Mr. M A is a 56-year-old husband with two boys and two girls. He and his family were settled in Raqqa and worked there. During the crisis, one of his sons was injured severely in a mine explosion and had one of his legs amputated. The situation deteriorated in Raqqa, which led to his displacement with his family to Ltoun Marqab village in Banias, leaving behind all his life savings.

Like all internally displaced families, Mr. M A settled in a rental property. As all his children are in University, he was the sole breadwinner, but was unable to do anything because of his son’s injury.

He was spotted by one of SSSD’s outreach volunteers (ORV) and was then introduced to its services, which made him interested in registering for a small project (raising sheep) in the village he was in. Later on, he was enrolled in a 1-week project management course, where he learned about project success criteria and steps to be followed for a successful project.

His project was approved, which made him thrilled as he had faith in this project and believed it would help him rebuild his life. During the 6-month follow-up period, Mr. M.A was showing remarkable progress in his life and said: “The Syrian Society for Social Development has given me the opportunity of a lifetime to build my life all over again, and I should seize this great opportunity to improve my life and the life of my children.”

Days have passed, and Mr. M became the manager of his project as if he had been working in this profession for many years- selling, buying and spending money on his children’s education. Thanks to the project, he went from an unemployed man with his hands tied to an active member in society once again.