Mrs. Najlaa, a 79-year-old widow, had been living in the Tadamun neighborhood, where she used to work as a supervisor in a wool factory. Severely affected by the war, she lost both home and work. She now lives in a simple house in Jaramana with her two daughters and her sisters.

The elderly woman suffers from memory loss and a temporary disability. Her physical health does not allow her even to leave the house and carry out her simple tasks due to the anticancer drug doses she takes.
Mrs. Najlaa was incidentally introduced the SSSD community centre, where she expressed to the volunteer in the Home-based Rehabilitation for the Elderly her longing for home, for her relationships, her lost friendships, as well as her passion for wool knitting. In her own words, “I long for my house, for wool yarn and pins… I’m so upset not to be able to work again.”

Accordingly, a home-based rehabilitation plan was jointly developed by Mrs. Naglaa and the Elderly Programme volunteer, which included carrying out various memory-booster games. “I feel I’m again able to remember things… I’m so happy with this session,” she said on the spot. Medication self-management activities were also carried out. A pill box was made for her to enable her identify each drug by a specific color and thus achieve a sufficient measure of self-reliance.

The volunteer also helped her develop her strengths so she could relearn to handle wool. All the necessary supplies were brought to her to that effect. “I feel alive again… I’m getting back my former skills,” she said beaming with joy.

The whole process was like a bonding bridge that restored her communication with her sisters and family members. Soon, she was able to make by herself wool winter hats for grandchildren and other children at home.
She was truly overwhelmed with happiness and joy, being able to do something beneficial to herself, fill her spare time and feel useful again. In her own words, “I regained a sense of importance, a sense that I exist… The joy the children experienced when I made them the hats speaks of itself.”

With her determination and love for life, Mrs. Najlaa managed to overcome her harsh conditions caused by the war, which had imposed loneliness and loss of supportive people.

Seniors—our old oak trees—definitely need our empathic support as much as we need their wise presence. Hence the vital importance of interventions carried out by the Syrian Society for Social Development in the context of the Home-based Rehabilitation Programme for the Elderly.

As the rain poured, the mangled door opened all the pain from the crisis in the face of a young girl, who was carrying her backpack and calling for her grandmother:” Granny, there are guests at the door!”

Filled with wrinkles, each of which carried embedded stories and worries, Grandmother M went through so much pain throughout the years, whereby she suffered from displacement, poverty, and worst of all, the loss of her son, who left her with his four daughters.

However frail, granny M did her best to take care of her granddaughters, the eldest of whom was a fifth-grade student. One of them suffered from a lump in the brain that led to a disability in the right hand and foot, and another from vision impairment, and the youngest from a seizure due to a previous fall.

A soon as SSSD’s facilitators heard of the unfortunate family’s situation, they rushed to help them. Surprisingly, though, the grandmother refused their help.

Consequently, the team had to respect granny M’s wishes, and helped by providing stationery and some winter clothes to protect the granddaughters during winter, trying to bring the smile back to their faces.
The little girls expressed their happiness by saying: "How beautiful we became! We are now wearing nice clothes, just like our friends…."

Also, granny M thanked SSSD, who in turn, respected her desire and thanked her back for being there for her four flowers, and helping them with all her might.

If we go through the lives of every successful person, we would find that they all went through many sufferings and challenges, that contributed to their success.

Mr. Raed, an IDP from Ain Al-Fijeh, currently lives in a house for rent in Hameh, Rural Damascus. He is the sole breadwinner for seven people, including separated children.

Twenty years ago, Raed worked in the accessories industry, until he lost his workshop_ situated in Barzeh al-Balad_ in the midst of the crisis. Thus, he was unable to return to his profession due to the lack necessary materials, which made matters worse, especially regarding his financial situation.

Fortunately, he got introduced to SSSD through the Beit Al Salam Center in Hameh, where he resided, and presented a project on making accessories.

Mr. Raed underwent a training course in the management of small projects. He also underwent an interview which he excelled at, and demonstrated his ability to work and support his family.

