Zohrab is a young man who had to face life's hardships at an early age, he left his education and started working when he was only 15 years in mobile and computer maintenance, to help his parents provide the daily needs.

He worked in this domain for about 4 years. He also worked as a vendor in a pharmacy for one year, then as he became 18 he was called for military service. Zohran spent the next ten years of his service in the electronics section, gaining experience in this field.

After the service finished, Zohrab submitted for an electronics maintenance course to improve his skills and follow the fast developments in this domain. He earned the certificate with an excellent degree. But he didn't have a personal laptop, so he started using the one in the clothes shop that he was working for to fix mobile phones.

Due to the hard living conditions, all the family members had to work to provide a decent livelihood, especially after the father passed away due to a heart attack, after all of the stress he went through trying to get a visa for his family, but only the younger brother was able to get the chance and travel to France.

Despite these harsh circumstances, Zohrab refused to give up. Instead, he focused on his goal of initiating his own maintenance work, so he rented a place with the church aid and applied to the Hope Center to purchase the needed equipment to become a freelancer and ensure a better livelihood and more stability of his business. 

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 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.

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 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.

Aboud, his wife Huda and his two sons Nicholas and Carlos (12 and 6 years old) live together in the family residence in Aleppo, along with Aboud’s mother Mouna.

At the beginning of war, Aboud couldn’t reach his carpentry workshop in Handarat area, all the roads were cut off and the armed groups took complete control of the area. When dangers of mortar shells became closer and more severe, Aboud took his family and fled to Marmaritta village far from the war beaten Aleppo. 

Eventually Aboud couldn’t stay away from his hometown. So, in 2018 he made the decision of coming back and settling in his parents’ house. In order to financially support the family, he rented a modest carpentry workshop. The problem is that the workshop lacks many important equipment and machines that Aboud can’t purchase on his own.

With your help, Aboud will be able to obtain all the tools to upgrade his production and thus, his profit will increase significantly in the future. 

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.

Albert Gergi is a 45-years-old industrial man, who has 30 years of work experience in Metal lathing.

Albert is married, and a father of Mark; his 15-years-old son. He lives with his family in their house in Al-Serian neighborhood, which was relatively safer than other areas in Aleppo during the war. Unlike Al-Sheikh Najjar where he works. 

While all his relatives have left the country during the war, Albert chose to stay in Aleppo his home town for many reasons; besides being the place where he spent his whole life and loved so much, he also has established his work here and his roots, but most importantly his elderly parents live here and it is impossible for Albert to leave them behind. He is the only one left to take care of them, as one of his brothers lives in Austria while the other is in Sweden. 

Although the family life was stable for Albert, but the business world was not the same. In his domain establishing a thriving business requires a massive capital, Albert made a partnership to be able to obtain the needed machinery. Years went by and he was successful in his job, despite the economic situation which was associated with war, he was financially surviving. But what Albert didn’t expect was that his partner withdrawal from the partnership which Albert can’t afford in this difficult time.

The three months of lock-down due to the Corona Virus, the lack of transportation to the industrial area of Al-Sheikh Najjar (where his workshop is) and the over the roof prices of everything in the market had its toll on Albert. 

Albert applied for the micro projects program hoping that the funding he gets will be a savior for his business because unless he doesn’t take action and find a way to obtain his machinery, he will lose the machines, and that simply means that he will lose his workshop and his life work will be gone to no use. This support for Albert will create a second chance in business and more stability for his family in their foreseeable future. 

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. 

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. 

Elie lives with his two brothers and sister in the family's house after the unfortunate death of their parents. 

He is a florist from Homs city and has a long history with this artistic profession; his start was back in 1998 when he worked at flower shops until he mastered this job and began to get offers, which allowed him to build good relations and to become a well-known name in this field. 

Working with other shops secured him a decent income and was very profitable but after many years, it became tiring and Elie thought that it was time to settle down and run his own business. Unfortunately, achieving such a thing was nearly impossible under the current economic situation of the country. 

