Humans of Kurdistan
The "Humans Of Kurdistan" project aims to present the cultural diversity of the country. A look at the faces but also the stories that lie behind each of them.

January 13, 2021

“I was six years old, my father sent me to a private school for a better education. Most of the kids we Christian, Arabs, and children of rich people. However, since we were Kurds, the school didn't treat us like the others, they were racists and were ignoring us. I stayed there until the sixth grade. I didn't continue there, I went to a public school and made friends, I was much happier comparing to my elementary years. I wanted to get good grades to get into pharmacy, but back then pharmacy college was in Damascus and there was war there. I didn't want to go there, so I chose one of the universities in Hasakah, and I was accepted in economics because I believed that it'd have a good future. When I started in University, it was not what I was expecting. The teachers were corrupt and didn't treat students properly. After two years I quit college”. “Then Rojava University was announced in Rmilan, which is the first Kurdish university in Syria. I decided to study petroleum engineering there, it was a bit difficult because the university was in its early years, and many people said that it won't have a good future and their degree is not recognized locally and internationally. However, we kept going and didn't stop. I saw big differences between the public universities and Rojava University, the students loved each other and were helping each other, and the teachers were like our friends, they taught us very well. This helped us reach our goals. I graduated and had many job opportunities. I'm very happy that I can work in gas and oil fields because there used to be only male employees here. This is truly positive for equality between men and women”. ...

January 12, 2021

“In 1358 of Solar Hijri year, I got my diploma with good grades. I had planned to go to college and study agricultural engineering, but due to several issues I had I couldn't go to college. Back then, my father used to sell groceries, and I started working with him. After several years, my father was very ill and couldn't continue working, so I took over. I figured after a while that the business wasn't making enough money, and so I opened a small factory, I bought milk and yogurt from villages and turn them to cheese, dogh, and oil and then sell them in this shop. Even though I didn't really like the job from the beginning, but when God provides you'll have to accept it. God gave me the responsibility to carry my parents through their last years and take care of them. So far, I have worked well and God has always been on my side”. ...

January 11, 2021

“I have been working in this shop for 60 years. I first started in 1960, and spent most of my days here. I raised three children doing this job. We used to work a lot in the past, we used to work day and night and still couldn't meet people's demands, but no one uses hats nowadays. There used to be many people who made hats in Diyar Bakr, but now it's just me, and I can't continue and will stop after a short while. Then, there will be no one else that makes hats. These hats used to be a part of our culture, nowadays only senior people wear them, young people don't really know much about it. There are many things that are fading away same as this, and I'm afraid that this will, too. I would've loved my kids to learn this job, but they are busy with their lives now. A big part of our culture is vanishing and will be erased from our memories”. ...

January 10, 2021

“We were in love for five years, and we couldn't get married because back then people were often just getting married under the condition of giving back a wife to the opposite family. After this tradition had vanished, we were married. After living several years with our families, we moved to here. We have been through a lot of ups and downs. The best day of my life was my wedding day as well as the day my first child was born. I have had many difficult times as well, we were going through a rough time for a while and that lead to my sickness, and now I have physical problems. My advice for people is to try and be with your loved ones. The worst things I have seen have been genital mutilation in females, unfortunately it is tragic to experience and was the scariest thing any girl would face back then. It's so traumatic that it affects our lives forever”. ...

January 9, 2021

“I have a shop and I sell walking sticks, and I'm the only one who works here. Even though I'm getting very old, I have never used a walking stick and I don't own one. I see many old people come and buy walking sticks for themselves, I sympathize with them and I can feel how unpleasant it must be. I have used it several times just to see how it feels, it feels truly unpleasant. It doesn't feel particularly good to have a lifeless stick as a friend forever. I constantly thank God that I have good health and I have never needed a walking stick. Even though it's my job to sell these sticks and that's how I make a living, but I always pray that no one ever needs them. I also want to advise people to use their legs and try to walk as much as possible, and avoid using walking sticks if possible”. ...

January 8, 2021

“The most important thing that I have lost in life was my husband. We weren't in a relationship before getting married, I was just fifteen when I got married, and I had never seen him before then. That's The way it was back then, girls didn't get to know who they were marrying. It's true that there are many men that are not good with their wives because of patriarchy and toxic masculinity, but I'll always say that the best time of my life was when I was with my husband. My husband passed away 17 years ago, and I wanted to take care of my children so I didn't get married again. There nights that I cry for my loneliness. Thankfully, my children love me, they call me regularly and ask how I'm doing, but there are times when you face a problem, and you don't want to involve your children, that's when life is hard. My advice for people is that when they get married, they should decide to do it once, and not get married too soon and then get bored of life. Men get exhausted outside of the house, and many girls don't acknowledge that they have to patient with their husbands”. ...

