Rabih is a 13-year-old boy who lives with his small family in Ras al-Naba'a in the city of Banias, belongs to a poor social environment in which the head of household works as a builder while the mother is a housewife.

He was born blind and away from the simplest means of communication and education because the lack of knowledge of his parents about the possibility of joining the school, but the ORVs team was able to reach the case of the child and introduced him and his family to SSSD and its programs, especially regarding the blind, where Rabih parents expressed their desire to benefit from the Community center Beit al-Yasmin.
The child and his mother were invited to attend one of the sessions in the community center for Activating the Blind and during his first visit with his mother, his case was examined by the case manager at Beit al-Yasmine at the presence of the facilitators of the sessions.

After assessing the need, the case management team joined Rabih in the Friendship Group for Blind Children. In that visit, Rabih and his mother knew about the Braille machine for writing and reading for blinds. They also learned about the activities that are carried out at the center that aim to develop the personality of the blind in a way that allows him to interact with the surrounding society the thing that encouraged him to commit to the friendship group hosted by Beit al Yasmine.

At first, the facilitators noticed that Rabih had a state of hesitation and fear through speaking in a trembling, low voice and rejecting any request directed at him and by walking with a twist as well as confusion and hesitation in the steps. The facilitators began to activate Rabih and rehabilitate him in order to interact confidently by applying games that develop personal skill and give him courage.

After some time, the child was able to interact with the facilitator gradually and began to respond to the requests of the facilitator regarding implementing the activity and then define the directions to him and move in the activity room according to the direction that he was asked to go to, through using music to move in the required direction.
After a month, facilitators implemented a sporty activity to enhance his confidence by walking straight and using the directions quickly in addition to strengthen his courage to step fast through focus points such as ropes or walls of the room.

During the second month, the facilitators began to introduce the child to Braille system for writing and reading. His mother attended the sessions in order to help him with response. With the assistance of the facilitators and his mother's, Rabih managed to memorize the number of each letter in an excellent way, which became clear through his test at each of Braille sessions.

In each session, the facilitators conducted a debate between the beneficiaries so that each one asked his friend about a certain letter and then his friend answered with the number of the letter that asked him. Then he checked for his friend. This gave Rabia an opportunity to develop his character further when he felt superior to his friends.

He also received a course in mental arithmetic using the abacus Within the program of intellectual development by conducting calculations by touching the abacus and knowing the number of beads. He liked the idea a lot because it has a kind of competition with his blind companions. Conducting mental arithmetic at a speed created a kind of zeal with which he was cared for and developed repeatedly until he was able to do the calculation through imagination and without using the abacus.

This led to introduce a state of joy and hope to his life, he rejoices greatly in every calculation, especially when the answer is correct, which gave him a self-confidence and increased his brain capacity after being slow and suffering from being alone with his mother at home, he emerged from the darkness of life to light with his activities and skills that began to develop little by little.

It is noted that Rabih did not miss any session since his first visit to the CC, moreover, he was calling if the bus delayed to take him to the center. He also showed a desire to follow up on teaching and achieving his dream of obtaining a certificate of basic education. As he moved from the stage of hesitation and fear to activity and interaction so that he tells, in every session, a story or read aloud.
Rabih is a child whose circumstances did not allow him to exercise his right of education despite having potential capabilities, but the team of the Syrian Society for Social Development- Beit al- Yasmine- managed to restore hope for a bright future through what he received of advantage and rehabilitation.


Facilitators: Mamdouh Deepw – Ghenwa Alshmali – Nermen Sayouh – Ibrahim Msalam – Fatat Mouhamad.

Majd B., a young man in his twenties, lives with his family in a popular neighborhood of the city of Banias. Unemployed, he had no source of income either to support himself or help his father provide for the large family.
Majd’s parents would have never expected that their careless son would become a successful, reliable man, running responsibly a small business of his own.
Majd heard that the Syrian Society for Social Development held vocational training courses at the Beit al-Yasmin Community Center. Since mobiles were his favorite hobby and he had already a considerable basic knowhow in mobile maintenance, he soon registered in the mobile maintenance course and was quite willing to learn more.
After a 3 three-month training and follow-up, the young man gained the necessary experience that qualified him for his mobile maintenance own business.
Soon after the course was over, Majd bought a mobile maintenance toolkit and opened his own shop in one of the city’s neighborhoods.
Thanks to the help of SSSD who secured the training that qualified him to open his own shop, Majd is now running a successful, income-generating business that enables him to cover his own expenses and help his family.