Elie applied to the Micro Projects hoping to find the supporting hand that would assist him toward launching his project. With the great experience he has, his project was approved and now it's time to write a new chapter of success in his story. 

After finishing high school, George studied for a year at the institute of industries but couldn't continue his studies and searched for work. He tried working in many fields until in 2008, he found a job in mobile phone maintenance and focused on that career as a source of livelihood.

In 2010, George joined the military service, which, unfortunately, lasted for eight years because of the cruel war; during the service, he had the chance to attend a specialized course in maintenance that enriched his skills and allowed him to practice this profession while serving in the army at the same time. 

When the eight years were over, George was discharged and immediately thought of starting the project that he dreamed of; he rented a shop in the Adawia neighborhood and began with the available capabilities. A year later, George and Ranim got married and today, he is responsible for a lovely family that includes his wife and their one-year-old baby girl. 

His shop lacked some essential requirements like an alternative source of energy in addition to important tools and equipment he didn’t have the financial ability to buy when he established the shop.

George made his first steps and didn’t give up despite all the tough circumstances, supporting the self-made man to continue will make a positive change in his life and ensure his small family a better living. 

Yara is her parents' first child, who decided to help her father by working and covering her expenses; she lives with her family of six; her parents, and three siblings in Fairouza village.

The ambitious young lady has many talents! In 2012, Yara joined the ladies' football team in Fairouza and she was able to make many achievements. She didn’t stop at this point and in 2020, Yara started forging her own career path, when she learned about nail care at a specialized salon, in addition to attending two courses, which enriched her experience and skills. 

In 2021, she allocated a part of the family's house for her work and with the income, she got from the football club, Yara managed to buy some simple tools and open her salon.

Her pilot project deserves to be supported and the career she chose is the source of livelihood for a better future, hoping to always maintain a strong and successful business. 

After working for many years in car repairing, Hanna was still unable to start his own workshop. He is his parents' only son and provider, they live together in the family's house in Fairouza village, where he decided to settle down and take care of them. 

Hanna left school and started working at a young age; he worked in farming until 2013, then he had the chance to travel to Libya and learn about car repairing, and as it was known, the situation there was getting more complicated and dangerous with every passing day, which forced him to go back.

In 2018, he found an opportunity to work for a car repairing workshop and that helped him to practice the profession he loved and enrich his skills. However, under the hard economic situation in the country, the income Hanna used to get was insufficient to cover all the essential needs and he thought of opening his workshop, so he studied the cost of such a project, and it was beyond his reach.

Hanna applied to the Micro Projects Program, asking for a supporting hand that will lift with him the heavy burdens of life, hoping that this new project will light a new hope in the heart of this young man and allow him to build a promising business. 

Before the war, Nazih used to have a mini-winch and this was his way to ensure his wife and their two children a decent life. 

Changing his profession was a real challenge, but it wasn't an option for him after he lost the main machines of his work when the two mini-winches he had were stolen from a construction site in Sadad village, and in order to provide for his family, being the sole breadwinner, in 2014, Nazih learned floor-tiling from a known craftsman and took that as his new source of livelihood. 

Since then, he worked with other tilers because he couldn’t afford to buy the equipment. 

Now, Nazih has all the essential equipment to work on his own, without being forced to split his profits or work for someone else, which will allow him to secure a better income. 

Shamso used to work in Lebanon as a wall painter, but due to the lack of opportunities there, then the unfortunate death of his father, he went back home to take care of the family's land of grapevines and olive trees.

He is a married man and a father of three sons, he lives with his family and his mother where he is the sole provider. Shamso's story is all about striving and hard work; in 2017, he sold a part of the land in order to continue planting it with grapevines.

A year later, the farmer prepared the land with a water pond and bought a tanker to ensure a sustainable source of water, and he also sold another part of the land to equip it with an irrigation system. All that consumed a lot of effort from him not to forget the high expenses, which increased his financial burdens.

