Mrs. Tharaa (who hates to be called by that name) is 38 and comes from the city of Qamishli, Governorate of Hasakeh.
The story began when Tharaa was introduced to al-Salam Community Center by one of the beneficiaries in the Women’s Committees, who felt that it was necessary to help that woman ease the tension and relieve the terrible pressures she was experiencing.

Abu Samer, 56, is a man who is, in his very person, a summing up of the ongoing Syrian Crisis. After being displaced with his wife and four children, he ended up living in a shop where there is only one empty square meter to sleep over their belongings, with neither a bathroom nor a kitchen (all had to go to the neighbor’s to relieve themselves!).
When he was monitored by ORVs, his son’s burial paper was still in his hand in the aftermath of a bombing in Bab Touma forty days before. At this point, there was more crying than talking!

Souad is 60. She fled Aleppo to Rural Damascus, Jaramana, with eight married children. Displacement forced them to live and their families together with their mother in the same house. With the deteriorating living conditions, the family faced material hardships and financial pressures and, soon enough, problems caused by cramming so many people in a small space surfaced and made things even worse.

Fatima, a 42-year-old resident of the Sett Zeinab district, was displaced with her family, who are currently settled in Rural Damascus, Jaramana. She has six children and her husband has been suffering over the past five years from repeated brain strokes. This forced her to work twice as much as her husband could not work to earn a living. She was concerned that her children get a decent education and tried her best to secure their basic needs “in an average material situation,” in her own words.

While monitoring the local community at al-Zahira district, we met Mrs. Samar al-Sayeq, 53, displaced from the Yarmouk Refugee Camp. Samar’s family consists of a husband who is ill (lumbar disc herniation) and unable to work, a sick son and his wife, and a repudiated daughter. All of them live together and have no source of income but selling bread in the street.

Mr. M.B  , 35 years old, is married and the sole supporter of his family consisting of his wife, three children, as well as his brother's widowed wife and two nephews. He has been displaced and lives now at al-Zahera in a rented house.

L.B, 45, is divorced and the mother of two children. Her ex evaded responsibility, forcing her to become the household sole breadwinner. She is a displaced woman living in a rented house. Ms. L.B  was patient and struggled despite her difficult circumstances. She is now a living example that when good management is coupled with hope there will be nothing impossible.

Ms. Al al-Kh, aged 27, is married and the mother of two children, one of whom has speech disorders and learning difficulties. Her husband, the children's father, cannot work because he is listed as a conscript reservist. The family was displaced from East Ghouta and lives in a rented house with Al.KH's parents. Unfortunately for her, she is her family's sole breadwinner, as her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and her brother is still at school age.

Kh al-N is a 44-year-old widow and the mother of two children. Her husband died 15 years ago, leaving her with the huge responsibility of raising the children and securing household expenses. Her daughter suffers from a congenital brain hemorrhage that has caused her serious learning difficulties. Kh, despite the difficult circumstances, refused to beg other people’s sympathy, trying to rely on herself by working in a shop selling underwear. The war, however, forced her to flee, so she had eventually to live in a rented house in Jaramana, Rural Damascus.