Ahmad Nahhas Hammami has participated in the “Şirketim” project to complete the formalization of his dessert shop. He was born and live in Aleppo until immigration to Turkey. He is 42 years old and a secondary school graduate. Today, he lives with his family in Sultanbeyli, Istanbul.
Success Story of
Ahmad Nahhas Hammami
Before the war, when he lived in Aleppo, Syria, he was engaged in stonework and owned a marble factory. Being forced to flee from war in 2015, he immigrated to Turkey. He came to Mersin through Lebanon in 2015. After a short stay in Mersin, he moved to Istanbul. Having set out alone, Ahmad’s family remained in Syria. Fortunately, they followed him a year later, and the family was reunited in Istanbul. Today his wife and 11, 9, and 1-year-old three children live all together in Sultanbeyli, Istanbul.
The first years in Turkey have been substantially challenging for him. The most critical challenges were the language barrier and finding a decent job. Although he wanted to work in his field, he could not find a job in the stonework sector and turned to look at alternative sectors and jobs. Firstly, he worked in a flower shop as an employee, and later in the dessert shop. After learning about the dessert business, he quit his job in 2018 and started his own dessert shop.
Although he established his own shop, he could not practice any of the formalization steps for two years due to economic reasons and lack of adequate knowledge. For this reason, he was constantly worried about his job throughout the process and could not see his future. At the end of February, when the project field officers paid a visit to his shop, he learned about the “Şirketim” project, United Work and GIZ. He did not know about these organizations before. After listening to the project details explicitly from the field officers, he realized that it was what he truly needed, and he joined the project immediately. After participating in the project, tax and chamber registration, work permit application, municipality license, and procurement of necessary inventories were supported within the scope of the project, and the necessary formalization process was completed.
Evaluating the project as very successful in general, Ahmad states that the support provided in the project is essential and beneficial for him. Both the support in the formalization process and financial support have become lifeline support. If these supports were not provided, he would neither be able to realize legal registration procedures nor could withstand the adverse economic effects of the epidemic. Thanks to the project, now, he works and produces without fear and concern. He also thanks all project partners for their contribution to such a successful project.
In general, Ahmet has a decent life in Turkey. The social difficulties he experienced when he arrived considerably ceased as he learned the language, and the economic difficulties eased considerably off by participating in the project. Besides, he thinks that Turkish people are very hospitable and have a good and respectful relationship with everyone. For these reasons, he can imagine a promising future for himself and his family in Turkey. He wants to expand his shop, produce more products, and open new branches. He thinks that in this way, he can create a real future for his children. In the near future, he will definitely want to stay in Turkey, but if the war ends and the situation improves in Syria, he may think of returning to his country.