Shamso needs a mini-cultivator to plow his land and save the expensive costs of this process which will help him improve the production and income, hoping to compensate for his previous losses. 

Hassan and Wissal got married in 1996, they are parents of George (16 years old). Hassan is a wall painter, he learned about this profession a long time ago and loved it as there's a sense of art in it. As time passed, he acquired the needed skills through working with many well-known craftsmen until he became able to work independently and he gained another experience throughout the years and began working in the field of decoration too. 

Everything was going well, and the family of three was living peacefully in a rented apartment in Bab Al-Sebaa neighborhood in Homs. In 2012, this neighborhood was so dangerous that the family left their home and fled to their village "Hazour", trying to start a new life there. 

Hassan continued working between the villages but unfortunately, the majority of his equipment was stolen from a construction site, which forced him to restart from scratch. 

In 2019, Hassan found that there were many work opportunities in Fairouza village; the family moved and settled down there hoping for a decent living, but still lacking the important equipment was a real barrier in his way and affected his income and although Wissal worked at home on a sewing machine, the two incomes were barely enough to cover their daily needs. 

The new equipment greatly developed his work and encouraged him to accept bigger opportunities in both fields, painting, and decoration, which would ensure the family a better life.

The vicious war unexpectedly changed people's lives and the main challenge was how to cope with the changes and survive the severe economic crisis. 

Satea used to work as a supervisor in an oil factory and quit this job to run his own business that he thought it would ensure him a better income. 

However, when the war began in Homs, Satea took his wife and their three children and fled to Zaidal village where he opened a clothes shop. In 2012, his wife was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer and the treatment costs drained the family's savings. 

when the situation in Homs stabilized in 2015 the family of five returned to their home, which was damaged so they repaired it and settled down seeking a new beginning. Satea rented a shop and started working by selling plumbing requirements in addition to providing maintenance services between his clients' houses while his children resumed their studies.

Day after day, the financial burdens were getting heavier and the sole breadwinner did his best to guarantee his family a good life, supporting him with the essential equipment and an electric generator improved his productivity and allowed him to secure a better livelihood for his beloved family.

Diab lives with his wife and their two sons in a rented apartment, he is the sole provider and floor tiling is the only source of livelihood for the family. 

His career started back in 2000, but not having the needed equipment forced him to borrow or work with other tilers, which of course limited his opportunities and negatively affected his income despite the great experience he possess in his profession. 

However, after the war, the economic conditions have become very hard, and covering daily needs became the main concern for most people, and Diab as the breadwinner, barely managed to take care of his monthly obligations and couldn’t buy the equipment.

With the support of this initiative Diab has the chance to work independently and improve his living situation hoping to settle down and be able to buy a house for the family in the future. 

George is a farmer who has always aspired to improve the production of his grapevine land and worked very hard to achieve that goal. He is the sole provider for his wife and their two baby girls and the small family lives in their home village Maskanah.

George worked in his father's land since he was young, which is equipped with a good water supply through a well and a drip irrigation system that waters all the vines across the land.

However, ensuring good watering wasn't enough to have good crops, because the soil needed plowing, and renting an agricultural vehicle for this purpose took a huge share of this farmer's income and affected his ability to buy other important requirements like compost.

Helping George to buy a mini-cultivator will save him the high costs that he is forced pay every season and enables him to plow his land on his own. 

Christine Fanouneh is 39 years old, she lives with her mother and brother in Jaramana, Damascus suburbs.

During her childhood, Christine lived in a very harmful environment as her father used to abuse her mother on daily basis in front of her and her sister, her brother was born with Down’s syndrome in addition to many health problems which made him in a continuous of medication and lots of love, care, and attention that the family was missing.

