Remon graduated in 1985, and a year later, he started his career as a nurse in the EMS section where he met his wife Mouna who is a nurse too. He lives with his wife and his son Alaa who newly finished his military service and started looking for a job opportunity, while his younger brother Rami traveled abroad seeking a better life. 

At the beginning of the war, this family fled from their house, which was damaged by mortar shells in Wadi Al-Sayeh, to Al-Arman neighborhood, and stayed in a rented apartment. During that period, Remon worked in very hard circumstances as a paramedic in the conflict areas and was exposed to many dangers that almost killed him.

In 2015, he retired from his work after nearly 29 years of dedication and hard work, but a man like him couldn’t stay without a job. He thought of opening a nursing clinic, where his wife could help him and they would be able to offer simple medical services like giving injections, putting catheters in addition to stitching and dealing with different wounds, etc. 

Unfortunately, their pensions were very low compared to the rising prices, which made them barely enough to cover their essential needs. This project is the last hope to improve their living situation and repair their old house. Today, Remon’s clinic is well equipped and he is ready to put all his experience to preserve a thriving business with his wife who has always been supporting him. 

When the economic crisis started to get harder, the income Ghada’s husband used to provide from his business as a wall painter became barely enough to cover their essential needs especially that they live in a rented apartment, all these circumstances encouraged her to open a mini-market and support her family. 

Ghada who is a mother of two started her own project in 2020 with simple capabilities; her beginning was very good as her mini-market was the only one in the area and she managed to meet all the clients’ needs. 

Unfortunately, few months later, COVID-19 started to spread in Syria, this pandemic had a negative impact on all the economic activities and Ghada’s business had its share. The huge inflation made it nearly impossible to supply the shop with more goods, and she couldn’t compensate for this shortage. 

This project is like a safety net for this family and their way to ensure a source of income for their children by relying on it in the future. Giving Ghada the chance to strengthen her shop will help her and her family to settle down and improve their living situation. 

Bassem is a retired engineer; he lives with his wife Josephine who used to work as a teacher, their son Yamen and their daughter Sarah and they are both university students. This family returned home after years of displacement and decided to start a new chapter, their house was damaged but they repaired it together and settled down in the city of Homs. 

During the post-war period, the severe inflation affected all aspects of life, and a family of four was no longer able to live on the simple pensions of the parents, especially with the devaluation in the last few years.

Bassem used to work in his relative’s carpentry workshop since he was young, and gained good experience in this field, he noticed that there was no shop in Al-Hamidia specialized in selling carpentry accessories, and as a city newly emerged from the war, these materials were highly demanded in the reconstruction process. 

These circumstances encouraged him to make his first step; he rented a shop and with modest capabilities started his project, but his shop lacked a lot of the necessary requirements that he couldn’t afford buying as a result of price changes. 

When Bassem applied to the Micro Projects Program, he had two important goals in his mind; improving his family’s living situation by providing an additional source of livelihood, and being able to cover his neighborhood needs of these requirements hoping that life will return back to the city after years of suffering.   

Although they tried so hard to stay and survive in their home city, Arotin’s family was forced by the armed groups to leave their life and memories behind, after long suffering in Al-Raqqa city. When they fled to the city of Homs, Arotin spent all his savings to help his children to travel for the sake of their safety. 

Arotin has been working as a car calibration technician for 45 years, after displacement, he moved with his wife to a rented house in Homs and within a very short period, they became well liked in the neighborhood. Despite his old age, he couldn’t stay without a job that would cover their basic needs, and with simple tools, Arotin started working in a small lot in front of his house and his neighbors supported him by providing many job requests, but his workshop lacked some essential equipment and he couldn’t offer many required services. 

Arotin lost a lot in the devastating war, and all he wants now is to preserve a dignified life without needing any help. Supporting his workshop will improve his business and compensate for a little part of his great losses. 

Abdo has been working in the Electrical Installation and Maintenance since 1996, he gained great experience through the years by working between Syria and Qatar. He is the only provider for his wife Olga, his son Samir (5 years old) and his daughter Naya (2 years old). 

The cruel war forced this family to leave their own house and move to a safer neighborhood where they stayed in a rented apartment and later, they lost everything they had; their house in Al-Hamidia and the equipment Abdo used to work with. Unfortunately, the only choice left for them was to stay and start from scratch. Abdo managed to buy some simple tools and worked by borrowing the essential equipment from his cousin whenever he had a job opportunity, but that was impractical as it limited his productivity and income.

Buying the needed equipment and tools will help him to continue working and ensure a dignified life for the family. With the wide experience he has, it’s time for Abdo to make up for all the previous losses and have a fresh start with his career.

After losing his house and shop, Wadih and his family decided to move on and start a new life from scratch. Wadih is an electrical engineer who works in the field of electric devices maintenance, he is a married man and a father of two; a girl Maggie (13 years old) and a boy Ghaith (11 years old). the family is living with the mother-in-law Samira (83 years old) after being displaced from home. 

Wadih didn’t give up during all these tough times, a church helped him to purchase some simple tools; he managed to rent a small place as a workshop and started working in 2017. Providing for his family during the economic crisis became harder, especially that the modest tools he had were an obstacle in his way, and deprived him of many work offers. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford buying the important equipment and the electric generator he needs.

This family suffered a lot because of the vicious war, and Wadih tried his best to compensate for their great losses, supporting his source of livelihood will be the only way to help them forget all the tough times they lived. Having the essential equipment will also allow him to utilize his long experience in the best way to improve his family’s situation.

Nothing could've stopped Haifaa from pursuing her ambitions, she kept trying despite all the hardships until she achieved her goal. 

