Despite her knee condition and the strain of her modest job, Firyal never faltered in her commitment to support her family. Living in a rented house in Qattinah village with her husband and two children, every penny counted.

Her dream of owning a business seemed distant until she heard of the Micro Projects Program. With the support, she finally opened her own cleaning and wrapping materials shop. This venture empowered her to contribute more substantially to her family's financial stability.

Now, Firyal's days are filled with purpose as she manages her shop, supporting her husband and securing a good life for her children. This shop isn't just a business; it's a symbol of hope and opportunity, allowing her to transform her family's circumstances and create a path to prosperity against all odds.

Fadila, a married woman and mother of four, lives with her family in Qattinah village. Her husband works tirelessly as an employee and a farmer to meet the family's needs. However, one source of income isn’t enough. Since 2018, Fadila has been running a dress leasing shop and working as a school teacher to contribute to their income.

She buys second-hand dresses and fixes them at a local sewing workshop before leasing them to women in her village. She dreamed of having her own sewing machines to repair dresses, as her manual machine is impractical. Owning the necessary sewing machines would allow her to work year-round, improving her business efficiency.

To make this dream a reality, Fadila applied to the Micro Projects Program for support as she plans to set up her own sewing business within her shop which would enable her to fix dresses, save time and increase her earnings. 

Securing better income through her shop would provide greater financial stability for the family, ensuring they can meet their needs and invest in their children's education.

Rasha is a single mother residing in Al-Sabeel neighborhood, she has been the sole caregiver for her ten-year-old son, Majd, who suffers from Children's asthma and Thalassemia. After splitting up with her husband, she took on the responsibility of providing for Majd's needs, including the costs of his treatments.

Since 2017, she has worked tirelessly in sales and at a beauty salon, but her modest earnings were barely enough to cover their living expenses and Majd's medical bills. Despite her brother's occasional support, Rasha knew she needed a more sustainable solution to ensure a better future for her son.

Determined to become financially independent and provide her only son with stability, she envisioned starting her own mini-market. However, the cost of launching such a business was beyond her means. That's when the Micro Projects Program in Homs stepped in, providing the necessary support to turn her dream into reality.

With the program's assistance, Rasha successfully opened her mini-market. This new venture not only improved their financial situation but also gave Rasha the independence she longed for. Eventually, Rasha remarried a man who embraced both her and Majd, offering a partnership built on mutual care and love.

Today, she looks forward to the future, leaving behind the struggles of the past and focusing on the promising opportunities ahead for her and her son.

Hanaa, a dedicated mother of six, resides in Qattinah village with her retired husband and four children, who are university and school students. Despite working in the health sector for over 30 years, her salary, combined with her husband's modest pension, was insufficient to meet their family's daily needs and cover the high costs of education.

Determined to improve her family's livelihood, Hanaa decided to start her own business; she opened a dairy shop, leveraging her skills in preparing dairy products and recognizing the high demand for these goods in her village. With the help of the Micro Projects Program, she launched her small business, with her husband supporting her in managing the shop.

This initiative transformed the family's life, providing a secure source of income and easing the financial burden. Her dairy shop not only supports her children's education but also ensures a stable future for her family. 

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. 

“My family is the most important thing in my life, I won't hesitate to spend all the hours of my day working for their sake”

These were the words of Ziad Al-Assafien; 50 years old, married to Rana Sahdo, and the father of their 11-year-old girl who is the light of their lives.

Ziad has been working at his workshop for laser cutting and making plex-art pieces for more than 17 years, his business was very prosperous before the Syrian crisis, known for making very beautiful pieces with a special touch, but unfortunately, right after his marriage, the crisis began in Syria and the financial situation quickly deteriorated because his products became a secondary need for people during the years of war. 

However, he did not give up and tried to use the workshop to make wooden pieces or any other craftwork but still, his income was less than the daily expenses, especially since he is also responsible for his old parents, he couldn't afford the house rent so they lived in the workshop which was a basement of a building in Jaramana.

Ziad and his wife endured living in a humid and poorly ventilated place to be able to provide the best education and needs for their daughter. For the last 8 years, this family lived very difficult circumstances and tolerated many difficulties hoping that one day the work will improve and they can have a decent apartment again.

Their dream seemed to be far away, yet Ziad didn’t surrender and started to look for a solution to keep his project. But those who lean on God are never disappointed. The Micro initiative supported Ziad's workshop with new machines and tools which will improve the income and have a positive impact on the family's life.