When Christine and her sister became adults, they stood in the face of their father defending their mother which angered him so he kicked them out of the house. Christine didn’t sit around feeling sorry for herself, on the contrary, she started working as a seamstress assistant and took care of the house expenses and her brother's medicine costs.

In 2009, Christine decided to start a job at a telecommunications company where she could meet people and have a social life until 2019 when she volunteered at the GOPA DERD organization.

During those years she kept working in sewing as a part-time job and managed to continue her education and graduate from the faculty of English literature.

Unfortunately, the health condition of her brother Elias was deteriorating and he needed intensive care that her mother couldn’t handle alone as she was not in a good mental situation and suffering from a lack of concentration due to the severe abuse that she was exposed to during her life with her husband, which forced Christine to miss many work days so she can be with her mom and brother.

Christine realized that she needs a job where she could manage her time and look after her family at the same time. She found her way to the micro-projects initiative and applied for a sewing machines, tools, and equipment that will enable her to have a new start in this field hoping that this opportunity will help her provide a proper income to look after her family.

Elie Istanboly, 30 years old, is like many young men of his age who had to spend years of the war facing dangers and horrors during their military service, and in Elie's case, it took nine difficult years of his youth.

Before the war began, Elie worked as a taxi driver and after he was discharged in 2019, he wanted to learn a profession so he could have a career for the future and make up for the previous years.

Elie started working at a metal casting workshop and in the afternoon, he continued working as a taxi driver trying his best to pay all his expenses and provide the living demands for his family.

However, the metal casting profession affected his health as he was exposed to lung poisoning due to inhaling poisoned gases. After his treatment, his doctor recommended that he doesn't go back to the same job because his lungs were damaged, and continuing in the same work might lead to serious outcomes.

But working as a taxi driver wasn’t enough to meet the livelihood costs because he had to give half of his income to the taxi owner, which forced him to sacrifice his health and face the dangers of keep working in the metal workshop for the sake of his family.

Elie was seeking any chance to improve his situation so he applied for the Micro-projects program for a taxi hoping that his life would change for the better.

Today after being funded to buy a taxi, Elie is delighted to have a project of his own. At the same time, he can work harder and improve his living conditions to provide his family and kids with a decent life.

Hassan Jolan, 33, didn’t have the chance to work or learn any profession after turning into his twenties because he was called for military service. He thought it would be a short period and pass in peace, but he did not know that a fierce war would strike his country to steal nine years from his life in which he had to be far from his family and friends under very difficult circumstances until his discharge in 2019.

He went home full of hope, got married to Suzan Altheib, and had adorable two kids who compensated him for the bitterness of wartime. During that period, he started to work as a taxi driver but he encountered critical conditions due to the corona virus and the restrictions that were followed by a huge increase in prices.

Unfortunately, no matter how long he worked, he kept suffering from the insufficient income and he became unable to handle the living expenses and his kids’ demands, especially since the taxi owner started to increase the rent which prevented him from having any additional savings.

However, even though all his relatives and friends were encouraging him to travel abroad, deep in his heart Hassan was praying to have a chance in his country, close to his parents and among his friends, and that’s what he got as he was funded with the taxi project that turned his life around as he has now a taxi of his own, and independence to have a better and sustainable income to improve his living conditions.

At the age of five, the life of Adeeb Haddad completely changed from a young child living in a safe environment with his parents to a homeless orphan moving from house to house.

His father's death in 2001 put his mother in a state of grieving and shock and also affected Adeeb who lost security and stability. Their financial conditions were very bad as his mother wasn’t working, so they moved to live with their relatives until his mother decided to marry and move with her husband to Homs.

Unfortunately, his stepfather was very cruel to him, while his mother was too weak to protect him so Adeeb moved back to his relatives' house and never saw his mother for the next eight years. Adeeb has suffered a lot from deprivation as his relatives were also living in extreme poverty; he was forced to leave school in the sixth grade and worked in cleaning bathrooms and washing dishes, or any other job he could find.

