The 34-years-old Yacoub spent most of his life building a career in car mechanics; from an early age, he worked in several workshops and attended many masterclasses to get acquainted with engines and latest methods, each and every step of the way, he learned new things adding to his growing experience. 

To achieve his goals, this fast-learning man worked in a specialized company which was sadly closed after one year because of the unstable situation in the country, but he did not give up, instead, Yacoub joined a course to focus more closely on car electronics, hoping that someday he will be able to purchase his own car inspection device and set.

Unfortunately, the odds were against him for so long; he had to postpone his dream of independence and worry about making a living from his modest job in a cars' body part retail shop until a good opportunity comes up, and indeed, he found the microprojects program to be the perfect chance. It all came together as his current job gave him the contacts and relations with the market, he discovered how much his income can improve if he obtains the car inspection device while having his first job. The combination of his skills in cars' retail and the inspection device will surely upgrade his lifestyle significantly.       

It all began in 2014 when Moses, the father of Kaytana and Hagop, was walking back home late at night, making his way in pitch darkness, and suddenly fell into an 8m deep trench. the most frightening thing was the loss of his sight and knowing that if he would ever be rescued, he is going to be hospitalized to save his injured eye. Help was on the way, eventually Moses was thankful this nightmare ended, but he was still worried about his sight which was heavily damaged and didn't respond well to all the treatments.

For a photographer to lose his sight was devastating and catastrophic. Before the eye injury, he worked with his father in their photography shop, but after the incident his career's future was vague.

It took a lot of determination to get used to living with one eye, but this young man made his mind to save what he still had, especially that due to war he lost his rented house and had to move in with his parents along with his family.

With one eyesight, an old camera, and a lot of determination, Moses made his way back into photography which he was not willing to abandon, but it was extremely hard with the weary equipment. Things were getting overwhelming, but he needed hope to face the challenges ahead and it came in the form of a new camera.

The Micro-Projects initiative was the only way to purchase photography gear and save a career from an evident end. Moses now has a chance to build a better future for his family, a future full of hope.

Elias the owner of a car mechanics workshop who has been working in this field since 1985, gaining the skills and building good reputation in the industry. For two decades, Elias who is forty now has been the sole provider for his family who depended on him for their daily bread. 

Like any business this workshop was hit hard by the economy, Elias thought it was best to sell it and seek another opportunity abroad, but three months later he came back home regretting his decision but unknowing how to start over now that his business is all gone. Unfortunately, that loss was only the beginning, hardships were about to arise with the start of the war to make Elias' goal to regain his business even harder. 

The devoted man was willing to try everything; he worked in machine maintenance, selling fuel, he even worked as a driver for a private company; a job that turned out to be more dangerous than he ever imagined. While driving on his usual route, Elias found himself a victim of armed robbery and kidnapping that he miraculously outlived.

Losses burdened Elias' shoulders, but they never succeeded in hindering his will to go on. Despite all, he kept knocking on every door he came across and did his absolute best to get the workshop he always desired. 

The micro-projects answered Elias' prayers, and with the funds his long-lost dream of owning a car inspecting machinery drew his first steps on the track of work success and independence.

“Poverty matters when it’s related to the way of thinking, not to the financial situation…”

That’s how Garabet started his conversation…

This ambitious man did not let the hard conditions he faced stop him from following his dream and starting a lovely family, in addition, to initiating a job in Syria after years of living abroad.

Garabet lived in Lebanon for a long time, where he started his career as a sweets and pastries chef. Also, he worked for a Cinematography company, to ensure the family’s livelihood, as he was the only breadwinner for his family.

During this period, he made good money, but unfortunately, the his mother's illness forced him to pay a big portion of his savings for her treatment costs.

Further, he spent a lot of money from his savings on his wedding party, thinking that he would recompensate all those expenses when he returned to his job. But unfortunately, Covid-19 hit the scales, and soom Garabet found himself stuck in Syria with no work and no income.

