Since he was young, Zaki loved working in the field of beauty and hairstyling and worked in many salons around Homs until he became skilled enough, he lives with his retired parents in a rented apartment in Al-Hamidia where he started his first steps in this career.

At the age of eighteen, he had a job opportunity in one of the famous salons in Lebanon, which was a very useful experience, and he learned a lot from it. In 2009, Zaki decided that it was time for him to start his own business, so he went back home and opened a salon in his neighborhood.

He managed to maintain a thriving business drawing on his wide experience and his good makeup skills which attracted more clients to the salon, the thing that made him a strong competitor to the other salons in the area. In 2011, the war started in Syria and destroyed many dreams! All of Zaki’s equipment was stolen, but his determination to continue working prevented him from giving up and he bought new equipment.

Later, Al-Hamidia became very dangerous and it was impossible for Zaki to reach the salon during that time, and unfortunately, he lost his equipment for the second time. His family were no longer able to stay in Homs; they fled to a near village and stayed in a rented apartment for five years while he bought some simple tools and started working between his clients' houses until the city of Homs became safe and the family was finally able to return in 2016. 

Starting a new salon from scratch was very difficult in the post-war period, especially that Zaki lost a lot, but he never forgot that dream about opening a salon again, despite all the hardships he went through,  he didn’t lose hope and kept chasing his dream till the end. After all these years, Zaki found the stability and independence he needs to focus on doing what he really loves.   

Hussam worked in goods distribution for more than 15 years on many vehicles, but he never had one of his own. He is the only responsible for his family of six; his wife and their three daughters in addition to his elderly parents. 

He started working in this field in 2004, between Homs and the suburbs as an employee for a cleaning materials company, his business was going very well; he managed to build wide relations with many shops and traders, and that helped him in creating a good marketing network to sell his products. 
In 2011, the vicious war started in Syria and his family fled to a village near Hama called “Misyaf”, during that period, Hussam had no other choice but to work as a waiter to provide for his family, especially that one of his daughters has epilepsy and she needs a special care and daily medications.

When the situation improved in the city of Homs, Hussam’s family went back home to their old life but this time everything was different; his salary became insufficient and no matter how hard he worked due to the serious economic crisis in the country. Having a mini pick-up truck will ensure him a better income and give him more independence at work.

It’s time for Hussam to have his own project that will allow him to preserve a dignified life for his big family, counting on his experience and the great marketing skills he gained throughout his career. 

Johnny is a married man and a father of three beautiful daughters; Nathalie (8 years old), Tala (4 years old) and Joy (3 years old), he lives with his family in a rented apartment and he is the sole provider for them. 

Before the war, Johnny used to work in his father’s spices shop, which was later severely damaged and closed in 2012. Unfortunately, he lost his only source of livelihood and had to work in many different professions to support his family and cover their daily needs. 

In 2017, he had an opportunity to work as a driver for a communication company, his salary was very simple and he had no other choice but to accept it just to ensure a monthly source of income. 

In the last few months, the company he was working for was affected badly during the economic crisis and started to lay off many employees, Johnny was expecting to lose his job any moment and there was no other alternative solution!

He thought of a way out of this trouble and found that the only thing he could do to keep working was to stay in the same field as a driver, especially that he gained the needed experience and created many relations with the traders while he was working with his father. 

Having a mini pick-up truck helps him to guarantee the stability he needs and allow him to improve his income, hoping that someday he will be able to buy a house for his family and ensure a better future for his daughters. 

Shehadeh works as a plumber since 1978, he is the sole breadwinner for his wife and three sons. The family’s only house in Al-Hamidia was damaged in the war and they were displaced to Al-Arman neighborhood where they stayed in a rented apartment. 

During the post-war period, his business was affected by the frequent power outages, which stopped him from working for long hours and decreased his income, also the old equipment he has been using for years had a huge negative effect and he couldn’t renew it due to its high prices. 

