The effects of the horrific war have reached everyone on several levels, but the biggest impact that we are suffering from is the people’s migration which most likely comes with very negative results such as the case of Michele Othman and his wife.

Michele is 47 years old, he is married to Fadia al-Jat, the couple used to handle all hardships together and even during the time of war, they faced danger and insecurity by supporting each other to pass that difficult period.

Michele was working in his mini-market daily trying to secure their living but in the post-war period, the economic situation became worse and they were barely able to afford their daily food. 

they were dreaming to live the rest of their life in better circumstances so they decided to risk everything as his wife borrowed some money and started her journey abroad toward that dream. Unfortunately, she went through five tough months of homelessness until her husband finally managed to bring her back to the country.

that attempt had a significant impact on the couple and their living conditions because Michele had to spend all his savings to bring his wife back, which affected his Mini-market as he didn't have the money to renew the goods.

Michele and his wife were striving for a better life, but they returned to scratch after losing everything they worked for.

However, Michele decided not to give up, so he applied to the Micro-project program for support, hoping to restore his sustainable source of income and have the opportunity to improve his living conditions and secure his future.

It is always promising to see young people who have emerged from the horrible years of war, full of hope and determination to make a difference in their lives and their surrounding society. Nael Al-Saad, 25, is the perfect example of that.

Nael’s father was a tiler and his mother was a school teacher, they worked hard to secure their children's livelihood and education despite the bad situation they were living in, the harsh living conditions, and the old dilapidated flat, but they were able to put their children on the first steps of success; as Nael is at the fourth years of the faculty of Law and his sister Wisal have finished her university education and started working as a school teacher.

However, in the past few years, his mother retired and his father's health began to deteriorate due to his hard work, so Nael had no choice but to start working in addition to his study to support his parents and secure the house expenses.

in 2016, Nael began voluntary work with the Syrian Society for Social Development and worked hard to positively impact his surrounding community. For 5 years, Nael used to work, study and improve himself, trying as much as possible to secure the family’s expenses and financial obligations, which became more difficult during the current circumstances and the increasing prices, so he took a part-time job at a stationary store to increase his income.

during the time, Nael found himself with this work and had many ideas to add; such as securing university services for students, their lectures, and many other ideas, so he decided to apply to the Micro-projects program, asking for support to start his own project.

Indeed, this creative self-made young man deserved a chance in life and was supported to start his stationary store hoping that it would be a supportive project for the whole family to improve their living conditions and provide them with sustainable income and at the same time allow Nael to finish his education.

Marwan El Khoury is married and has two sons. Elias, who since his birth in 1995 was suffering from cerebral palsy, and Majd was born in 2000.

For more than thirty years, Marwan worked hard as a painter trying his best to secure his family a decent life and provide his son Elias with the needed medicine, and the necessary care.

He did not hesitate to take a second job to increase his income, so he started working on his brother's pick-up car, transporting goods and everything available.

However, the horrific war affected the life of this simple family; the severe bombing and constant dangers forced them to sell the truck.

At the same time, Marwan's work in painting began to decrease gradually due to the high prices of materials, but he did not lose hope and kept working on whatever he could, trying to secure the simplest living demands for his family.

His hard work for those long years had affected his health, and he became no longer able to carry out painting workshops as before, Marwan was seeking another job to support himself and his family, which led him to apply for a pick-up car.

This struggling man deserved to take another chance in life, and his request was approved, hoping to secure him a sustainable income that would provide his family with a decent life and secure their future.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jana and her family had a quiet, peaceful life in their home in the city of Sednaya.

Unfortunately, this situation changed completely two years ago as Jana's father passed away from a heart attack, after that the family began a journey of pain and misery.

Before their tears dried, they were asked to leave their home because it was given to the father as a work benefit, so they were left without shelter or support. They moved to the city of Damascus, hoping to find better work opportunities, and rented a small house in Jaramana, all family members began working together to secure the daily food and their basic needs.

Jana's mother started to do cleaning work, but it was very hard for her as it affected her health and damaged her back, so she had to undergo several surgeries and stay at home.

Despite her young age, Jana decided to help her family with the household expenses, so she worked in several jobs then started to learn the profession of nails care and gained good experience in this field, but the lack of money prevented her from buying the necessary materials and improve her work.

Through the Micro-project program, Jana was supported with the necessary tools to work and save money so she could be able to support her mother and siblings in improving their livelihood conditions.

“Either you challenge life or let it defeat you”

The words of a woman who was hit by life’s hardships many times and came out stronger and wiser.

Clemance Akhras is 46, a widowed mother of two, Mouna 23, and Naser 22. She used to live happily with her family in Aleppo, working as a seamstress to help her husband with the living expenses.

With the start of war in 2011, her husband passed away from a heart attack, leaving Clemance heartbroken and alone in face of the horrors of war. She did not have time to mourn her husband, as the crisis struck the city of Aleppo and soon violence and death spread all over the city, then her house was destroyed by the shells and she couldn’t take any of her belongings out. she and her kids escaped with only their clothes to find themselves scared with no shelter or support.

Clemance decided to resort to the church where she stayed for two weeks then she moved with her children to Damascus hoping to have a new start there. With the help of the priest and the nuns, Clemance was able to rent a small flat in Al-Dwalaa and got employed at the Good Shepherd center as a children’s supervisor. In the afternoons, she worked as a seamstress at a sewing workshop.

Clemance worked day and night to provide her kids with proper education and basic living needs, but no matter how much she was trying, new challenges emerged; the workshop was closed and her income became much less than the increasing living demands. 

“I just want to grow old with my son and daughter beside me, not in a faraway country”.

This little dream of Clemance is our main purpose in the Hope Center, she was supported to have her own sewing workshop so this strong lady could have her independency, a sustainable and decent income to improve her living, and hopefully keep her children by her side. 

Many challenges in life may seem insurmountable and limiting, but humans have always proven that obstacles are made to overcome.

Tariq Al-Nadafa, born in 1988, is married to Rudaina and lives with his parents and brother in a small house in the Kashkoul area - Damascus countryside.

Tariq is one of the young men whose youth was drained by the Syrian war as he served for ten difficult and cruel years. After he was discharged, he found himself without a real profession or work, responsible for his elderly sick parents at a time the country was going through a stifling economic crisis.

Moreover, his wife had complications after a medical operation, which led to her losing the ability to have children in the future. Overburdened by his misfortunes, Tariq decided not to let despair block his way, so he started working as a data entry employee in a private company, and after the end of his shift, he worked in whatever he could, including repairs, paint workshops, and other things, to secure as much possible for the necessary living expenses in addition to his parents’ medicine costs.

Tariq and his family were living under harsh conditions and depriving themselves of the simplest requirements of life, their circumstances were getting worse as the costs of livelihood were increasing, but Tariq kept encouraging himself and looking forward to improving his reality.

Today, after he was supported by the Micro-projects program to purchase his own Pickup Truck, Tariq will hopefully overcome his past hardships and have a new start in life.