Indeed, Mr. Raed received his own project on 11/11/2019, and started working on manufacturing many distinctive accessories that he presented to the merchants.

Thus, Mr. Raed entered the market directly, and began to meet the demands of many merchants. As his business grew and wasn’t able to work for all these demands on his own, he hired several women to work from home and help him.

Consequently, Mr. Raed’s life changed positively on all levels, and specifically on the financial one, whereby he confirmed by saying: “My project is becoming more successful and prosperous, just like a seedling that grows the more it’s being taken care of, and produces fruits. Now, I am able to provide for my family! Everything changed, and I became more self-confident. Currently, there is a boy who is working with me, and I am teaching him the profession of making accessories. Furthermore, 10 girls are working from home!”
He also added: "I still feel like I’m in a dream… except that this dream is actually my reality now! Now, I am aspiring to expand my work and become like these big merchants. This is my new dream, and hopefully, it will become true…”

Mrs. M.M. is mother to three children. Displaced from Ghouta, she currently lives in the city of Adra. She is definitely a woman head-of-household, as her husband has been missing for four years now.

She used to work as a cleaner in houses and factories to meet her and her family’s basic needs in terms of clothing, food and education—ending up with a herniated disc due to the unbearable strain she was under.
Through the SSSD case manager, Mrs. M.M. was referred to the Vocational Training Program to learn a career that would help her improve her livelihood.

She was selected for a course in hairdressing and beauty care at the Farah Community Center, Adra, where she learned the basics of women’s hairdressing and beauty care in all details.

Soon enough, Mrs. M.M. began to market herself on social media and started working at home. Her income soon improved noticeably—to meet all the needs of her home.

She is now thinking about opening a salon in cooperation with one of the beneficiaries, as her work has been well received by many women from the local community.

Salwa, an-8-year old, suffers from Down Syndrome and hyperactivity. She belongs to a big family; 9 female siblings (most of them are married), two male siblings, and her mother. Her father is a junior employee in one of the governmental bodies. The family has been living in its home village, Al Twaineh, which is one of the villages of Al Hasakah Sub-district.

As a result of the ongoing war, Salwa and her family have been through tough times, her elder brother died and her other brother’s home was severely damaged by an explosion and thus he had to stay in his parent’s small and crowded home which doubled the pressures over the parents’ shoulders, especially the mother.

The outreach volunteer team attached to Beit Al Kel, Al Hasakah City has been constantly visiting villages and towns around the city and at one time reached out to Salwa and her family encouraging her parents to bring her to the community center.

Within a short period of time, Salwa visited the center accompanied by her mother, where her case was assessed by the officer responsible for the Home-Based Rehabilitation Program (HBRP) for children with special needs.

The team resorted to medical and neurological counseling to assess the girl’s condition and reached a conclusion she was suffering from speech difficulties, in addition to the symptoms and different traits of Down Syndrome. Salwa began attending regular speech improvement sessions with specialist doctors.

At the same time, the team worked on other rehabilitation programs, namely, integrative, group activities to motivate Salwa to communicate with her peers (normal children), and individual Portage sessions, which enkindle different channels of expression and set the girl in motion to acquire basic skills, such as, independence, self-reliance, sensory development, and emotional expression

During accompanying Salwa to the center’s sessions, the mother came to know of Hear-My-Heart program and was enthusiastic to join, since she heard a lot about it and the benefits other women gained.

The mother also joined the Parental Skills Program, which was a turning point causing drastic changes to Salwa's life. The mother mingled with other women who were going through similar mental conditions and circumstances, which strengthened her self-confidence and developed her ability to express herself and talk about the challenges she was facing. 

The psychologist also kept working on building mutual trust with Salwa’s mother to push the mother forward and help her realize that the only rout to her kid’s consciousness and unconsciousness is through her, and consequently encouraged the mother to attend tailored and simple training sessions to learn how to apply the techniques of the HBRP focusing on boosting the girl’s self-confidence.

The mother's sense of responsibility built up which was positively reflected on the daughter, who began enjoying the feelings of safety. Salwa no longer escaped confronting others and no longer resorted to crying. People who used to be source of discomfort and vexation are now source of care and love.