Providing him with the needed equipment and the electric generator allowed him to continue working and saved his only source of livelihood. Now, Shehadeh and his family started to repair their old house together and they are looking for a new beginning after all the difficulties they faced.

Ghassan is a married man and a father of three; two boys and a girl. He used to work as a driver and worked on many different vehicles throughout his long career since 2001, but the cruel war came along and brought with it painful incidents for the family. In 2014, a shell hit their home destroying a huge part of it while Ghassan’s wife was in there, she was injured by a shrapnel, her injury was dangerous and as a result, she lost her kidney and needed a very long time to recover. Unfortunately, in that same incident, Ghassan lost his only source of livelihood as he was parking his minibus near the house and it was completely burned. 

Starting from scratch was never easy on a man of his age, he had to work on someone else’s car being the sole breadwinner. Working that way was impractical; he was sharing a big amount of his profits with the car owner which made his income insufficient for the basic daily needs. 

Having a mini pick-up truck will allow Ghassan to compensate for a part of his loss, and give him the chance to provide a decent life for his family.

Faddaa is the sole responsible and support for her family, she is a married woman and a mother of two; a girl (Miranda 13 years old) and a boy (Emile 6 years old). 

Her start in the field of flower arranging was in her village Sadad (near Homs) back in 2000, she gained great experience in this profession and it became her passion in life. When she got married, she moved with her husband Ramez to the city of Homs where they settled down and opened a flower shop there. 

In 2011, the cruel war started and this family was displaced to their village and stayed until the beginning of 2018, like many Syrian families, Faddaa and Ramez decided to travel seeking a better life for their children; they sold everything they had and traveled to Erbil. Unfortunately, while staying there, Ramez had a sudden health condition and needed intensive medical care, the hospital costs were too expensive and Faddaa spent all of their savings. After 6 months, this family was forced to return home and Ramez continued his treatment; he went through a Colectomy and many other surgeries until he gradually started to improve. 

Faddaa had to find a source of livelihood for her family after all the losses they experienced; she rented a small shop in Al-Hamidia and started working with simple equipment, which made her miss on many clients' requests. Her responsibilities became heavier and she needed support to preserve a dignified life for her family.

This project is the last hope to give Fadaa the strength to overcome all the hard circumstances which the family lived and to have a new beginning. 

Photography has always been Gabby’s passion since 2004; he worked with many professional photographers and learned a lot throughout his career until he became well known in this field. In 2009, he started his own studio by himself and his business was very well.

Unfortunately, Gabby lost his life project when the war began; his studio had been completely burnt with all the equipment and he had to start from scratch. His insistence to start all over again was stronger than the brutality of war; he worked for a press office for four years but his salary was very simple so he worked in another photographer’s studio and managed to save some money.

In 2020, Gabby opened a studio with a friend and they worked together as partners. Lately, this partnership started to become a heavy burden on their shoulders because the income was insufficient to split between them during the economic crisis. The two friends were forced to break up their partnership and each one of them took his share of the equipment. 

Gabby was planning to have a new start, but his camera broke down and that put him in a serious trouble; his business was about to stop and he had no financial capability to buy a new camera during this economic crisis. Today, Gabby and his sister live with their brother’s family of three while their brother traveled to Lebanon in a search of a better livelihood for his family.

Despite all the losses he suffered, he kept trying to find a way out of despair and when he heard about the Micro Project Program, he immediately applied and his project was approved just in the right time!

Now, Gabby’s studio is well equipped and he is ready to work, hoping that his business will thrive again and guarantee him the independency he needs. 

Before the war, Attallah used to work in his hair salon, he was living a simple life with his wife and their three daughters and everything was going very well until the brutal war came and changed their life. 

In 2011, staying in the city was no longer safe; Attallah became unable to reach his salon, which was in an interface area, and later all of his equipment was stolen, this family fled from their house in Al-Hamidia to their home village Al-Jabrieh (near Homs) where they stayed for seven years. During the displacement period, Attallah had to leave his wife and daughters in the village and travel to Lebanon seeking a job opportunity just to provide for his family’s needs. 

