Redwan Adalat - Humans of Kurdistan

in Humans of South

“I'm 11. Since my father is ill and cannot get out of his bed, my brother and I have to take the responsibility to feed our family. It's not easy to be a shepherd, but when you must find a way to make a living, you'll have to do anything. I do get tired everyday out there, but I'm still happy that we can take care of ourselves and we don't need anyone. Every day when I go home and see my mother and father in good health, I forget all of my pain and tiredness. The most important thing is that my siblings and I are all still in school, and I have hope that we can secure a good future for ourselves and finally get out of village life”. ...

Jan 03 2021

January 3, 2021

“When I was in elementary school, I really liked arts class. It was precious class for me, and my teacher was always encouraging me to draw. I kept drawing until 2015, and then discovered a new way of drawing through watching TV, and that was 3D drawing. I started watching teaching videos of 3D drawing because I wanted to learn something that was rare in our area. I was the first person to draw 3D paintings in our area, and that made me to try even more. I wasn't successful in the beginning, but I kept trying. I participated in a gallery, but my drawings were not good enough to attract people's attention because my paintings have to be on a table, not on a wall, and if they are hanged on a wall, they'll lose their specialty. I was really upset about it, but my family helped me to get through it, and to succeed. I now study to be an architect in Qortoba university, and knowing how to draw 3D paintings have helped me a lot because architecture and 3D painting are related”. ...

Jan 02 2021

January 2, 2021

in Humans of East

“After serving in the army, I knew that I was a grown up and know more about life now, so I got married. I think after getting married I became more aware, and now I can say that I'm fully aware of my surroundings. Marriage does limit things in your life, but it's very important for the future and the way you think. I chose my wife, we were in a relationship for two years before I tell my family about her. I was young back then, and we didn't have no mobile phones or anything of that sort to communicate with others, I couldn't show her affection. It was very difficult, but it was different from now. Day and night, we were outside writing letter and crying for our lovers, hoping that they pick up the letter we planted somewhere on the street. I am now more conservative than I used to be. There has been a lot of things that I had wished to happen and never happened, or even when they had happened they weren't the way I had imagined them”. ...

Jan 01 2021

January 1, 2021

“When I was a kid, we had no school in our village. Once I was 16 I went to (Hujra) Islamic teaching to study the holy Quran, and I learned how to read and write, but I couldn't do well because I was slightly older. One day, there was a storm in our village (Haram Shekho), the storm had driven all the rocks and debris into the valley. I took out the rocks out of the valley and started building a house. After several years I got married and had a couple of kids, and when my children grew up we went to live in the city so my kids go to school and not end up like I did. I was traveling by a bike while I was building the house, it has been 60 years since then and I'm now 84. I still ride my bike and it's very important to me. I have good health, and I go to see my friends every day at the park and spend time with them”. ...

Jan 01 2021

January 1, 2021

in Humans of South

“I am baffled by how some people wish Saddam Hussein was back on TV. People who have not lived in the Baath regime era doesn't know how savage they were. In 41 years of my life living in that era, I did not spend one day being happy. Killings, beatings, and Anfal were all I saw. Even the end of the regime was bad for me. When we ran away my leg broke, and my sons transported me using a trolley from Chamchamal to Byara. I still suffer from my leg being broke and I can't walk. Thankfully, we passed that era and now we live freely in our land with our own government and we can speak our language, that's the most important thing for me. Even though all of my life is waisted and I'm old now, but my life now is much better than it used to be. The only thing that makes me sad is seeing all those women being killed daily. I don't understand what women could do to deserve that”. ...

Dec 31 2020

December 31, 2020

in Humans of East

“Girls in earlier days were innocent, they never put makeup on, and all they did was putting on this hat and this type of clothing. Life was difficult back then, we weren't as brave as they are now that they fight to be equal with men. We used to even act shy around our husbands, as well as any other men that lived with us in the house. I always wear this hat, whether it's cold or warm, night or day. I even wear it while sleeping, I tightly put my headscarf on. I wear ever since I was a kid, it has been about 70 or 80 years. I am used to it now. This type of hat was common in this area, but not many people who still wear this in our village, just some older people in my village and some in Mahabad and Bokan. I can't buy gold, so I just wear this blue necklace so people don't jinx me. I put basil and herbs that have aroma on my necklace so I smell good, so people don't say she is an old lady that doesn't smell good”. ...