He had a long experience, and a great amount of resilience within him, so he didn’t give up and bought a mixer and fridge by installments. He borrowed some equipment he needed, as well. He rented a workshop from the a church in exchange of a small cost and started baking.

The taste of his pastries is special, that once, when he didn't have a penny, he borrowed some money to pay for joining a fair, at the end of the fair, he didn’t only pay the money back, he profits exceeded the amount by the double.

Gearabet stilll needs an electric oven, which can increase his capacity, so when Garabet applied to the Hope Center, we were happy to support this persevering man in expanding his work and joining his journey of success.

Starting from scratch, losing his brother, serving in the military for four years, made being the sole provider for a whole family, seem nothing compared to all those agonies for Jamil. 

After he was discharged from the military. Jamil began taking care of his sick father, who was suffering from cancer for several years before losing his battle with illness. 

The death of his father and brother, those who were always supportive of him, caused him a big shock in his life. They used to work together in a blacksmithing, but unfortunately, due to the war, even their rented workshop was lost.

to top all of those struggles, Jamil and his wife, son, and his mother, were displaced from their house because it was in a very dangerous area. 

All these circumstances stole any hope of returning to their damaged house, and their workshop. Jamil had to do anything to meet his family's requirements. He worked as a cleaner, gardener, and salesperson. Later, he traveled for a while to Damascus, but he came back to Aleppo after two years of trying to seek an appropriate job.

After all this suffering, he decided to go back to his main profession, and specialize in manufacturing innovative designs of chairs and tables that were not used before, but Jamil still needed the necessary equipment to initiate such a business.

Applying to Micro-Project was a perfect choice because it’s the best way to receive the support he deserves to be a successful entrepreneur. 

It is said that a mother spares no means to take care of her family and offer the best for her children and loved ones and sometimes does what seems to be impossible, like Siranoush. 

Siranoush's biggest challenge was the loss of her husband who passed away leaving her behind, to face life alone with no source of income no roof over her head and with the great responsibility of taking care of her disabled.

By the time her husband passed away she had already been through a lot, she had lost her house because of the mortar shells, and moved back in her parents' house and not only she settled in the house where she lived her childhood in but also she went back to practice sewing which she learned from her mother when she was little.

long story short, when Siranoush's financial situation was getting worse she decided to work from home on an old sewing machine even though that machine couldn't operate as she wanted, but having no money to replace it with a better one forced her to stick to what she had in hand.

When the outdated machine started to become an obstacle in the way of Siranoush's small business and started compromising the workflow it became a necessity for her to apply for the micro projects to be able to upgrade her sewing machine, especially that Siranoush's opportunities have increased due to her growing experience and the fact that her daughter also worked in the same domain, which meant that she could provide better job opportunities for her hardworking mother.

Eventually, Siranoush's micro-project turned out to be a family business, where all members of her family can participate in, even her son will help around despite his disability. That way Siranoush will become an independent breadwinner and live in dignity.

Vecken has been battling with the hardships of life to take care of his wife and two boys; Garo and Hagop. The war may have ceased in the fighting sense, but its impact on families is still overwhelming. 

Through the first years of war hundreds of shells were falling in their neighborhood, the building in front of theirs was destroyed by one of those shells and their house was severely damaged. Those explosion terrifying sounds affected their youngest son’s physiological health and he has been stuttering ever since.

The financial situation was not good either. Long time ago Vecken was a car mechanic, but for medical reasons he had to quit that field of work. Later he became a janitor at Al-Sharek school. However, the salary is poorly able to support four people during this economic crisis, that’s why Vecken started thinking about finding another source of income to be able to put bread on the table and afford all the educational expenses of his boys. 

The taxi is a life changing step for Vecken, who was happy that he found the type of career that won't interfere with his part-time job, suits his health condition and at the same time will give him a good income.

Joseph is a graduated architect, but besides his studies he has always been a hardworking and self-dependent man.