Today Salwa is singing! The days when she hardly said her name are over!

She tells the story of her siblings, who benefited from the educational services offered at the center, to everyone she meets around the center in her own funny simple way.  She got over the past, when she used to refrain from anything related to them and even avoided saying their names.

Salwa shows great enthusiasm toward participating in group activities and toward being part of public gatherings, especially the ones involving children. She defeated her fear and shyness, which used to make her avoid looking into people's faces

"Salwa is a neat, clean, and hardworking person.  Any mother would love to hear such things about her daughter."

Hearing these words over and over again, ignited a super power within Salwa's mother, elevating her to a new dimension, where she seriously looks for the means to bring the best out of her daughter, to look for her hidden talents and capacities. The great news is that the whole family now follows the mother's steps.

I am special, and my disability is not my death sentence!

Sabah is a 12-year-old girl who lives with her mother and five sisters. As for her father, he went missing, which made her mother the sole breadwinner for the family.

Sabah suffered from herniated nucleus pulposus, hydrocephalus, and hemiplegia since she was born, which caused her many difficulties and challenges. Nevertheless, it did not prevent her from going to school and striving for her education.

Sabah’s mother was responsible for dropping Sabah off to school in the morning and taking her back at the end of school hours. The latter posed a heavy burden on her, since her daughter’s school was quite far from their home. On top of all that, Sabah suffered from fatigue due to sunlight exposure for a long period of time.

Fortunately, Sabah got introduced to the Syrian Society for Social Development through the Farah Center in Adra, and joined the Friendship groups. While at the center, her mother learned that SSSD also provided medical assistance.

Consequently, Sabah's case was brought up to the Health and Medical programme manager, who in turn assisted her by providing her with a wheelchair for the children.

The wheelchair changed both Sabah and her mother’s lives, as Sabah didn’t feel tired anymore when going to school, and it reduced the mother’s burden and fatigue. It also helped Sabah move around easily and play some of the games with her friends and sisters. Thus, Sabah became one of the top students at school.

The mother’s joy was overwhelming, as she expressed:" You have brought me comfort, and made my dear daughter extremely happy, since she is now able to play with her friends at school…”

One may go through circumstances such as war, ignorance, or even certain restricting customs and traditions, that can change the course of his life in an unplanned and unexpected way, leading to the deprivation of the most basic human rights, such as education.

Some are able to overcome these circumstances by having supportive parents that insist on getting an education, while others lack such support from their parents. In that case, there must be an alternative supporter, especially during childhood, where it is most needed. Thus, the Syrian Society for Social Development (SSSD) was that kind of supporter through its Educational Support Programme.

The 11-year-old child, SA, was one of the children affected by these circumstances. She lived with her poor family in an unfinished apartment in Daf al-Sakher, Jaramana.

Due to the unfortunate crisis, SA and her family had to flee four times between Rural Aleppo, Zamalka in Ghouta, Daraya_ where she lost her sister during the crisis_ and back to Aleppo, until they finally settled in Jaramana. This instability reflected negatively on the child’s psychological state.

She became introverted, shy, and unable to talk or participate in any activity because of the many disappointments encountered.
SA did not register for school due to the frequent displacements, as well as her parents' lack of awareness on the importance of education. During the ORV’s monitoring, they encountered the child, and introduced her to SSSD and its activities. Consequently, SA was referred to the Educational Support Programme (dropouts).

Throughout the programme, we worked on restoring the girl's confidence in herself and the surrounding community by involving her in the programme’s activities. She was thus able to read, write and learn just like the rest of her peers. As for now, SA is currently preparing to enroll in the Class B school education through the coordination between SSSD, the child’s parents and the school.

Eventually, we succeeded in integrating our once lost child into her community, where she could finally practice her scientific and practical life away from the specter of fear and ignorance.
Both SA and her parents expressed their gratitude for SSSD’s efforts by saying: "You have brought joy and the sweet childhood back to our beloved daughter’s life!"