My greatest wish right now is to find stability… Wherever there is stability, there is work.
“Youssef Al-Asi – 32 years old”, one of the beneficiaries of the vocational diplomas project, expressed his wish after starting his pilot project, which he launched with his partner months ago.
Youssef graduated from the Faculty of Engineering – he majored in mechatronics – 8 years ago, and as a result of the war conditions in Syria, Youssef was unable to start working in his major and complete the journey of his dreams that started in university.
A few months ago, Youssef joined with his partner to study a diploma in solar energy with MIDMAR organization within the renewable energies diploma project, through which MIDMAR provided a set of theoretical and practical trainings for trainees in solar energy and its uses in commercial projects. At the end of the diploma, Youssef and his partner presented their own project “Al Rayan Fishery”, in which the two partners combined their experiences in the field of energy and electronics with the field of agriculture and fish farming.
The two partners were able to win the competition and obtain a financial grant from MIDMAR to launch the project and incubate it with the specialized trainers in the institution.
The project – Al Rayyan Fishery – aims primarily to revitalize agriculture in Sahl Al-Rouj, southwest of Idlib city, despite the plain’s fertility and suitability for cultivation, but agriculture in that area was greatly affected due to the conditions that the area experienced and the difficulty of securing the irrigation water needed for agriculture
The two partners established a small fish farm through which the local market is supported with fish meat as a healthier alternative to imported frozen meat at lower prices.
Through the fishery, the used water is extracted to be delivered to the farmers in the region to be used for irrigating crops and benefiting from it, as it is rich in organic materials resulting from fish residues.
A water well was also established to extract potable groundwater through fully equipped pumps to operate by clean solar energy.
Youssef launched the project and started making progress in a short period of time, as the outputs of the project during the last period were as follows:
– 12 farmers were assisted in securing irrigation water rich in organic matter to irrigate their crops.
– 15 families residing in the project area have been provided with safe drinking water.
– 2000 kg of fish meat was supplied to the local market.
– 20 job opportunities were created in the agricultural lands for which irrigation water was provided
MIDMAR seeks, through its model projects, to create new job opportunities and qualify graduates to enter the labor market by offering vocational diplomas and incubating their projects by specialists who are interested in providing advice and recommendations during the project launch period in order to ensure success and leadership for project owners.
empowering the displaced to integrate into their new societies and secure decent job opportunities for them was and still is at the core of our vision of strengthening social cohesion, developing individuals and institutions, and improving the economic reality in general.
Watch the story of Youssef and his project via the following link: