“I forget all of the day’s hard work when I come back home and see the smiles on the faces of my children,” Naif, 42, who runs his own welding business in Sinjar. Naif, husband and father of five children, fled from Sinjar in 2014 – like other Yezidis – to escape from ISIS.
In 2020, Naif and his family returned to Sinjar, where he found work in a welding shop. He was thankful to have a job, but his small income was not enough to provide for his family of seven. Naif quickly fell into debt just trying to cover his family’s living expenses.
Naif’s neighbors knew his situation, and they tried to help him by introducing him to USAID’s job coaches in the area. During their meeting, Naif shared his ambition to open his own welding business to earn more money to support his family.
With USAID support, Naif was provided with a generator, a welding machine, a cut-off saw, and angle grinder. Now, after three months of opening his own business, Naif earns about ten times more than what he was making back in 2020 and has paid off all his debt. With his increased revenue, he also purchased a vehicle to transport his welding materials to work sites, which allows him to provide his services to more locations.
Naif is proud to provide welding services in his community to help people to return home and rebuild. With his additional financial security, Naif gives his clients the option to pay him in installments for projects they cannot fully afford upfront, and sometimes offers discounts or even provides free services to the poorest members in his community. When Naif was hired by families to make an iron fence around a cemetery, he only charged for the cost of materials and donated his labor as a gift to the families. Naif is proud to be able to contribute to a more promising future for his family and his community.
DCEO for USAID