In 2017, Adeeb worked with his friend in a mobile maintenance workshop, where he found his interest, as he liked the profession and learned it quickly until he became well-known in his neighborhood for being a skilled maintenance worker. However, his friend wanted to travel, so Adeeb decided to borrow some money and buy the equipment from him to continue in the workshop alone which gave him the opportunity he was looking for to be independent and start his own project.

Adeeb was working in his shop seeking to improve his living conditions to get married, but no matter how hard he worked, that little dream kept becoming farther because the living circumstances were very tough, and with his modest workshop and old tools, he was unable to save money or improve his conditions.

With the help of micro-projects, Adeeb was supported with new tools and proper amounts of goods to enhance his work and income, hoping that after all those tough days, life will smile on him and he will be able to improve his situation and establish his own family.

Often, we are born to encounter many life obstacles, but the defining point is either giving up or challenging and accepting these obstacles and continuing our lives while we are full of hope and optimism, which was the choice of thirty-two-year-old Johnny Mardini.

Johnny was born into a humble family consisting of a hardworking father who worked day and night for the sake of his family and a loving mother who did everything she could to give love and care, especially since Johnny's older brother George suffers from a mental disability since birth that stopped his growth.

However, Johnny never hesitated to be responsible for his brother or his parents; so he learned the plumbing profession from his father and began to work with him at the workshops and at the plumbing store, trying his best to help with the household expenses.

unfortunately, in 2011 a fierce war broke out and stole Johnny from his family, as he was taken for military service to serve in conflict areas, where he used to be absent for many months without being able to communicate with his family, the thing that made them live in great fear and affected their health. After ten bitter years of suffering and life threats, Johnny was finally released in the year 2021.

After he returned, Johnny did not hesitate to work as a plumber, in the evenings he stayed with his father in the store and tried to give his brother the care he missed in his absence.

Johnny was striving to secure the most basic needs of the house, not to mention the monthly medicine costs for his parents, and despite his tight conditions and poor financial situation, his warm smile did not leave his face, and he kept hoping that life would reward him for his endeavors one day.

Indeed, this self-made man deserved the support of the Micro-project Program in Damascus, where his plumbing store was funded with the necessary equipment and materials that will increase his income and improve his living situation, in the hope it will reflect positively on his life and future.

losing her husband at the age of 26, and being responsible for a newborn baby at the same time is tough for any woman to handle, but Nancy Alshoufi decided to direct her love and care to her baby who will grow up without his father's support.

Her in-laws were also in great shock as they lost their son at a very young age, Nancy decided to keep living with them trying her best to look after them after their huge loss.

This young lady’s sacrifice had no limits as she took a full-time job to afford her son’s basic demands and at the same time help her in-laws with the house expenses. She also decided to finish her education at the faculty of translation as she is now in her third year continuing her journey in work and study with great passion.

In 2019, Nancy took a Micro project management course at GOPA and won funding for starting a small nuts shop in the neighborhood which will be additional income for her but unfortunately, the start of her project was in parallel with the Corona crisis in the country which led to a huge increase in the prices and the fund she got wasn’t enough for buying 20 percent of the shop’s goods and materials.

Yet, she kept trying with the help of her father to sustain the shop and manage its capital to buy new goods, but that became difficult as time passed because of the hard economic conditions of the last two years.

Although Nancy was struggling to make a balance between her living expenses and raising her son in good conditions, she didn’t lose faith in God who led her to apply at the micro-project office in Damascus and she was supported with the necessary goods and materials that will increase her income and ensure the stable and secured income.

Behind the great amount of sadness and calamities that Fahed has been through in his life, there is a loving, confident heart and a solid will to improve himself and save his family from their tragic situation.

Fahed Farah, 34, is a caring husband and father of two sons; Farah, born in 2017, and Charbel born in 2019. He lives along with his family in a dilapidated flat in Al-Dwalaa neighborhood.

