Supporting RestarT means investing in the people who choose to stay in Syria, rebuilding their country’s future through work. Every microbusiness launched is a family that finds hope, a community that grows stronger, a seed of peace planted in a wounded country that yearns for rebirth. With your contribution, we can provide new opportunities and give twenty families in Aleppo the concrete possibility of starting over and staying.
After thirteen years of war, hope is the first form of reconstruction
For thirteen years, Syria has been engulfed in a conflict that has wiped out entire cities and devastated millions of lives. In Homs, one of the cities that symbolized the war, the streets still bear the scars of bombs. Homes are battered, shops empty, families torn apart.
Yet, behind the rubble, life has not stopped searching for space . There are men and women who every day choose to stay, to start over, to rebuild their dignity through work.
But how can you start over when you have nothing left? When the average salary doesn’t exceed $30 a month , while a family needs at least $300 just to survive?
When did even essential goods – like rice, oil or eggs – become luxury goods ?
RESTART: the power of a second chance
It is from these questions that RESTART – Restarting to Stay was born, a solidarity microcredit program launched in Syria in 2021 by AMU and the “Seeds of Hope” Committee of the Focolare Movement .
RESTART offers not only aid, but real opportunities for rebirth : it helps those who have lost everything to rebuild their lives through work , with a unique approach based on reciprocity .
Each beneficiary receives a microcredit to start or strengthen a small business (shop, workshop, artisan or agricultural enterprise).
The refund occurs in two ways:
💰 50% in cash , to feed the project’s revolving fund;
💞 50% in solidarity , returning the gift received with concrete gestures towards others: offering work, training or help to those in difficulty.
In this way, each activity generates value for the entire community .
A network of life that regenerates itself
Since 2021, 83 income-generating activities have already been established in Homs, Aleppo and Banias :
small shops, tailoring workshops, home kitchens, vegetable gardens, livestock farms, artisan workshops.
Behind every undertaking there is a story of resistance and hope.
Like that of Rima , mother of three children, who after years of precariousness was able to open a small pastry shop in Homs:
“I had nothing left, but I gained confidence. Now I can work, feed my children, and help another woman do the same.”
Or Fadi , a young bricklayer who, thanks to microcredit, bought the tools needed to rebuild the destroyed houses in his neighborhood.
“I feel part of my city’s rebirth. Before, I was just trying to survive; now I’m building for the future.”
The results speak for themselves
- 116 businesses launched in 4 years in 3 different cities
- 0 delays in refunds
- +90% success rate in projects
- +89% increase in self-confidence
- +270% motivation to stay in the country
In Syria, “staying” isn’t a given. Staying means still believing in life , choosing dignity over escape, building a future where everything seems destroyed.
The fifth year: a step forward to stay
In 2025–2026 , RESTART enters its fifth year of life .
The new cycle includes:
- Support 20 new Syrian entrepreneurs with training, equipment and support
- Strengthening the culture of reciprocity and communion
- Offering a concrete alternative to escape and resignation
A model of solidarity that multiplies value
RESTART doesn’t just give credit: it builds a culture of trust and reciprocity .
Every person helped becomes a bridge for others , fueling a virtuous cycle of support and solidarity. It’s a program that doesn’t “hold back” those receiving aid, but restores dignity to those who want to stay and rebuild their country.
💬 “If we stay together, even hope can live again among these ruins.”
Support RESTART
Supporting RESTART means believing in people . It means giving them the tools to get back up, to stay, to build. It means transforming charity into justice , help into dignity .
Made with the contribution of EdC – Economy of Communion.
