CAIRO — After the Syrian revolution, many of them came to Egypt running from the damage in their country seeking a safe place, many of them left behind everything that they own — from money and properties — to face the unknown future. Egypt considers a huge market to those who seek to invest even in the small projects that could be applied from home. Despite that many faced difficulties, they believe they were stronger in all circumstances. Syrian people have been well known to Egyptians as hardworking people. They amazed Egyptians with what they achieved since coming to the country. Saudi Gazette interviewed several Syrians who are examples of hardworking, most of them started from zero possibilities. Abdul Rahman El Aly, a 35-year-old Syrian, who works in textile trading, believe that the circumstances cannot break peoples will. Abdul Rahman said that many Syrians including him came to Egypt after leaving all their money and homes behind. "I came to Egypt few months after the revolution. I had little money at that time, which was not enough to cover our expenses for a few more months," he said. "I'm an accountant, and finding a job in Egypt was considered an impossible thing. I found beside my home a small tailor workshop. I thought why not supply sewing equipment and fabrics to them," he said. "So I started to supply. First, I started to buy the wanted items from textile factories with debt payments and after supply, I would pay for the factory and get my benefit. Step by step, I started to work with a number of workshops," said Abdul Rahman. "And now after three years of hard work, I've my own textile showroom, I bought my own home, after being lived in rented one, and I've two cars — one for me and one for my family," he said. Nana, a Syrian housewife, who lost her husband and came to Egypt broke, was wondering how she could feed her four children. "The Syrian community here in Cairo helped me at the beginning by providing accommodation. But I've four children, so I was forced to find a source of income," she said. "I thought that cooking and catering from home would be a suitable project for me, so I started through the Syrians who I knew here in Cairo. Little by little people started to know about me and I started to receive more orders and then I started my project through WhatsApp," said Nana. "When I first came to Egypt, I could barely find our daily bread, but today I've a very good income from my project. I rented an apartment with my own money. I have daily catering orders and I also hired some women who cook with me to help me with my project," she said. Salim Attwa, a 30-year-old Syrian, came to Egypt 5 years ago without his family and worked as a sales representative. Salim said that after a short while he started his own business. He rented a booth, and started selling accessories at one of the well-known malls and later he rented another booth that sells perfumes. "Syrians proved that they can break any circumstances and that they are able to succeed anywhere no matter what they faced, and I'm proudly one of them. I came to Egypt alone with only a single small luggage, but now I have my own business, seeking to expand it. I'm working on to establish my silver and accessories workshop," said Salim.