At the beginning of his twenties, Fahed was called to the military service for eight tough years of his life, he had to face the most difficult conditions until his discharge in 2018. He was then facing a harsher reality as his son was diagnosed with a brain tumor and needed to undergo a surgical operation which cost Fahed all his savings in addition to selling his wife’s gold jewelry.

Fahed was on the edge of a breakdown, but his will was stronger than his conditions, so he decided to defeat all the obstacles and start over. He returned to the physics college to continue his education in the morning, and in the afternoon, he started working as a taxi driver and a physics tutor at the same time, trying his best to secure the living demands and his son’s medications for misfunction in the Hypothyroidism which led to lack of growth.

Sorrowfully, such an effort didn’t improve his situation because half of his income was going straight to the taxi owner and he was looking for a miracle to save him from his hardship.

Now, after applying to the Hope center to have his own Taxi, Fahed is determined to improve his livelihood, finish his university study and provide his family with decent living circumstances.

Wadie Abou Assaleh, a 60-year-old man, is married to Claire and they have two sons George who since his born in 1994 suffers from a mental disability, and Elias born in 1991. 

From 1985 to 2011 Wadie worked as a goldsmith along with his brother at their workshop but after the outbreak of the war, their profession was affected badly. Hence, his brother traveled abroad and Wadie was forced to close the workshop and work as a private driver for an archbishop on the Damascus-Beirut international road which provided him with a decent income during the years of war.

Wadie dedicated his life to the sake of his boys as he provided his son George with all the love and care he needs; he wanted to support his son and prove to him that disability is not an inability, so in 2012 he rented a mini-market near his house and filled it with goods so his son could do something valuable and be socially involved with the people every day.

His other son Elias traveled to Erbil but he couldn’t’ find a proper job and Wadie had to send him money every month to secure his living. Unfortunately, by the end of 2019, the corona epidemic affected the situation all over the world and the travel movement stopped between Syria and Lebanon which left Wadie jobless.

His son Elias was also in a bad financial situation in Erbil and wanted to return to Syria so Wadie had no choice but to sell his car to pay him the military service fees.

Although Wadie started the market to enhance his son's social abilities, now even with its poor amount of goods, it became the only source of income for the whole family. Giving him the chance to renew his goods will help him overcome all the tough days and allow him to improve his family’s situation.

As long as you keep smiling in the face of your difficulties, life will reward your great hope. 

Simon Tannous is 44 years old, he is married and has two adorable girls, Hala born in 2008, and Lana born in 2013.

Simon and his family live in a small rented flat in Kashkoul and he also works in his mini-market in the same area.

He was an employee as a driver at the construction administration in Damascus since 1996, but his low income wasn't matching his living expenses which made him decide to have additional income, he started his own mini-market shop in 2010 where he used to work in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, after about three years of the war’s outbreak, the violent acts spread all over and as a result, the armed groups robbed and vandalized his shop which cost him many losses.

Yet, Simon didn’t hesitate to borrow some money and buy new goods to keep the work going which annoyed the troublemakers in the area and they reported him to the police station for selling alcoholic drinks illegally. That cost Simon five years of his life in prison until the church intervened to prove his innocence and he was set free in 2019.

After his release, Simon’s health was affected badly as he was suffering from Back disc pains which made him quit his job at the administration and returned to work at his mini-market.

During the last years, Simon’s family survived with the support of the church’s relief aid and the help of their friends and relatives. Simon couldn’t provide his shop with new goods to improve the work and increase his income.

However, despite all the difficulties he has been through, Simon’s smile never disappeared and he kept praying for a better future. Indeed, his hope wasn't disappointed and with the help of the Micro-project program, he was supported with a proper amount of goods that will increase his income and improve his situation.

Sometimes the only thing that can keep you fighting, is believing that one day everything is going to be better.

