Nassrallah, a retired employee from Qattinah village, found himself grappling with financial strains despite his and his wife's pensions. With two sons to support; one in university and the other fulfilling military duty, his income as a farmer became indispensable. To alleviate some of the mounting costs, he sold his cherished land to his brother, but agreed to continue working on it.

The land, now under his brother's ownership, is rich with fruitful trees and seasonal crops. However, the expenses of agricultural activities, particularly the increasing fees for tractor rentals and other necessary equipment like spraying pumps, became daunting challenges for Nassrallah.

Despite the hurdles, he remains determined to persevere. Acquiring a mini-cultivator and a spraying pump, offers a glimmer of hope. With these tools, Nassrallah envisions a more manageable path ahead, one where he can sustain his livelihood and, perhaps, improve his family's prospects in the future. 

As a devoted school teacher from Qattinah village, Wafaa has always believed in the power of education to transform lives. But beyond the classroom, she faced financial challenges; with limited resources and a retired husband, making ends meet was a constant struggle.

In 2013, Wafaa’s life took an unexpected turn. Her mother introduced her to the world of oyster mushroom cultivation. It was a small-scale project, but it thrived. Unfortunately, her mother’s health declined, and she had to step back from the venture. Wafaa saw an opportunity, a chance to create something special for her family.

She decided to start her own micro project, growing oyster mushrooms on her rooftop, she applied to the Micro Projects Program without hesitation. The program recognized the uniqueness of her endeavor, the way it will bring sustenance and stability to her household. With the support, her project blossomed into a main source of income.

The project became her passion, a way to supplement their income and her determination paid off. Her mushrooms flourished, filling their roof with earthy aromas and hope for better days to come.

Mahmoud, a devoted husband and father of two, has dedicated his life to supporting his family and community. His son, Rabih, has autism, and his daughter, Hala, is studying medicine. 

Mahmoud's pharmacy is the lifeline for his family, providing the essential income they depend on. In addition to running his pharmacy, he founded "Al-Rabih," a local non-profit association named after his son, which supports children with autism. As a supervisor of the association, he tirelessly works to improve the lives of these children.

However, the recent economic downturn has severely impacted his pharmacy, putting his family's primary source of income at risk.

The support from Micro Projects program became a beacon of hope, allowing him to stabilize his business and continue providing for his family. With the pharmacy secured, Mahmoud can maintain his dedication to both his family and the children at Al-Rabih, ensuring they receive the care and support they need. 

Akram is a single man living alone in a rented house in Fairouza village. His parents, whose home in Homs was destroyed and stolen, now reside in Zaidal village. 

Since 2014, he has been diligently working in glass and mirror installation from his workshop in the Al-Arman neighborhood, incorporating artistic elements into his craft. As the sole provider for his parents, he faced significant challenges. 

Without owning the necessary equipment and machines, he was forced to borrow and rent from other craftsmen. This not only caused delays in his projects but also increased his costs significantly. Moreover, each time he used someone else's machinery, his innovative ideas were often stolen.

In an effort to overcome these obstacles and secure a better future, Akram applied to the Micro Projects Program. The program provided him with the essential machinery and a laptop for design work. Now, with all the tools he needs to work independently, he can fully realize his full potentials, deliver his projects on time, and ensure a stable income for his family. 

Nadia and her husband, Ghassan, live with their two sons in Qattinah village. Life took a hard turn when the war forced Nadia to close her beloved grocery shop in 2012, a small business she had run passionately since 2004. Since then, they have relied solely on Ghassan’s modest pension, which has proven inadequate for their growing needs.

Determined to support her family, she decided to reopen a shop, despite the challenges. She applied to the Micro Projects Program with a plan to use a room from their house and transform it into a mini-market. When her project was approved, hope sparked anew in their lives.

Now, the couple run the mini-market together. This microproject not only provides the necessary income but also brings the family closer as they work side by side.

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.