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.

October 18, 2020

“I consider myself a writer, journalist, and human rights activists and I live in Amed. In the years between 1997 to 2007 I was a participant in a UN program specialized for less fortunate families, I worked with them for a long duration of time. I have been sued many times because of my writings, being a Kurdish female journalist in Turkey is extremely difficult. I have participated in many women's movement, in 2014 I was working for the Yezidis that were displaced to Turkey during the war against ISIS. I was able to take part in building their camps. I have received many international awards, one of them being dedicated to female journalists and was awarded in Italy. I also received an international award for protecting the people who are in danger. Women fighting is similar to a vast ocean, they have been fighting for centuries and are still fighting. Even if the conditions are terrible, there is still hope when I see brave female activists. Kurdish women in general have are very brave fighting for their rights.” ...

October 18, 2020

“I was working in a beauty salon with a very close friend of mine, she was like a sister to me, and we never left each other. Two and a half years ago, they were attacked by a group in their own house. Their father was the target because he was a politician, but since he wasn't there at the time, his daughters became the victims.The very day after, I received news that she was dead, I couldn't believe it. I quickly went to their house to be sure of the news, and I was shocked when I saw a tent and two pictures of her and her sister right in front of their house. I asked to see her before she was buried, and when I saw her she was pale as a bright light. I was heartbroken, I cried a lot, and my life changed forever. I was depressed after what happened, I never got out of my room, stayed in the dark and didn't speak to anyone. I stayed that way for two and a half years until one day I met some new friends; they helped me a lot to overcome the shock and convinced me that I had to keep going in my life." ...

October 17, 2020

“My dream to become the president started when I saw Iraq's map for the first time, I saw it in one of my books and said that I wanted to be the president of this place. When I was in primary school, I always told my friends and teachers that I wanted to be the president, and they always called me so. As a result, my nickname became Sarok (Kurdish word for president). I am now the head of an organization called Rawti Kurdi (Kurdish Path). We used to hear how people made fun of how an African-American wanted to become the president of the United States, and the same goes for a girl in the Middle East and in Iraq to say I want to be the president. Nevertheless, I know well that nothing is impossible. Life is constantly changing, and everyone is waiting for someone to change things. I will be that change, and I will become the president.” ...

October 17, 2020

“I'm in ninth grade, but I haven't gone back to school in seven months because of COVID19. After schools were shutdown, online learning started, and our village doesn't have any Internet signal. We only have one TV and four of us are students at home. Most of the time we can't even watch educational channels on the TV due to electricity outage, so I spend most of my time reading books because I really want to be a lawyer.” ...

October 16, 2020

“I have been selling Tasbih ever sense I was a child. I used to go to the bazaar and sell cigarettes from street to street and I used to see many children selling Tasbih so I wanted to do the same. I used to listen to what they were saying and started learning how to make Tasbih. At the beginning, I was making them from olive and date seeds and selling them as my crafts, it was only a hobby for me. However, little by little I started experimenting while making them, until I became so familiar with it that I opened my own shop. My hobby turned into a way of making a living and I will leave that legacy to my kids.” ...

October 16, 2020

“Organizing a fun day for children with special needs is one of my best memories. When I used to work as a volunteer photographer for the Red Cross, I suggested to plan a fun day. We took the list of the children's names from the hospital and consulted with their parents, and then organized the day for them, we also bought some gifts for them with the money we had collected. Both the children and their families were very happy and they were praying for our well being. Organizing these kinds of events through the communications department in the Red Cross inspired a philanthropist from Tehran to provide help for building a school in a village.” ...

October 15, 2020

“I was born in one of the villages near Amuda city called Ali Goran village. The name has come from an incident in the old days. When I was young, one day I was sitting down with my grandfather and a group of elderly of the village when I was thirteen years old. Someone in the group had asked about the name of the village and that's how I knew what the story was.They say that a woman had been in labor and about to give birth to a child, but before the child had been born the mother had died. So they'd buried both of them in one of the cemeteries in the village. That same night the people of the village noticed something coming out of that exact grave. They'd no idea what it had been, a ghost? a human being? They became very scared and had left it like that until the next morning.” “The very next day they had found out that the child was born in the grave, and moved and had come out of the grave. Back then, they didn't have the awareness or knowledge to see whether the child was alive in the mother's womb or not, so they had buried them both together. The child had lived and was named Ali, and Goran comes from the Kurdish word for grave (Gor), I still remember this story word for word, but have no idea whether it's factual or fiction. Nevertheless, this is how it has been told for many years.” ...