January 7, 2021

“I have loved music and singing ever since I was a kid, and my dream was to become a musician when I grow up. My sister supported me and pushed me because she was a violin player, and my family didn't mind. I had a good voice so I started singing, I sang a lot and my father supported me, and decided to help me develop my talent. People suggested that I learn how to play Saz, and I started learning while I was 13 years old, I also tried to do well at school. I kept playing and my skills were getting better and better. I am now preparing for the 12th grade final exams, which determines my future. I have to try hard and study well, so I'm currently focusing on education and a bit distant from music. However, I will never quit music, or school. I want to get high marks so I make my family proud, I also want to become a musician so I can make myself proud”. ...

January 7, 2021

“I was employed at the Forest Police Department in Qaradagh in 2003. I loved my job because I love the nature. Our area was populated with Chukar and Francolins, I was arresting anyone who hunted them so I wouldn't allow that beautiful nature to be ruined. Unfortunately, I have gotten into a lot of trouble with people in power because the hunters were usually their relatives. So, I had to quit my job and I now just keep animals. I still love the nature, and anyone who tries to ruin it I will do what's in my power to stop them, and if I can't do anything, I will call the police. I have never let any relative of mine to hunt around here. Too bad everyone now lives in the city and the villages have become empty, people think that you can only make a living in the city. If you can keep 10 animals, it will be enough to live your life. Despite of that, keeping animals and farming will help the economic infrastructure of our country”. ...

January 6, 2021

“Along with three friends of mine, we survived the Roboski Massacre in 2011. That night, it was about 3 or 4 in the morning, we rode our horses and went to the border, and when we arrived the roads were open without the existence of any soldiers. We crossed the border, loaded gasoline and went back to Turkey. While we were going back, we heard a loud bang, and on the border, we reached a village, and no one said whether we should go or not. The villagers there did not warn us about the number of soldiers that were planted there and that the place was surrounded. We waited for a while, and then I rode my horse and went ahead a bit, and at that moment there was a bright flash and the airstrikes began. I fell off, and so I hid myself beneath the snow, when I was conscious again, I saw my friends teared apart. I called to the people of the village and they came to my rescue. I will never forget the moment where the flashes of the airstrike hit my eyes. Where do you reckon they will strike this time? Everytime I pass that cemetery, I feel like we had just buried those 34 bodies”. ...

January 5, 2021

“I was in sixth grade when I first started doing sports professionally, and I have been doing it for six years now. The best things in life to me is when my family are safe and healthy, and I can see a smile on my mother's face. I want to participate in the 2020 Olympics, on an international platform and become the pride of Kurdistan. I have been away from sports for a year now due to injury, and except for Mariwan's physical center, no other institution has protected me. I hope I can get well soon and get a sponsor because doing sports in this city is really difficult. I am one of the few people in the city that lifts people's hopes, it's a shame that I can't do sports, I really want to get back to it soon”. ...

January 5, 2021

“I joined the army force that protects Rojava while I was still studying in institution, I then insisted to go to Afrin, back then Afrin was surrounded by the Turkish army forces and was about to be invaded. I was very happy to go there because I really like the people there. It was a bit difficult from the beginning because we have different dialects, but once I learned their dialect it became much easier. In the beginnings of 2018 Turkey started a military operation on Afrin, we faced their airstrikes with our basic weapons for 58 days. Many of my friends were killed right beside me, and many civilians as well due to Turkey's random airstrikes. I was injured and I went back home, and I restarted my education because I had stopped when I went to fight in the war. I am now a student in Rojava university in Qamishli, and after graduation I would like to become an elementary school teacher because I want to teach children”. ...

January 4, 2020

“My father had a big shop in Mahabad's Bazar, he was sewing blankets, and I really liked the colors and shapes on the blanket. Those shapes and designs all have names, but I didn't know that as a kid. My older brother and I used to go to my father's shop, and my brother really liked doing sports, so he used to go to training. One day we woke up and found out that my father has had a stroke, and can no longer work. We went to the shop for ten days so it wouldn't close down, and because my brother was always working out, he used to say that he can't be at the shop and it was too much work for him. So, I took over regardless of how young I was. My father passed away after 10 years, so it was just me and the shop. I still have my shop, by I can't work as I used to because of my age, so often times when someone wants something done I just send them to people that I have taught and have a shop now”. ...