in order to make a difference in his life.

Through the Micro-project initiative in Damascus, Jerious was able to buy the mini pickup that will enable him to work independently and open the way to develop his work and increase his income so that he could improve his living conditions.