The living costs in Lebanon were an additional financial burden on his shoulders and his income was not enough to cover all these increasing expenses. In 2018, Attallah went home, his family made their decision to start a new life together; they moved back to Homs and stayed in a rented apartment, while Attallah rented a salon with some essential equipment and started working. All these financial obligations were exhausting and put Attallah in serious trouble. Helping him to have his own equipment will release him from a real financial crisis and will give him the stability he needs to improve his livelihood and guarantee a better future for his daughters.

Jihad is a blacksmith, he started his own workshop thirty years ago in the industrial area, and within a short period, he became well known among the other craftsmen for his great skills in this field. Jihad lives with his wife Mai, his daughter Joelle and his son Elia in a rented apartment, and he is the only breadwinner for the family. 

When the war started in Homs, this family fled to Fairouza (a village near Homs) after losing their house in Wadi Al-Sayeh neighborhood and like many Syrian families, they started from scratch. In 2015, they decided to go back home; Jihad reopened his workshop and started working again in his profession which he missed a lot. Unfortunately, as a result of closing his workshop for a long time, some of the essential equipment were worn out and the frequent blackouts affected the productivity in the workshop and decreased Jihad’s income.

Starting all over again was not easy, but with the long experience he has, Jihad is willing to compensate for all the losses, and having the required equipment will strengthen his project and help him to ensure his family the dignified life they deserve after all the difficulties they suffered.

After serving in the army for seven years, Kinan had no other choice but to start his life from all over from scratch. He is a pharmacist, living with his wife Ranim who is a teacher and their two-year-old son Julian.

When Kinan was finally discharged, his simple financial abilities were an obstacle, stopping him from starting his life project, unfortunately, he was forced to postpone this dream and work as an employee for a medicine company. Lately, life started to get harder with each day, and the income Kinan and Ranim used to get became insufficient at all for their increasing needs as a family during the hard economic circumstances. 

Opening his own pharmacy has always been his dream since 2011, helping him to implement his project will change his life positively and give him the chance to provide a better livelihood for his family.

Julia is a pharmacist who lives with her parents after her two brothers traveled abroad seeking better job opportunities. The war forced her family to flee from their home in Al-Hamidia to Lebanon, but they couldn’t stay for a long time due to the high costs of living, so they returned to Syria and moved to a village called (Mashta Al-Helou) as Homs was not safe yet and they stayed in a rented apartment for five years, when the family decided to go back to their old house, they found it severely damaged, but they didn’t give up and started repairing their house. 

All these hardships never stopped Julia from achieving her dream, she continued her studies and passed with very good grades. In Feb 2021, her parents helped her to open a pharmacy but their financial resources were limited and she couldn’t supply her pharmacy with enough medicines. During the economic crisis, the medicine prices increased a lot which prevented Julia from improving her pharmacy. 

Supporting Julia to strengthen her life project will secure the stability which she needs as a young lady, and now she can focus on building up her future by doing what she is really passionate about. 

Her age was never an obstacle and despite all the hardships she faced, Sumaa did everything she could to help her family. She was living a peaceful life with her husband Mousa and her son Ziad in their house until her husband started to have heart problems, his health deteriorated rapidly and later he needed many surgeries. Unfortunately, Sumaa and Ziad couldn’t afford the high costs of hospitals, and they were forced to sell the family’s house and live in her elder son’s house with his family of four. Sumaa thought of a way to alleviate her sons’ burdens who work in floor tiling, so she rented a small shop and opened a mini-market in 2011 to secure some income for the big family. 

In the past few years, Sumaa’s shop was severely affected by inflation, and like many trading businesses, the high prices prevented her from buying more goods until the shop became almost empty. The family lost an essential part of their livelihood and started to drown in debts. One day, a relative told her about the Micro Projects Program so she applied immediately hoping to revive her project. This initiative saved Sumaa’s family from a real financial trouble and now she will be able to contribute in improving her family’s situation.