April 24, 2021

“I didn’t finish my education and became a shepherd in a village in Bardarash. In the winter, I used to go to take care of the cows, there were 27 cows, and I used to get paid 15 dinars per cow. I used to take the cows to many places, I still don’t know why I was traveling so much. I was young, and I was alone, I didn’t have any other shepherd with me to spend time with. I still like the work and cannot stay at home. I have gained a lot weight now, I don’t walk to many places now, it has been 9 years since I have done so. From the beginning, I was using a motorcycle, then a horse, and now an old pickup. The worst time I spent shepherding was in 2003 because back then Baath regime’s check points used to randomly shoot at us. I remember one day I was shepherding along with some other shepherds, they shot at us and we hid under rocks until the situation was calm again. I have been doing this job for 20 years, and I make a good living out of it”.