Beneficiary: Elias Sayegh
Fund Date: 07/2020
Age: 36 years old
Family members: 9
There is some unique bond in big families like the Sayeghs, which makes the family members stand together through the good and the bad no matter what, that is what the story of this family is all about.
Elias is 35; ever since he got married to Sandra, the couple lived along with Elias’s family that consist of his mother Elaine, his grandmother Maro, his brother Antoine and his wife and their children, in addition to his other brother Johnny.
The family not only live together, they also share a business in wooden furniture spraying. Elias and Antoine inherited this profession from their father and uncle, their workshop was located in Al-sheikh Maksoud. Unfortunately, with the start of war in 2012, they lost everything. They all were displaced to Al-Suleymanieh where they stayed for six months, but when finding a job became a difficult challenge, Elias decided to part from his family and head to Damascus to look for jobs there and bring back the profits to his family.
The family spent long years in Damascus, when they came back to Aleppo they rented in Al-Nayyal with the help of the Blue Maristes. And since then, a lot has changed. The three brothers had another thing to worry about, George the youngest and Antoine the oldest are both serving in the army, leaving Elias to be the sole provider for the big family.
Every couple of weeks, Antoine comes to Aleppo to help his brother in the workshop and to see his wife and children, the brothers want to improve their workshop and expand their business, since the workplace they are currently renting is small and not efficient. Elias was thinking to change the location to Bustan Al-Basha where the spaces are bigger and more suitable for their specialty. However, a lot of challenges face Elias from the lack of electricity and fuel for the generators, all the way to the general economic situation. But despite all difficulties, Elias realizes that in order to give his family a decent life he has to take this step towards independence knowing that that this project will be offering him hope and support.