« DESPITE MY DISABILITY, I AM NOW RESPONSIBLE FOR MYSELF AND INDEPENDENT »
Première Urgence Internationale takes action in Syria where it launched economic recovery activities. 26 year-old Yassin participated to the programme. Story of a wonderful recovery.
Yassin, a miserable fate?
Yassin was born in Alep. He lives there with 10 of his family members. In 2011, the Syrian crisis explodes. Progressively, Yassin’s everyday life evolves and this active young man has soon to face a dark reality.
One day, Yassin is victim of a stray bullet that paralysed him and condemned him to stay in a wheel chair. He is just around 20. Soon, he and his family are forced to leave his hometown to reach Jdaide city, in the rural Damascus. Yassin’s father and brothers start working there as cleaners and porters in order to secure a living for their family and to pay for the considerable medical expenses of the young boy.
“I was very isolated because of my disability” shares Yassin. Being a dependent person makes him suffer, as well as his family.
The rebirth
In 2016, Première Urgence Internationale launched a Start-up Small Business Grants programme in Syria. These projects aims at helping people create or take over businesses in order to push the private economy toward recovery in this country affected by the conflicts and international sanctions.
Yassin heard of this programme and applied. He presented a project that suits his medical and physical situation: a female clothes shop.
“I have changed from being a consumer to a productive person in the society,” he explains.
Thanks to this project, he receives a Business Management Training where he showed great enthusiasm and developed a stable business plan. Sometime later, Yassin finally opened its shop where he showed a great ability to develop his business.
“Since I opened my shop, I am able to meet new people and reach a better interaction with my relatives and friends”, tells Yassin.
Thanks to his job, Yassin secured a sustainable income. He supports financially his family and even helps his brothers and sisters to study instead of working to support the household as they used to do before.
The economy at the service of social cohesion
Because of the Syrian crisis, there is many life stories like Yassin’s. Since Première Urgence Internationale launched its programme, it supported a few hundred families to help them regain their financial independence.
Première Urgence Internationale is working in an integrated approach strategy in Syria, combining Infrastructure, Education and Economic Recovery. The goal is to meet the immediate basic needs of the most vulnerable populations while strengthening their self-reliance through rapid economic recovery activities.
“Now I have more self-confidence and I am able to re-integrate myself with the community around me”, explains Yassin. “Moreover, family disputes have decreased to the minimum since I became responsible of myself and independent”, he adds.
Today, Yassin is no longer in need for full assistance from his relatives or NGO’s aids. He is integrated in his community and his shop is successful. The sufferings of yesterday are now slowly fading away.
