Mr. A is a 30-year-old married man with three kids, an elderly ill mother and a crippled brother. He was displaced from his home in Tariq al-Bab and lost his furniture workshop, which was his and his family’s main resource.
Nevertheless, Mr. A didn’t give up, and tried working in several jobs that weren’t related to his main specialty. He was paid poorly, and could barely provide for his family.
Where he lived, Mr. A had a small coffee machine that he worked on in the bitter streets of Sha’ar, under the pouring rain and severe cold. He would rouse at 5 a.m. and work till the evening in a job he didn’t even like, and could barely afford something to eat. “I used to work in the streets till the evening; the hardest thing is to work in the streets”, he said.
Mr. A was spotted by the outreach volunteers in Sha’ar, and was nominated by SSSD for a training course on project management and writing a simplified economic feasibility within the Small Business Grants Programme. Afterwards, Mr. A was able to obtain the grant, and was provided with the necessary equipment to re-launch his previous work in furniture drilling.
Thus, he started to regain his work gradually and increase his income, which helped him pay all his debts, care for his family and secure their needs. Also, his smile came back to him, and he started taking care of himself and his appearance. Mr. A’s benefit didn’t stop at the SBG programme, whereby he enrolled his children at Shams Community Center to benefit from the programme, and his three children were followed up in the Mentoring Programme.
Not only did Mr. A benefit on the personal level, but he also became an active community member, as he participated in restoring damaged houses from the crisis in Sha’ar neighborhood and its surroundings.
The real change starts with individuals, and extends to whole communities. Mr. A’s story is a tangible example of the latter. Since new opportunities came knocking at Mr A’s doors, his smile didn’t leave his face anymore. His psychological sate improved, and was finally able to take care of himself and his family.