His father had lost his workshop and the machinery, and when the family lost their livelihood, Joseph started seriously considering having a full-time job. First, he volunteered with an organization then in 2018 he started working on a laser cutting machine. Utilizing his designer skills, Joseph started making a living by selling architectural models, wooden accessories and many other items. The problem arose when the owner of this machine decided to end their partnership and sell the machine. Joseph would had lost his work because he couldn’t afford to buy a similar machine on his own. 

But Joseph did not give up, he applied to micro project hoping to save his business and indeed he purchased his own laser machine and used his father’s workshop space, and now he is looking forward to have a successful work. 

Rania comes from a big family, she lives with her mother, both of her brothers and their own families, all in the same household. From early on Rania grew to be an independent, strong woman on every aspect. Her long years of experience in the sewing field enabled her to open her own workshop just before the war started.

Like many people, Rania was affected by the ramification of war. The lack of electricity, the bombing and the bad economics in general forced Rania to sell some of her equipment in order to pay the last salaries of her employees before having to close. Beside the loss of her business, Rania also went through a life-threatening experience when in 2014 she was injured by a falling shell near her house while she was playing with her niece on the balcony, her injuries were critical, luckily doctors removed the shrapnel from Rania’s face and she recovered well.   

The old and small apartment does not suit the large family, That’s why Rania’s brothers will try to move out, this puts all the responsibilities of taking care of her ill mother and the daily life needs on her shoulders alone. 

With determination and hard work Rania is reopening a sewing workshop of her own. She finally bought a part of the machinery that she lacks and now is establishing a good business, taking advantage of her experience, good relations in the business community and the most important the well-known quality of her work. 

Saad is a 37-years-old man who chose to make a risky decision of changing his career more than five years ago. Originally Saad was working in retail business, but after loosing his shop and the merchandise in Al-Ramouseh, he found himself without any job for more than two years, he decided to begin a new career in tailoring. He started this path by taking a course to learn everything related to this new domain, then he borrowed his uncle’s old sewing machine and hoped for the best. 

This hardworking man managed to succeed in his job despite all challenges, he recently relocated his shop and with the new location he felt the need to expand his business (specially that his current machine is warn-out and not sufficient anymore to satisfy customers’ needs). 

Saad’s ambition needs help to be turned into reality, the additional machines he wishes to obtain are necessary to raise the quality and variety of his production, but he doesn’t have the sufficient resources. With the help of Micro Projects program, the chance of improving the lifestyle for this hardworking man and his family . 

Akram, his wife Claude, son Salim and daughter Dalal have witnessed the war in Aleppo and suffered immensely of its consequences. The constantly falling shells during the first few years affected Salim and Dalal’s mental health greatly, the explosions and the horrors pushed them on the verge of a breakdown. Specially when one of those shells hit Akram's car that was parked in front of their building.

Akram’s business was also affected, when his partner decided to leave the country, they had to sell all the machines to separate their finances. All that left Akram with an empty workspace with no sewing machines to work and make an income. 

Since safety is back to the city of Aleppo Akram was encouraged to start over and reopen his workshop, but with no financial resources or help it seems impossible. He needs support to buy the sewing machines that will ensure an efficient work flow for Akram’s business. Hoping that this step will Help Akram provide a decent life for his family in the future. 

Just with the start of war, Shadi was called to serve his mandatory military service, Shadi went to his assigned position in Damascus without knowing that this period of his life will extent to over than nine years. 

During those years he went through many hard and challenging circumstances, he overcame many dangers and dodged many explosions, and finally was discharged in April 2020. His wife and two daughters were very excited for their father coming back home, they were united again and moved back to their old house (during Shadi’s absence his wife and children were staying with her parents).Being away for so long Shadi had to establish a business of his own, and with no financial resources the only solution he found was to transform a small part of his 32 m2 house into a plumbing shop where he can receive clients and store all the equipment and spare parts. 

