ABOUT AL-MANHAL

We are relying on the collective power of community to fund this social enterprise project. Please consider making a donation today.

How you can help:

• Donate money. This project will not see the light without your donations. Your support will allow us to open a community space that Syrians need and deserve. Consider making a donation today.

• Donate books. Books are expensive, especially for a population that is just emerging from 14 years of war in a country still under crippling economic sanctions. We collect books for free and sell them at low rates in order to make books widely accessible. To learn more about the kinds of books we are interested in, and how you can donate, please reach out to almanhaldamascus@gmail.com.

• Donate artworks and other things we can sell. Whether at al-Manhal itself or at one of our fundraisers, we would love to be able to sell an artwork or something that you have made or that you would be happy to donate, in order to invest the money we make from it in Al-Manhal.

• Donate your time. Are you a talented graphic designer who can volunteer to help us with our branding or merch design? Are you a musician or performer who would consider playing for free to support al-Manhal at one of our fundraisers? Anyone’s services will be deeply appreciated, please contact us.

Dear friends and supporters of Al-Manhal,

On December 8th, 2024, the seemingly impossible happened when the totalitarian regime of Bashar Al-Assad crumbled and Syria was, for the first time in decades, free. 

We —Asser and Brant— saw each other in Damascus the next month. It was Asser’s first time back home since he was forced to flee eight years earlier. Brant had never been, but had spent the past decade working with Syrians in Lebanon, and falling in love with the country’s heritage from afar.

As we wondered what we could do for the country during this precarious transitional period, we joked about combining our passions in one place: a bookshop for Asser and a bakery for Brant. Suddenly, we heard about a place available for rent on the ancient Straight Street and, when we visited it, we realised that it had been a bakery in the past.

We committed to rent the place and to create Al-Manhal: a bookshop and bakery that would focus on community building, social cohesion, heritage preservation, education and sustainability. The books will be carefully curated, procured for free, and sold at an affordable rate. The bakery will utilize the existing wood oven to highlight Syria’s rich biodiversity and food traditions, and honor Syria’s farmers and producers, offering a mix of both traditional and nontraditional food that will help bring as diverse a crowd as possible into the space. We will also hold discussions, presentations, book signings, and more events that bring people together. We want to help young Syrians on their journeys into active civil participation, creating a hub for civil society members who share our interest in helping shape an inclusive and cohesive shared future for all Syrians. We also plan to employ a diverse workforce that will mirror Syria’s own diversity.

We have already started paying rent on the space in order to ensure it’s not taken by someone else. As such, we’re in need to find funding as quickly as possible. Through your generous donations via PayPal and at our fundraising events, we have managed to raise a small amount of money, but we are still far away from the initial amount that would permit us to pay the first year’s rent (as required by the landlord) and carry out the basic—yet costly and extensive— renovations.

Please consider supporting us by making a donation, spreading the word, or reaching out to us to offer ways in which you might be able to help. Al-Manhal is by the community and for the community. It’s a dream that is close to becoming reality, and you can help bring that about today.

Asser and Brant