Displaced from Raqqa, Salman’s family who currently live in a rustic rural room in the foothills of a mountain village of rural Banias, managed finally to secure fresh drinking water after receiving in-kind assistance from SSSD-Tartous, namely, a water tank with its necessary accessories.
Salman, who is the sole breadwinner of an eight-member family (including a war-disabled daughter who lost her foot due to the explosion of an AXO), asserts that the water storage tank secures his family safe, potable water for cooking and drinking, whereas they previously relied on a barrel which was only suitable for specific uses.
It is noteworthy that the SSSD team monitored the situation of the family, who suffer from severe shortage of living basic necessities, as they fled home in a panic and were therefore unable to bring along any supplies. Salman’s family wishes to be targeted with other in-kind assistance because of their dire need and extreme economic destitution.

Believing in the necessity to promote vulnerable groups in community and help them keep pace with others in securing livelihoods and decent living, SSSD, with support from UNHCR, provided a small cattle farming grant (a cow) to Ms. M.H., who lives in al-3leiqa village with her four children and old sick father-in-law in the same house. The woman is the family’s sole provider, with no husband or regular income to support them.
Her new small business turned her into an effective person, capable henceforth of securing her needs and those of her children in food, drink, school uniforms, etc., thus dispensing with people’s pity and charitable donations

Mohammad Salem ‘Aboud, ‘Ali al-Maz‘al and Shaden Hawash al-Maz‘al, children barely 10, were displaced from Deir az-Zaur, their place of origin. Leaving behind all their possessions, they had fled the war, only to settle in the coastal city of Banias, where their families rented houses that sheltered them under tough economic conditions. As a result of these tribulations, the children were not able to register at school and were, therefore, deprived of their right to education.
Luckily, they heard from their mothers—who attend the Hear-My-Heart Programme sessions at the Beit al-Yasmin Community Center—about SSSD and the educational activities held thereat. Those activities are conducted in the framework of the Informal Education (IFE) Programme, involving children who dropped out of school through educational sessions using simple, interesting recreational methods. Information is thus conveyed in an otherwise participatory and communicative way than the conventional, lecture-based learning method. Hence, the mothers promptly registered their children in the IFE, plainly satisfied with a programme that would teach and help their children.
For two months, the children became regular visitors of the Beit al-Yasmin CC and were very happy with the information they learned. There was however a disadvantage: the CC was too far away from home at the town centre. So, to spare them the mobility discomfort, they were moved to the Ward Jouri SSSD satellite center which was opened at downtown Banias, where they resumed attending the sessions. Three months had passed: two at Beit al-Yasmin and a third at Ward Jouri, but the outcome was truly rewarding: they had learned the basics of reading and writing and arithmetic and were thus ready to return to school.
Nevertheless, the SSSD team kept working with the children, helping their parents register them in the public school, and accompanied them to the Educational Complex in Banias. The gesture was greatly appreciated by the children’s parents who warmly thanked the SSSD team. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You gave us back joy and contributed to realizing our children’s dream and ours as well: you made them get back to school, just like their peers!” said one of the mothers.
On Day 1 of the new school year the children, before going to school, came to Ward Jouri so we could see them in their brand-new school uniform. They were so excited! Later on, one of the SSSD volunteers went to the school to check on them. When she saw her, Shaden rushed toward her saying, “I’m so happy that I got back to school. I’ve already three new comrades!”

Mrs. R S, an unemployed 37-year-old widow and mother of three (two daughters and one boy), lived with her family in Qatana, Damascus. The house she was living in wasn’t hers but rather rented as she couldn’t afford to own one.

Her husband died in Damascus during the unfortunate crisis, leaving her behind a heavy burden to carry since she was the sole breadwinner for her three children.

R.S fled along with her children to Tartous and lived in an unfinished and poorly equipped house in Bluzah village, Banias, as did thousands of displaced families. Suffering from her economic situation, she decided to improve their situation by finding a suitable job, but all her efforts went in vein.

Filled with despair, she felt that all the doors of life were closing and that there was no escape from her deteriorating situation, until she heard of the Syrian Society foe Social Development from an acquaintance who was one of SSSD’s beneficiaries. Since then, hope started reigniting again as she went to SSSD and enrolled for a small project, which was sheep raising. She truly believed in her project, especially after living in the suburbs. Once R S’s project was approved, she was filled with an indescribable joy.

Later on, R S took a 6-day course in project management at SSSD, which helped her stand on her own feet and run her project. Since she loved and chose the project, she had the perfect start. This was clearly reflected in her psychological state as well as her children’s situation. Her economic situation also began to improve gradually through selling wool, milk and other products from her project.

This was how R S’s life has changed drastically, where she became able to provide her family’s basic needs thanks to SSSD, which never hesitates to help and assist all those in need and affected by the crisis that struck our beloved country.

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.