Today shadi needs support to purchase the tools needed for his job, in addition to some merchandise like pipes to be able to work properly and maintain a decent income for his family. 

There is no doubt that the war had its devastating effects on Syrians’ lives in many ways, but despite all the hardships they go through every day, there’s still room for hope. Ghandi, just like many family providers, has struggled to support his family during the post-war period, but he never surrendered to the bad circumstances, and always did his best for the sake of his wife and their one-year-old baby.

He lives with his small family in a rented apartment, and throughout 20 years of working in goods distribution, he managed to combine well reputation with experience and worked for many specialized companies.

During the war, Ghandi and his wife Yara had to escape the dangers of Bab Al-Sebaa neighborhood and stayed in Tartus city for 4 years, where he worked as a driver and sales representative for a company on one of its vehicles until Homs became safe again and they were able to return home. 

The calamities of war impacted all the activities in the country; the companies Ghandi was dealing with were not spared from the economic crisis, which reflected negatively on his salary, he became barely able to handle the everyday basic needs and the increasing financial burdens. All his efforts to offer his small family a decent life seemed to be going in vain! 

This project lit new hope in this family’s life, now that Ghandi and Yara will have the chance to settle down and establish their own life. Having the mini pick-up truck will create a quality change in profits and save a big amount of income. 

Being the eldest son, Fares has always felt most responsible to help his family, the 22-year-old young man lives in a simple rented apartment with his mother Shireen, his brother Charbel who is a 10th grader, and his father Samer who works as an employee for an oil factory with a modest salary. 

This lovely family was living a peaceful life in a rented apartment in Al-Hamidia, until the vicious war started and forced them to leave their home city and displaced them to Fairouza village for a year, then they moved back in 2013 to find all of their belongings stolen, so they rented an apartment in a new neighborhood and started from scratch.

At the age of 17, Fares decided to work in a barbershop; with time, he became fond of this profession and gained skills. During the post-war period, the economic situation in the country was getting harder every day, and the family’s financial burdens were increasing. 

However, Fares’s job at the barbershop was barely enough to cover his own expenses, and at the same time, he didn’t have the ability to open a shop by himself, which would allow him to secure a better income.

Each one of us has a goal to achieve, and Fares didn’t give up on his goal; now at a young age, he needs some support to start his own barbershop and get the basic requirements, which will help him secure a dignified living for the family.

“I lost the best years of my life due to the war, I was supposed to establish my life and settle down!”

Those were Fares’s words after spending nine years of his life serving in the army, where he suffered from the ravages of war and many injuries; some of them left him with fragments lodged in his body and lots of horrifying memories.

Today Fares lives with his parents, his younger brother who is a university student, and his aunt in her house, after their own home was destroyed in Wadi Al-Sayed neighborhood, while his other brother is currently complleting his military service. 

When Fares was finally exempted on the 4th of July 2020, he had no other choice, as the only provider, but to work in electrical installations and maintenance despite his critical health condition and the chronic infection he has due to his previous injuries. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to continue in this tiring job for much longer as it demands huge physical effort.

Having a taxi will be very suitable for Fares to compensate for the years he lost and start a new chapter. This project is a second chance for him hoping that he will be able to overcome all the hard experiences he went through.

All Syrians' lives were affected one way or another because of war, its ramifications appeared on many aspects, most notably on the economic situation and living conditions in the country making everyday life a struggle.

Sami has been working in the field of floor grinding and polishing since 1975, with great experience and reputation among the other craftsmen. He used to have two machines as his son George also worked with him. Unfortunately, one day, they lost their only livelihood source in a blink of an eye when an electrical imbalance occurred, causing a significant malfunction in the machines!