Haifaa is a married woman, she lives with her husband Toni who is a wall-painter, her two sons; Aziz (4 years old), Zain (3 years old) and her mother-in-law Laurece. When she finished school, she joined a vocational center where she learned hairstyling, then opened her first salon in her village Qatineh (near Homs) back in 1995. In 2016, Haifaa and Toni got married and decided to move to the city of Homs; Haifaa packed all of her equipment and rented a salon there. Within a short period, she managed to build a great reputation between the other salons depending on her wide experience in this field.

Everything was going very well until the unexpected happened! Unfortunately, COVID-19 started to spread in 2020 and stopped all the activities of life, Haifaa had to close her rented salon and kept her equipment in a warehouse, but this place wasn’t prepared for that and all of the equipment was damaged due to the humidity.

Haifaa didn’t give up and she started giving vocational training to other women for a living but her income was insufficient to equip a new salon from the scratch, after 26 years of experience, she didn’t expect that one day she would lose what she is really passionate about!

This project is like a hope that Haifaa thought she had lost, reopening a salon revived her self-confidence and now she is ready to start all over again with the great skills she has hoping to improve her family’s situation during the severe economic crisis.

Issa is a maintenance technician, he inherited this profession from his father 35 years ago, and became responsible for their workshop which his father first opened in 1952. He lives with his wife Najwa and their two daughters; Reina and Layal who are university students. His wife used to work as an employee and they were both helping each other in providing for their small family.

Unfortunately, during the last few years, Najwa was diagnosed with a rare disease, which caused her visual problems; she lost sight in one of her eyes and became unable to work anymore. The treatment costs were too expensive and the family spent all of their savings until her health condition started to gradually stabilize. 

The severe inflation affected Issa’s business a lot and the income he got from the maintenance services became insufficient for his family’s basic needs; his financial burdens became heavier especially that he became the sole breadwinner after his wife’s illness. 

Issa thought of a way to get his family out of their serious financial crisis, he found that selling electrical devices in addition to his work in maintenance would allow him to provide a decent income for them, but he couldn’t afford all these expenses on his own and he needed some help to improve his livelihood. By purchasing the needed equipment, it will ensure a better income and more stability for Issa and his family during the hard economic circumstances. 

Khalil spent his youth in his home village Rableh (near Homs) where he grew up and took his first steps in life. He is a blacksmith; he started working in this field 13 years ago and loved this profession until it became his passion. 

Seeking a better living was all he had in mind, when he moved to the city of Homs after losing his workshop in Rableh, he rented a small workshop and a church helped him to buy some equipment. Today, Khalil lives alone in his relative’s house but during these hard economic circumstances, his income is barely enough to cover his daily needs. Khalil's workshop still lacks a lot of essential equipment, and that of course makes him lose many important job opportunities and decreases his productivity.

This project is Khalil’s last hope in continuing the only thing he loves to do, hoping to find the stability he has been looking for and start his own family in the near future.

Elie was forced to give up on his passion in life after a dangerous accident that almost killed him; he had to sell all of his sound equipment to pay the hospital costs, as he went through many surgeries. His treatment lasted for a full year until he became able to stand on his feet again but unfortunately, he lost the ability to move his arm.

Elie is a sound engineer, he is the only provider for his family of five; his wife and three children. In 2014, he decided to start a new project from scratch after he lost his only source of livelihood; he took the advantage of having a wide shop and opened a café with modest capabilities. This café allowed him to ensure his family a dignified life and to compensate a small part of his big loss. 

When COVID-19 started, it affected all the activities of life and it was followed by huge inflation. Elie had to close the café for two months and that reflected negatively on his business, especially that he became unable to renew the old furniture and equipment he had and more cafés were opening every day, which of course cost him to lose many clients. 

Supporting his life project will restore his last hope and help him to continue working and providing for his family after everything he went through. 

Although he lost the main equipment for his work during the war, Mourad didn’t give up and kept working with very simple tools which he was left with, just to ensure his family a dignified life being their sole provider. 

Mourad has worked as a wall painter since 1995, he is a married man and a father of two; his daughter Jessica (19 years old) who is a university student, and his son Fadi (16 years old) a student in the ninth grade, and they live in a rented apartment.

In 2011, Mourad’s equipment was stolen and he couldn’t compensate for this big loss by himself due to its high price. Life started to get harder and the increasing cost of living put a heavy burden on Mourad’s shoulders during the severe economic crisis. Unfortunately, he was deprived of many job opportunities as a result of lacking the required equipment, which made his income barely enough to cover his family’s daily needs. 

After supporting Mourad to buy the essential equipment, he will have the chance to improve his financial situation, hoping to secure his family a better life in the future.

Despite his young age, Elias felt that it’s his responsibility to help his father in providing for their big family, he managed to balance between his studies and work. Elias is an enthusiastic young man, he is a second-year student in the faculty of economics, he lives with his mother, his two sisters, his grandmother and his aunt while his father traveled to Lebanon seeking a better source of livelihood. 

After his father’s travel, he couldn’t stand by without doing anything so he decided to learn mobile phones maintenance, for the first few months he wasn’t paid during the training period, but when he gained enough skills, he started to work in the same store. Unfortunately, his small salary was insufficient to cover his needs as a university student, and opening his own store was impossible due to his family’s hard financial circumstances. 

His insistence to help his family has always been the biggest motive for him, he kept thinking of a way to start his project until he heard about the Micro Projects Program, he was very happy that he would finally be supported. After this initiative, he opened his own store, and now Elias is ready to use his experience and to work with all his heart to maintain a successful business and improve their situation.