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.

November 12, 2020

“In 2015, there was an explosion in a Newroz celebration event, I was there at the time. My friends and I got injured, my body had 43 wounds. The event was in the middle of the city, along with three of my friends we decided to attend. The explosion seemed like it happened in a few seconds, all I remember was I was laying on the floor, and there was a noise in my ears. I didn't feel the wounds in my body, I saw everyone laying on the ground covered in blood. I wanted to get up and help people, I could barely recognize my friends because of all the blood, and I was unconscious after a while. Once I regained consciousness, I was in the hospital and I was informed that my friends were missing, I found out later on that they were in another hospital. It was a terrible night for all the people there. I was on a bed for several months until I was well again, we stayed in contact with my friends through the internet, and that helped me survive and keep going in life.” “After two years, in 2017 I was in a shock when I was diagnosed with cancer, I was truly upset asking why me? Why is does my destiny hold so much unfortune. I survived an explosion, but now I'm diagnosed with cancer. I went to Damascus for treatment, and chemotherapy was truly difficult. All that fear and uncertainty was like dying to me. My life stood still, and I was going through a rough time. I got treatment for a year and survived cancer. I have been well known for eating a lot of lemon, I either drink its juice, or have it with other food, I eat about half a kilo every day. Maybe that's what helped me survive cancer.” ...

November 11, 2020

“My life is all about sports. I first started at high school, playing football and running, and I was very good at it. Then, I stared playing for Soran's youth center, and that was a good start for my football career. I played for the young teams of Soran and Halo, and also participated in tournaments for Choman and Halo as a runner and got good results. I didn't stop there, I played in Italy and Greece with good results. I had more potential than just playing one or two sports, so I was able to get a teaching certificate for Chess and football, and badminton as well. I also have an international certificate in hiking. My biggest dream is to participate in international tournaments and show Kurdistan's flag to the world.” ...

November 11, 2020

“My hand was injured a couple of years ago, at first, I thought my sawing machine was malfunctioning, and then I saw that blood was covering the walls. At that moment, I realized that I had lost my fingers. The worst thing that has ever happened to me was losing my fingers because now I cannot do half of my work, it's really hard working without fingers. Nevertheless, life continues and I still believe in the future. I was the principal of Mariwan's industrial school and I had taught looming to a lot of people. I have a lot of customers, but no one helps me. I bought many machines for my work after I was retired and I went back to Nowdeshah. I make everything I need by myself.” ...

November 10, 2020

“I am originally from Armenia, during the Armenian genocide my father had left to Qmaishli. When I served in the Syrian army, they sent me to the mechanics department, even though I had told them that I was just a shop owner and had no idea about mechanics. They told me that it's not possible to be Armenian and not know about mechanics. In 1960, my father had opened a shop selling consumer goods, I was just 16 then, and I have been working there since. I was so attached to the shop, I couldn't stay away even for a day. Even during the curfew because of COVID-19, I was coming to the shop and was sitting right in front of it.” ...

November 10, 2020

“I have nine kids and they all live in Istanbul. My husband and I live in a village alone. My husband has cancer and is getting treatment, he has to go to the hospital every month. All of the responsibilities fall on my shoulders, I have been working since I was a kid and I have never felt tired. My kids have left one by one to Istanbul to work because there aren't a lot of work in the village, there is only farming. They are all far away and we talk by phone, they come back from time to time and then leave again. I would have preferred that all of my kids were living with me, but there is no chance. Life for an old woman can be very hard.” ...

November 9, 2020

“I have been fixing heaters for 40 years that work with some kind of flammable. I learned this job from a professional from my city. Most of my work is in the winter so I wait all year until it comes around. I have never faced any difficulties in my job except for some unpleasant experience with customers. Something that's difficult and is funny at the same time is when I go home from work, my clothes and hands are very dirty, and my wife always says take off your clothes outside and wash your hands.” ...

November 9, 2020

“I have tried many jobs and am still trying. I laugh a lot and get angry very few, life is really difficult here, I have gone through a lot. There might have been times when I could just leave, but why leave? I believe that wherever you live, you'll still have problems in life. The best kind of living is to laugh a lot, if you don't laugh enough and don't try to go through your pain, being sad will not solve your problems. I think a lot before sleeping at night, sometimes my thoughts make me smile, sometimes they make me cry. Less fortunate people know that life is not infinite, so I will laugh as much as I can.” ...

November 8, 2020

“I was a lecturer for 23 years, but I was expelled because of a political decision. I used to work on animals and the nature, so when I was expelled, I went back to that. Five years ago, a woman brought me wheat seeds, I have been planting wheat for four years and I have five different variations now. My aim is to increase variation from natural seeds. Many farmers use artificial seeds now, even though you can harvest a lot more from it, but it can damage the land, it could even be bad for our health, and it doesn't taste very good. This is why we try to increase production and use of locally produced goods, and later to distribute them among local farmers. We want every farmer to use local products so the land is not damaged.” ...

November 8, 2020

“My sister wanted to join the YPJ, but she was very young back then. I promised myself if she became eighteen and she still wanted to join them, I would organize a great party before she leaves. When she turned eighteen, she still wanted to go and I organized the party for her, we invited her close friends and my mother gave her a weapon to defend her land. I was truly proud of her, and in the same time it was very difficult to let her go. I visit here now and then and I'm really proud to see her becoming a great fighter that defends and protects Rojava and Kurdistan.” ...

November 7,2020

“I am always afraid of loneliness, it's very scary. Before I sleep every night, I put the blanket over my head and sleep quickly. For a while, I was so scared that I thought ghosts and monsters where coming for me. I bought a whistle and was whistling every time I was scared at 2 PM, that way all of the neighbors would run outside to see what's happened, and that would relief some of the stress I had. I am now going through the most difficult part of my life and loneliness is affecting me the hardest, no one wants me like before, I was truly happy at the beginning of my marriage. I used to do anything I wanted, but I can't do anything now. I need people around me more than ever, and COVID19 has made matters worse for me because we neither can visit anyone, nor can anyone visit us. My parents and my husband were very good to me, but they have all passed away now. My husband had bought me a lot of gold, even my fingers were covered with gold. I never loved anyone else after him, and I still pray for him and go to the cemetery to visit his grave.” ...

November 7, 2020

“I was twelve when I started Taekwondo being inspired by my cousins that used to wear their white clothes and belts and go to trainings. In the beginning, a lot of people were against my decision, they were saying that this sport was only for boys, and girls should stick to their education. However, all of my family supported me especially my uncle, on the condition that it wouldn't affect my education. I registered in one of the Taekwondo schools, I was taller than all the girls there, I was also strong and they used to call me the iron man. I started to learn the basics and continued until I reached an advanced level. I won a lot of trophies on international levels, but due to lockdowns this year I kept training at home. Having won all of those trophies is a great achievement for me and I'm sure that it'll encourage the girls in my city to play sports. I am now a law student and at the same time I am a coach and an international referee.” ...

November 6, 2020

“After the 1991 run away and the civil war, Kurds in general were living in bad conditions, especially the young people, where all of their dreams were crashed. At that time, I wrote some texts for (Rashwan Shekhani) the artist. His songs were like weed back then, it calmed people down. I am a descendant of (Shekh Jami), it was unprecedented for me to write a text for something like "there was no message, or a news from you, why did you do that?", I remember when I first played the songs to my father and told him the texts were mine, he slapped me and told me that I should be ashamed because I am a descendant of the Shekh. Art was so great to me that my even my father humiliating me couldn't stop me from getting deeper into art. A long time has passed now, but I'm still proud of those songs I wrote as a Shekh.” ...