Siham Alsheikh, a 22-year-old woman, had a very difficult childhood after her parents separated at the age of 12, so she, her mom, and little brother had to leave their home and move to live in a small room in Bab Touma under very difficult circumstances. They had to face the horrors of war by themselves with no one to turn into. From such a young age the twelve-year-old skipped childhood and found herself battling against poverty and acute need for an income to cover the expenses of her little brother’s medical treatments.

While many people would crack under this much pressure, Siham amazingly got stronger, she was able to balance between providing for the family and proceeding with her academic studies simultaneously in two different majors one in chemistry and the other in accounting. To juggle those two university branches, Siham needed an income to pay for all the costs and tuitions, thus she invested all her savings in a camera and counted on her photography skills to make a living.

Her talents never failed her, and slowly she got booked for events and ceremonies which boosted her enthusiasm and kept her going. 

This extraordinary young woman has always been a supporter for her family and a light of hope for everyone around her, and when she needed an extra push to take her business to the next level by developing her gadgets, Hope center was there by her side in her journey to success.

43-years-old Elias Edsi has worked in the field of jewelry making for 20 years, devoting his life to his work and taking care of his elderly parents.

the family lived in an old, traditional Arabic house in Bab Toma, and in a workshop in Alqassa street Elias worked as an employee setting zircon stones on jewelry all day long.

During the Syrian crisis, Elias’ career was affected badly; the demand for gold jewelry decreased which negatively affected his financial situation. At the same time, his father started to suffer from health issues and had to go through several surgical operations which were expensive. The family had no choice but to sell their hardly earned house to afford the surgical expenses, their savings weren't spared either in those difficult times because the medical treatment of the ill father was the only priority. 

Unfortunately, the treatments couldn't save the old man's health which deteriorated and he became disabled. Elias became the only supporter in the house, he had to look after both of his parents as it was becoming harder for his old mother to take care of her husband by herself.

with the end of the war in Syria, Elias's career began to recover but due to the difficult circumstances he went through, he wasn’t able to get his own workshop. Despite the great and long experience that he had, he decided to work as an ordinary worker to provide the house needs with dignity.

Supporting this young experienced man not only enabled him to become an independent business owner, but it also made him realize a dream he lost because of the cruel war.

Every day, strong-willed people impress us in life, as they continue to fight their difficulties no matter how hard they are especially in Syria where all the circumstances joined together to weaken the people’s will.

One of those people is Wafaa Alhelo, a 40-year- old woman, married with two children. Wafaa worked in many fields in order to support her husband. She worked in wax coloring and embroidery, then in 2008, her husband became very sick and they had to sell their house to pay for his treatment costs. However, his health began to improve, but he couldn't go back to his old work and Wafaa became the breadwinner of the family.

Wafaa didn’t give up, she attended beauty classes at the Holy cross church in Damascus, she was a fast learner and was given some tools as a gift at the end of the course to start her work. Indeed, she started in the field of hairdressing and make-up and she was very successful that she had her own salon and started to train other girls at the same time. Unfortunately, in 2018, Wafaa salon was robbed of equipment in addition to the electricity generator. She didn't despair and continued her work, hoping to make up for the loss but her income was affected badly due to the terrible electricity situation in the country.

Wafaa applied for an electricity generator because she was certain that with the help she would be able to improve her job and regain her equipment.

This woman has the biggest determination for the sake of her family and her kids, which is what this initiative is all about; to help people like her.

Every day, we meet strong women with difficult circumstances, but despite their situations, they have chosen to empower others and push forward.

One of them is Noura Razzouq, born in 1996, married to Elian Almasaad, and a mother of a 3-year-old girl called Myriam.

After their marriage, Noura and Elian worked together for their living expenses and to secure a decent life for their child but due to the difficult economic situation, they kept facing one obstacle after another and Noura stood beside her husband through all their life issues. When things didn’t go well, she sold her gold accessories to start a detergents shop with her husband where they worked together and their business became very successful, especially that her husband was delivering the goods on his bicycle to the customers’ houses which increased their profit and gained a good reputation.

Unfortunately, her husband had a myocardial infarction and was rushed into the hospital where the doctors gave him medication and transferred him to Surgery; a cardiac catheterization operation, the surgent had to place stents in two of his main arteries.

This incident affected their work as they had to use the money they earned to pay for the hospital expenses which drained their financial resources and they no longer were able to buy new supplies for their shop, and their business started to lose.

Noura kept her optimism and strong will to support her husband, she visited us full of hope asking for support, helping this incredible young woman means helping a family to have their life back and take care of their lovely child.