Michel is a skilled carpenter since 1992, he started his own workshop back in 2000, he had a good life with his wife Noura and his little son Sharbel.

When the war started in 2011, Michel was living with his parents and like many Syrian families Michel's family had to leave their home too, so they fled to Damascus where his father’s health had suddenly deteriorated, and unfortunately he did not last long and passed away.

After his father’s death, Michel and his mother received the bad news about losing their house in Homs and Michel’s workshop too, so they moved to a village near Homs called Hab-nomra, during this hard period he didn't surrender and worked there in a rented workshop, until 2015 when Michel had the opportunity to work in Lebanon for a decorations company for 3 years, but then he decided to go back home after the situation has improved in his hometown.

In 2018, he started to work using other carpenters' machines splitting his profits with them, and managed to repair his apartment slowly. Now it is time for Michel to recover his business, having his own machinery will support this family greatly and secure a good income.

Wadih is a hairdresser who lives with his family of four; his wife Marilyn, his daughter Angy and his son George.

He learned this profession in Lebanon and he became famous for working with television presenters, Wadih went back to his city Homs and opened his own salon in 1996 which was one of the first salons in Al-Hamidia; his wife also helped in the salon for 16 years until the war forced him and his family to flee in 2012 to Mashta Al-Helou.

Leaving Homs was a very hard decision, but Wadih continued working in his field during that time among his clients' houses for almost a year, then he rented a salon for another year. In 2014, Al-Hamidia neighborhood became more safe; when Wadih heard this great news he hurried back with his family to their home where he helped in cleaning the streets and removing the ruins which the war had left behind, then he repaired his house and salon and started all over again.

Post-war results started to appear, most notably the economic crisis which affected Wadih's job and made him unable to provide some services to his clients. When Wadih has the sufficient support for his salon, it would improve his income and help him and his family to continue their life during these hard circumstances.

Issam works in plumbing and solar system installation since 1984, he lives with his wife Lama, his son Fouad and his daughter Katia. The family went through many hardships during the war as they were living in Al-Hamidia which was a main battlefield back then, so they moved to a village called Mashta Al-Helou.

Issam didn’t stop working while staying in the village, but living away from home was not easy on the family, so when the situation became better in Homs Issam and his family decided to go back. Their house was robbed and Issam’s shop was empty too so they had to start over from scratch.

Issam is working now in his shop with minimum tools, but his income dropped due to the economic crisis which made him unable to buy all the equipment needed. All these hard circumstances affected his business and there were so many services that he couldn’t offer as a result to the lack of equipment and tools.

Today, Issam has all the equipment he needs to work properly and ensure a decent life for his family.

Issam is an enthusiastic and energetic young man who lives with his parents and two sisters.

He works in his own Aluminum workshop that he opened in 2017 by borrowing some tools from his relative, this young man became well-known for his good reputation and his wide experience in this field among the other craftsmen.

Issam remembers very well his tough experience during the war which made of him a stronger person; In 2011, Issam and his father were kidnapped and the hardest thing they faced was witnessing the killing of a person in front of their eyes! they remained in captivity for 24 hours which were the longest and the most difficult hours in their life.

After this horrible incident, the family decided to flee seeking safety so they went to a village near Homs and stayed there for 6 years, through these years Issam worked in an Aluminum workshop and learned this profession very well.

When the situation improved in Homs city, they came back home and Issam started working immediately after he rented a workshop and hired a worker to help him.

The frequent electricity blackouts negatively affected his productivity. in addition to the need for some equipment that he was forced to rent from the other workshops which reflected of decrease in his profits.

With the help of Hope Center, Issam has the chance to improve his business and continue his career more successfully. 

Life was not easy at all after Sahar’s husband death, who was the sole provider for the family when suddenly she found herself responsible for her two daughters Mary and Sarah.

Sahar made her decision to fight for the sake of her family and worked in making pastries for four years; this job was very difficult and tiring for a woman of Sahar’s age that forced her to think about another possible choice which provides her and her daughters with a dignified life.

Her husband had a small grocery shop that was completely stolen during the war, Sahar used this shop and opened it to sell wool with a little help from the church, and she also sold many hand-made pieces such as: scarves, hats and gloves. As a seasonal shop, Sahar also thought about selling cotton clothes during summer time in order not to stop working.

With the needed support, Sahar became able to provide her customers’ requests, and now she will ensure that her daughters have a good life with the stable income from her project.

Life was very hard on Hayat when it deprived her of her husband at a young age, then she found herself the only responsible for her eight children.

Hayat had to struggle a lot to raise her children in very difficult circumstances, she learned sewing to support her family and with simple capabilities she was able to buy a sewing machine and started working at home.

During the brutal war, Hayat suffered again from the painful loss of her son who martyred at age of 25, which left her in a very bad condition but she did not give up and continued her life for the sake of her sons and daughters.

Hayat is living now with her children in a humble house, some of them got married; and till now she still uses the same sewing machine which became very old. Hayat is the sole provider for her family and she is getting older, she needs modern sewing machines to get her job done quickly and easily.

Today after she had the opportunity to purchase new sewing machines that would save her time and effort, Hayat became able to increase her productivity and her income as well.