Being the sole provider for himself and his 62-years-old wife Siham, Sami didn’t give up, and with some money which he saved with his wife, he managed to buy new machines, but the unexpected happened and one of his new machines was stolen from the construction site! Although this loss was the main factor of decreasing his income, at the same time the power shortage deprived him of many work opportunities and he needed to rent an electrical generator to finish his work, which consumed a huge amount of his profits.

the misfortunes kept falling upon him when he lost his source of livelihood for the third time, an engine malfunction was the final straw, saving his job this time was way beyond his financial abilities, he needed to fix the machine and improve his work by getting an electrical generator. 

This industrious man has always been self-dependent, supporting him will guarantee the sustainability of work in the profession he loves without asking for anybody’s help in the future.

Before the war, Bahjat used to work in a simple shop selling vegetables and fruits; after years of hard work, this diligent man managed to buy a mini pick-up truck, that he would gradually pay for, and used it to distribute his goods. He was living safely with his wife and their five children until the cruel war started. The suffering began when one day, he went to bring food for his family and an armed group stopped him and took his vehicle by force! it was heartbreaking to lose his family’s only source of livelihood without being able to do anything about it! 

When their neighborhood “Wadi Al-Sayeh” became dangerous, the Khourys fled to a village near Homs called “Qatineh” where they stayed for a few months then moved to another village called “Mashta Al-Helou”  after hearing the devastating news of their house in Homs being destroyed. In 2017, the financial situation was getting worse so they decided to return and rent an apartment in Al-Hamidia.

In an attempt to compensate for their great losses, the eldest son Johnny traveled to Lebanon searching for a work opportunity, the wife Ryam found a job in a kindergarten, while Bahjat's plans to open a mini-market were hindered by the limited financial resources. He managed to borrow some money and rent a small shop to sell charcoal.

The income of this shop was barely enough to cover the renting costs. Bahjat needed an additional source for his family’s essential needs, he applied for a mini pick-up truck as he has long experience in distributing goods and this project will allow him to secure a decent life for his big family hoping to overcome all the past hardships. 

One might face many challenges in life, and no matter whether they seem good or bad at the time, they will always teach us something new!

In 2016, Ghaith traveled to Lebanon searching for a work opportunity and found a job in the field of goods distribution, this job helped the young man back then to get a decent income and enabled him to support his family in Syria. 

In a blink of an eye, everything changed suddenly two years ago, when Ghaith had an accident while working, which caused severe fractures in his anklebone, whereupon he needed urgent surgery. He decided to recover in Syria where his family could take care of him, and by the time he got better the situation in Lebanon was critical and Ghaith lost his chance to go back, so he decided to stay with his parents and sister and rent a mini pick-up truck counting on his good experience in marketing and sales. 

While the economic crisis was getting more difficult by the day, the work costs were frequently increasing until they became higher than the income, thus Ghaith started looking for another source of livelihood.

At the beginning of 2021, he had the opportunity to work in a bakery; his job was really exhausting and unsuitable for his health condition after the accident, he was unable to stand for long hours, however, he had to keep working.

That sudden accident changed Ghaith’s life forever, but now having his own pick-up truck will give him the chance to get his career back on track and will also allow him to plan for his future life. 

Like many Syrian women, Reem chose to stand by her husband Elian and help him make a decent living for their two sons; Laith (14 years old) and Ghaith (12 years old). 

In 2012, her family was displaced from their house in Al-Waar neighborhood to “Rabah” village where they had to rent an apartment and stayed there for five years, during that period, the family’s house in Homs was severely damaged and stolen.

When things settled down, Reem and her family returned to their destroyed home; overwhelmed by the insanely expensive costs of reconstruction, they reached out to a humanitarian organization to help them rent an apartment in Bab Al-Sebaa neighborhood until they managed to repair their house in Al-Waar with the church's support and moved back.

Being displaced did not only mean a drastic change in their living situation, but it also meant that their livelihoods were disrupted. Reem has previously worked with a friend of hers in a hair salon and she managed to gain good skills and experience in this field. When her family’s financial burdens started to increase, she applied to the Micro Projects Program for a hair salon, so that she would be able to support her family. Her project was approved and she finally found the support she needs, her persistence to work was stronger than all the difficulties she came across during the cruel war. 

