Ms. Souad M.H., sixty-eight years old, lives with her sister, ten years her junior, her single niece, and her nephew, an army conscript who comes once a month. The family had been displaced from the village of Bala, near al-Nashabieh, Ghouta, and ended up renting a house in al-Turbeh neighborhood, Jaramana.

Souad suffers from Behçet’s disease, which affected and weakened her limbs, causing her severe pain and stiffness in the joints. Mere standing up became a torture. Almost equally painful was moving around, in addition to urinary incontinence.

Souad loves knitting, having fun doing something useful. Handling knitting needles also helps her keep her hands flexible. Hence, I brought her needles and wool yarn balls, so we could start knitting together. This allowed us some leisure so she could open up and share her pain and worries. She was truly relieved to find a person who listened to her, to whom she could confide about her innermost thoughts and feelings.

Regular visits allowed me to build a special relationship with Souad and her sister, who started participating in some memory games we played, as well as some other activities. Thus, the sister became eager to ask about SSSD activities, then got acquainted with the Hear-My-Heart Programme, and began to come to the community centre to participate in the HMH sessions and activities. She also told a neighbor about the programme and accompanied her into the sessions.

Soon, Souad and her sister began to spread the good news, telling all women in their entourage about SSSD activities. Hence, a small group of women from the HMH Programme paid them a visit, offering Souad a handmade pillow from the Programme’s outputs.

The action plan with senior Souad helped improve her psychological and social condition. Physically, it was also necessary to provide her with adult diapers due to the embarrassment that night incontinence causes her.

With the help of her sister, we went to her doctor and asked him to write a medical report on Souad’s health condition, so that we could network with other NGOs that offer medical assistance. In this way, we were able to provide her with the diapers on a 3-month regular basis.

In the meantime, the regular visits of the HMH women added some fun and loveliness to her new life.

Saying goodbye to me, she added: “Can I call you if I need anything?”
“My sister feels definitely better, especially with her new friendships. I also benefited a lot from the sessions, gaining useful information and knowledge to handle problems and events,” said the sister.

Phone contact continues from time to time with senior Souad to check on her. During the last phone call, she reassured me by saying that her conscript son had been demobilized and that he would take care of the restoration of the family house in Bala.

“Since we were displaced from Aleppo, I haven’t felt that strong and independent…”
These are verbatim words of Mrs. Abeer, 37, displaced from rural Aleppo with her family, consisting of her husband and two sons.

Her husband suffers from frequent heart attacks and is unable to work due to the deterioration of his health condition. Therefore Mrs. Abeer was the only breadwinner for her family, and had to play several roles in the household and community, which forced her to work in cleaning houses to secure her family’s sustenance.

After the family moved to Jaramana, Rural Damascus, Abeer got acquainted with the Beit al-Aman Community Centre of the Syrian Society for Social Development, through a neighbour who attended the Hear-My-Heart PSS sessions at the CC. There and then, after the SSSD team was informed of the woman’s living and social situation, the PSS case-manager referred her to the Small Business Start-up Grant Programme and, in turn, the programme focal point proposed that she attend the training in Entrepreneurship.
Abeer showed enthusiasm and agreed to go through this completely new experiment. When she had completed the training, her feasibility study was presented to a specialised committee composed of SSSD and UNHCR representatives. Her small project, a Home-based Sewing and Repair Workshop, was duly discussed and approved.
Thus, the project was eventually launched. Later on, we paid her a visit, waiting for the good news. During the visit, Abeer expressed the positive impact of the project on her life and character, telling us how she had turned into an independent woman who was now able to address challenges and stand for her rights.

Abeer had become a producer and was able to provide for her family and the daily and school needs of her children. Harmony with her husband had increased and calm and peace prevailed in the household, after the atmosphere was constantly tense.
She also shared with us her joy when she was able to buy a diesel heater after her children had been facing cold, only to find blankets to keep them warm.
After saving further money, she bought a refrigerator to preserve the food and was able to rent a larger house.
Now, she is trying to save more money in order to rent a workplace and a new house that resembles the house the family had fled in Aleppo.
In her own words, “The total change in my character is positively affecting my whole life… I wish all people could benefit as much as me and change their conditions for the better.”