With every seed that we planted, we sowed love.We were happy like little children while we were planting and we will continue the journey so that we can always benefit the people of the area.” This was expressed by one of the women who participated in the initiative to grow vegetables at home, which was held in the village of Al Wadhihi in Aleppo.

In an atmosphere full of joy, 16 women and children from the local community participated in planting a variety of vegetables in the home gardens of 75 families of displaced and returnees, with the aim of securing healthy food for these families.

 Moreover, this was done with the intent to benefit and make use of the large household spaces in the village and providing children with a culture of caring for the land and raising the standard of their health.

This community initiative was carried out in cooperation between the Syrian Society for Social Development and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Aiming at facilitating the movement of persons with special needs across faculties and education centers in Aleppo University, a group of youths volunteered to install 35 cement ramps.

The youth-led initiative (YLI) was supervised by the volunteers of the Syrian Society for Social Development and funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The 10 youths were from Aleppo City and formed a self-managed group, 4 of them were experienced in calculating the dimensions and degrees of the ramps and determining their locations, while the rest were experienced in building up the ramps.

The YLI aimed at encouraging students with special needs to carry on with their higher education, improve their lifestyle, and make them feel the care and support of the community.

The administrative staff of Aleppo University was very cooperative. The target students expressed their gratitude for the initiative. “From now on, I can easily move around campus without worrying about any difficulties and without asking anyone for help. I can go up the stairs on my own. I can carry on with my education without worrying about my whereabouts,” as put by one of the special needs students.

As part of the Youth Initiatives Program, the Syrian Society for Social Development in Tartous held training workshops to build and manage youth community initiatives at "Ward Jury - Beit Al-Yasmin – Elton Al-Jurd centers".

Three workshops were conducted; each workshop lasted for three days at a rate of 4 hours for each group in each center.

 Where information was provided to 66 beneficiaries, aged between 15-40 years, on how to build and organize a youth initiative that seeks to solve an existing problem in the community, and how to prepare the initiative's activities and its budget.

The participating youth interacted during the training and presented distinguished ideas, which can be built upon for initiatives that may contribute to improving their society. They also expressed the importance of these workshops and their desire to implement them in different places.