Now that Reem has finally opened her own hair salon, she is hoping to maintain a successful business and guarantee a better living for her children.

With all the heavy responsibilities on her shoulders, Reem has always done her best to cover her three daughters’ needs during the absence of her husband who traveled in a search of a work opportunity. 

Since she was young, Reem loved working in the field of beauty and attended many courses to develop her skills. Before the war, she worked as a teacher for seven years but this job never made her forget her fondness for beauty, and she tried to keep up with all the latest trends in the domain.

When war started, Reem and her husband Milad both lost their jobs; Milad had to leave his family and travel to Lebanon where he worked in a mini-market, while Reem stayed with her daughters in Homs. This hardworking mother sought a way to work and help her husband in providing for their family, she aspired to utilize her experience in beauty but after losing their salaries, starting a salon from scratch was almost impossible, despite all that, she didn’t give up on the dream of pursuing her passion.

After getting the needed support, it’s time for Reem to write her own success story, she rented a special place and prepared it with the help of her daughters who share her passion, they work together to create something beautiful despite the hard conditions of the country. 

Wissam is an electrical engineer, he is a married man and a father of three daughters; Georgette (10 years old), Angel (8 years old), and Barbara (5 years old). He used to work in an engineering office, which he had previously opened with his friends until the cruel war changed everything. 

In 2013, Wissam and his family had to experience a whole new life after being displaced from their home in Al-Hamidia; they moved to the city of Damascus where they rented an apartment trying to adapt to all the new changes, but Wissam wasn't lucky in finding a suitable job opportunity, so he started working on a rented taxi just to provide for his family. 

When Al-Hamidia became safe again, they decided to return; their house was damaged but they managed to repair it with some support from the local organizations. Wissam wanted to resume his old job in the engineering office but the economic crisis of the country significantly affected the labor market and decreased work opportunities, eventually, the income became barely enough to cover the running costs so they closed it.

About two years ago, Wissam and his wife rented a small shop for stationery supplies. Their new project wasn’t spared from the harsh economics, even just to suffice their daily needs. All the financial obligations forced Wissam to find another source of livelihood, he rented a taxi again but this time it didn’t secure him a good living as the renting costs were a real burden.

Giving him the chance to have his own taxi will help him overcome the difficulties and allow him to improve his family’s situation to guarantee his beautiful daughters a better living.

Manhal lives with his brother Akram (58 years old) and his two sisters; Caroline (56 years old) and Sanaa (53 years old) in their family house. He has worked as a wall painter since 1997 and has been known for the quality of his work and wide experience in this profession. Manhal shares this profession with his brother Akram, together they work hard to provide for the family. 

After the war, their business was affected badly by the power shortages, which prevented them from finishing work on time and wasting many hours of the day waiting for electricity, which of course reduced their productivity without being able to buy an electrical generator due to its high price. 

Having the electrical generator improved Manhal’s work conditions, ensured him more work opportunities, and reflected positively on his income. 

“The war took many years of my life, and now I’m trying to establish a new one from scratch!” 

Those were Johnny’s words, who spent 10 years of his life serving in the army; he lives with his wife Marah who is a university student so he is the sole breadwinner of the house. 

When he finished his service, Johnny immediately started looking for a job opportunity; in February 2021, he had the chance to work as a salesman for a painting factory, and although the salary was modest, he was forced to accept this offer to cover the daily needs of livelihood. 

Johnny’s only experience before his service was working for 2 years as a driver for a goods distribution company, but buying a vehicle that would allow him to resume his former job wasn't an option during the hard economic circumstances. 

He applied to the Micro Projects Program with a heart full of hope that he would get the needed support. He aspires to use his new mini pick-up truck to transport crops. Also, the factory he was working for will supply him with goods to distribute around the city. This project will help Johnny’s new family to settle down and have more life stability.