“My dream, since I was a child, has always been to become a make-up artist and make all the girls happy.” Young Miriam speaks from her shop in Aleppo , surrounded by cosmetics of all shades and with a big smile that lights up her face. She has made her dream come true, even though it is not at all easy to open an independent business in today’s Syria. The RestarT project has focused on her talent and her great desire to work.
From economic difficulties to RestarT support
“I started working as a make-up artist about two years ago, in a difficult economic situation and with a very high cost of living in Syria.” Nothing gave hope that her newly started business would succeed. At the beginning she worked from her home in Aleppo, unable to afford the rent of a place. Gradually, however, word spread among the girls that Miriam was really good at make-up. This ability of hers convinced the RestarT representatives to let her enter the program and to grant her the expected support: “It was the right push. Thanks to RestarT I have become what I am today.”
Materials and equipment provided by RestarT
With the RestarT (Restart to Stay) project, aimed at those who already have experience in the field of production and commercial activities, capital goods are provided to start the business itself. 
After a training and verification process, the protagonists return 50% of what they received in money and the remainder in the form of goods and services that they commit to offering to the community. Miriam obtained equipment and materials “and this allowed me to acquire a certain job stability and to have more self-confidence” . Her make-up studio is no longer a small room, but a larger space where she receives and expertly makes up many of the girls of Aleppo. Making them happy, as she has always dreamed.