Najeh Ajaiby, 52, has never stopped believing that good things are coming on his way.

he is originally from Egypt and came to Syria in 1997 looking for better work opportunities, so he started to work in his profession as a carpenter in different workshops. Soon after he got married to Samar AL-Abdoun and had three children Ruba, Fadi, and Mina.

Najeh worked hard for many years in Al-Swaida until he became able to establish his own carpentry workshop in 2009 in the same area. His wife and kids were living in Damascus so Najeh was planning to move his workplace there to be close to them but in 2011, the war started in the country and the deteriorating security situation in the area prevented him from moving. For more than ten years, Najeh was forced to be far from his family working as hard as he could to secure all their living needs and provide his kids with proper education to secure their future.

Indeed, his daughter Ruba is studying now at the Engineering college, his son Mina is in the faculty of Medicine while the other son Fadi has won a scholarship to study flight engineering in Moscow.

Even though Najeh was delighted to see his kids succeed in their studies, he had to work harder to meet the increasing costs of living which were unbearable, especially within the electricity blackouts situation in the area which affected his work directly as his customers started to deal with other workshops which have electric generators and can do the work on time.

Now after being financed with the electric generator and the necessary equipment, this self-made man has the chance to improve his work which will change his situation for the better and secure decent living conditions.  

Salwan Alnasr is 43 years old, married to Rita with a 13-year-old son called Jack.

Salwan and his family live in a modest rented flat in Al-Dwalaa, He used to work as a tile setter for more than 13 years. Despite the fact that his work was very hard and affected his health on the long term, he kept working to afford the best life for his family because during the crisis years, no matter how hard he worked, his income didn’t level up with the high costs of livelihood.

Unfortunately, in 2017, Salwan started to suffer from severe pain in his back and the doctor told him that he has to go through surgery that he couldn’t afford, but “the Good Shepherd Association” covered the surgery’s costs and after the operation, he had to stay for about 18 months in bed rest. During that period, Salwan had to spend all his savings to afford the basic living needs and after his recovery, his brother helped him to start a small shop close to his house where he could be able to support his family without much physical effort.

He worked in the shop with his brother until his traveling in 2020 when Salwan took the responsibility of running the shop by himself and he became very popular in the neighborhood as people got used to buying from him.

However, due to the Corona and the huge increase in prices, Salwan couldn’t support his shop with new goods, and day after day it became empty besides a few materials that were left on the shelves. Salwan was in a bad financial situation and he wasn’t able to make a balance between his income and his family’s living demands. 

“Don’t let life bring you down. Remember that God gives you struggles to test your faith.”

Salwan’s faith was stronger than his struggles, and now after being supported by the micro-project program he is able to support his shop with a good amount of goods and products to improve his income and restore his life balance.

In 2010, Tony left his village and headed to the city of Damascus with hope and determination to make a change in the life of his family. He settled in Al-Dwalaa neighborhood and started to work in any available job and send most of his wages to his mother and brother who suffers from sight disability. 

Unfortunately in the first years of the war the security situation in Damascus deteriorated badly, and soon after, he was asked to serve in Hama.

Tony accepted the bitter reality and for more than eight years he served in very dangerous zones, went through several hardships, and survived many calamities. Yet, he didn’t let his situation bring him down, on the contrary, he learned the hairstyling profession and while he was serving in Hama, he worked at Marmarita village then when he was transferred to serve in Damascus, he continued his work there and gained good experience by the leading of professional hairstylists in the area.

The day that Tony was looking forward to, had arrived and he was discharged from the military service. He didn’t hesitate and started to work many shifts during the day to improve his financial situation, he wanted to save money to have his own salon, but his family’s situation wasn’t stable and he was sending them money every month to secure their basic living demands.

Tony’s dream of being independent and having his private job was fading away with the increasing costs of living, but he kept on the hard work until he heard about the micro-project program so he came with all hope asking for support.

Now, after being financed with the necessary equipment and the electric generator, Tony has finally reached his goal; having his own salon, and being independent to mprove his living circumstances.