Majida has been working from a central Damascus cafe almost every day for a year, depending on it for reliable electricity and wifi in a country plagued by debilitating power cuts. "Without cafes, I would have been unable to work because of the long blackouts at home," said the graphic designer, 42, declining to provide her surname. Enterprising owners have upgraded their businesses with generators and batteries to guarantee power and draw in Damascenes plagued by Syria's war-battered and crumbling infrastructure.