Dec 30 2020

December 30, 2020

“Everyone has their own desires and passions, my passion is carpeting and creating decors with wood. I started making Violins, Oud, and Saz as well as cars and other toys on small scales from wood 22 years ago, using simple tools. I used to buy broomsticks, carve them and make shapes with them and then work out the details. I was making 13 Ouds with each broomstick, sometimes I was even making a human figure that could move. After a while I joined the army, and after two years of service I came back to my shop and continued working to further develop my skills and make a living for myself. I learned a lot and gained a lot of experience, but due to our bad financial situation I had to move to Lebanon and work there. I stayed in Lebanon for seven years and then moved to Turkey for work. However, I couldn't succeed there so I moved to Iraq to work as a carpenter for a year, I then soon decided to go back home”. “I bought several tools and started my work, but couldn't continue due to the war and had to sell my tools to cover daily expenses. I now work for a friend of mine, he gave me a job as a payback for a favor because I taught him this job. I once visited a village and saw a tractor, I decided to make a wood model of it, it was difficult at first, but when I finished it I loved how it looked. Another time my kid asked me to make him a toy. I spent an entire day making it, and the finished product was amazing. When my son saw it, he decided that he won't play with it, he will put it somewhere safe until he's grown and he'll showcase it in his house when he's a grown up”. ...

Dec 29 2020

December 29, 2020

in Humans of East

“While I was in my mother's womb and my entire family was gathering in my grandfather's garden during the summer, due to his love for our village's snowy mountains, my uncle named me Kwestan (Kwestan translates to snowy mountains). However, after a while when Ismail Sardashty released his song (Kochar), people called me Kochar. I sometimes get confused between the two names myself. I'm 20 years old now and have studied until the fifth grade, I was a very hard-working student. I would've loved to continue studying and I still feel sad about it, but I couldn't because my father was a soldier and it was very hard to continue. In recent years, people of my village have started giving more freedom to girls and value them to a point that males and females are close to being equal in all aspects. This can be especially noticed during Newroz celebrations. I hope all Kurds see all humans equally". ...

Dec 29 2020

December 29, 2020

“I'm twelve years old, my father had studied economics and was a very good accountant. I had spent most of my childhood with him and watched him what he did. My father knew that I liked math, so he registered me into IELTS, which is an institution for learning English and mental math. My father and I were racing to solve equations, and he was faster at first, but I beat him after a while. After two years of training and studying, I participated in a mental math contest for Arabic countries that was organized in Egypt, I was supposed to go there, but couldn't due to COVID19, and participated through the Internet. There were 46 groups in the contest from all the Arabic countries and Japan and Germany. I won the contest and was able to solve 100 equations on an abacus in less than 5 minutes. My life has changed after that contest, and now I want to participate in more international contests. Certainly, this is thanks to my father for his support for me, and my teacher (Rawdhah), as well as the institution". ...

Dec 28 2020

December 28, 2020

in Humans of South

“Being and ambulance was a childhood dream for me. I think it's a blessing to be able to save someone's life. Thankfully, I have been doing this job for six years, I now work at the health center of Warte town. I have thanked the people of Balakayati many times, they have helped me by clearing the way while transporting a patient, even though there are some drivers who panic when they hear the sirens and clear the way slowly, but what pains me is that there are some unaware people who don't feel responsible, they won't clear the way and they even race with me at times. Imagine the car behind you driving fast to save somebody's life. I really hope people stop doing that, so that ambulance drivers can drive the patients to the hospital even if it's minutes faster. Believe me when I say that not minutes, but seconds are important to me as an ambulance driver, at times seconds are not a short time to save someone's life”. ...

Dec 28 2020

December 28, 2020