October 14, 2020

“We used to live in Damascus, the capital of Syria. When the revolution began, we returned to our city, Derk. A month after my return, I was inspired by what the women in YPJ were doing, they were just starting. I decided to contact a cousin of mine who was a part of YPG so that I can defend our territories against the Jabhat al-Nusra militia. In the last months of 2013, during a bloody fight against Nusra militia I was badly wounded, and lost one of my legs as a result.” “I had to use an artificial leg afterwards, and after some time of using it, I decided to start this job. Through the Kurdish red cross's center for artificial limbs, I have been able to do this job for four and a half years. Now I have become a trainer, too. It is a really good feeling when I make an artificial limb for someone and teach them how to use it. I see hope and delight in each and everyone's eyes at that moment.I was getting a lot of abuse while using my artificial leg, but I didn't care and wanted to prove myself so I can become a model to bring back hope to all women and the female fighters.” ...

October 13, 2020

“I love Hawler, but I don't like all the concrete buildings, concrete houses, and heavy metal. Being annoyed by all of this, made me come up with an idea to build a place with only wood, we have been collecting wood for about two months. Come see for yourself and you'll know how difficult it's been for me to build a place like this. However, when people come see the place and have a good time, I feel delighted. I have 22 employees here.Our cafeteria gets customers of all kinds, people from the city, travelers, even people who work at the consulates. Additionally, I go to the bazaar every day to see if I can get my hands on old decorative items and bring them to the cafeteria. The place has almost turned into an antique store.” ...

October 12, 2020

“Mamle used to live with everyone, night and day, in the gardens or on the mountains, in gatherings. He was very down to earth, and used to talk to adults and children the same way, he was always smiling and had a great character. Even if a child had asked him for a song, he wouldn't have refused the request, he was a very simple man. He was young when he was surrounded by young people, and old when surrounded by old people.Mamle's family all have amazing singing voices, and this is why Mamle is had taken singing as his path to become one of the most well known artists in Kurdistan's history.His father used to gather his children and teach them singing all at once, and they had all learned singing. He used to correct their mistakes and give them valuable tips. Mamle even has many recorded songs with my son Chalak, and we still have them.Mamle had officially recorded his first song in 1938 and it is called (She left me).” “We were together for more than forty years, we have many memories together, and I always say it with pride that I was Mamle's wife.I spent forty years in sickness and health with the amazing artist he was. I am proud of each and every day I had spent with him, I was living my best life with him.People always show a lot of respect to me, but It will never be the same as when he was alive. We always had many guests in our house, but now the house is just empty. My life will never be the way it was with him.” ...

October 11, 2020

"I had taken my sewing machine with me to the dorms during my college years. The university tried really hard to convince me to not take the machine, but I was adamant on my decision. I was sewing clothes for the girls in the dorms for a very small fee, and did it free of charge for the ones who didn't have the money because I knew that the students in the dorms knew no one in the city and had a lot of expenses.Sewing has become a big part of my life, I am never away from my sewing machine. After I graduated from college, I started teaching a friend of mine so she starts working after me. I have created a culture in the girls dorms; the girl that I have taught must teach someone else so the momentum is kept because I know that the girls really need it.Now that I have graduated, I still do sewing and I have my own shop. Furthermore, I have several students that I teach sewing to, and I have a book written that is in its last stages." ...

October 11, 2020

“I have been doing the same work for about seventy two years now. I started working for an Armenian man when I was eight years old, and I learned all about the work from him. My boss left Mardin, but I already had learned everything so the business stayed with me. He was a very good man, we had different ideas on things but we are still all humans and live on this planet together. He really loved me, and when he left all I had was a couple of pots and a Tandoor. I was constantly making things and sold them for profit. I had a lot of assistants who left me one by one, some of them left to the Eastern cities, some left their jobs, and some of them started new jobs and got rich. I still meet a couple of them and they always ask, "Are you still doing pottery?" I love my work, and I really don't care about getting rich, I stay thankful in which ever the days take me. Not many people do this job anymore, so no one wants to learn it, and that makes me really sad." ...