Redwan Adalat - Humans of Kurdistan

"I am thankful for the people of Penjwen. When we arrived at Kurdistan’s border, they came to our rescue, brought us water and transported those who were tired. We were shot at the border, but that did not stop us from attending our great Sheikh’s funeral and praising our Sheikh’s resort.I am 31 years old, I have been praising our great Sheikh for 20 years. Other than the cities and towns of the East, we have 14 takiyyas just in the city of Sna, where we gather every Tuesdays and Fridays." ...

Jul 21 2020

July 21, 2020

in Humans of North

“We have a tradition, our mothers prepare everything for us in a bag when we are children as a kind of preparation, so that when we marry, we won’t depend on anyone. This tradition has faded due to migration and mixing of cultures and traditions.Me and my friends have been busy sowing wheat here for 5 years. Wheat is grown with chemicals all over the world now. It is constantly fed chemicals until it is completely grown. Those chemicals are very harmful and are really damaging to humans’ health. So we do everything naturally and don’t use those chemicals. We want all farmers not just to work in farms, but to also do agricultural work for themselves as well.” ...

Jul 20 2020

July 20, 2020

“When I was a child, whenever Sirwan Cinema and Rashid Cinema would play a movie, they would show the advertisement for it on horses and carriages around the neighborhoods before playing the movie. I remember when they were planning to play Hercules, the horse and carriage would come around early in the morning to show the movie poster, which had a picture of Hercules along with the viewing times and cinema location. There were some really good movies then like Tarzan, Django, Sangam, and the 7 heroes that had a huge audience. I enjoyed the cinema so much that whenever my father would give me money, I would collect it and would go to the movies with it. Some days I would go twice. So since then, I collected the movie posters and the characters’ photos until I started selling posters myself. It makes me happy even now when I come here and see the posters.” ...

Jul 19 2020

July 19, 2020

My wife is my heart's strength. We have been together for many years now. You cannot imagine what this is and what she has been through with me. She was only 13 when we got married. I was the only child and my father was sick and was living with me. Ismat served him very well, she would even shave his beard for him. Now the children have all grown up, all went their own way and we are alone again, busy gardening. We faced many Baath challenges. I was a soldier for several years. Afterwards, the Iran- Iraq war started and I was in Kirkuk. They told us to escape and become fugitives because the situation was really bad and anyone who returned who not make it out alive. So, I escaped and I can say that I am still a fugitive. ...

Jul 18 2020

July 18, 2020

in Humans of East

"One of the challenges in my life has been fear!, Fear of the time I have lost and all the things I should have done. When I look back on my life, I realize that most of what I worried about did not happen and that fear just took up my time and did not give me a chance to live a more peaceful life. I think most of our worries do not happen, some things are not in our hands. You have to do your own work and do the best you can, and leave the rest to fate and see what will happen.I am now in my own future and my worries gave me nothing useful, they only made me not reach certain goals. And that is the reality, certain things are easy for you and difficult for others, while some others are difficult for you and easy for others. This is how life is, it is better not to fear your thoughts." ...

Jul 17 2020

July 17, 2020

“I have many goals, but many of them require me to be in a specific position so that I can help others and create a change in the context of the role of women in Kurdistan. But life in Duhok restricts me in many ways. Among those are culture and the closed environment of the city. Other cities like Sulaimani and Erbil are more open to these matters and women are more free to choose the things they want to do. Like any other girl, I had a lot of family pressure on me and was restricted a lot when I was a child. To support the solution of this issue, we need to work on extending education and showing the importance of making the next generations’ dreams come true for our community and specifically for parents. And especially in matters that relate to women’s cause.” "I was just 20 when I started working with the Yezidi girls who fled from ISIS. In the beginning, it was very difficult for me to hear their stories. I could not believe that there are people who can hurt others that much. I was a witness to the cases where I saw with my own eyes a child being separated from his mother because he was born as a result of a sexual assault. It is a very difficult job to try and convince someone who has been through all that tragedy that things will be alright and will go back to normal.After my own experience, my aim is to bring as many women as possible into the project that I am running, to help them gain confidence and show them how strong they are." ...

Jul 16 2020

July 16, 2020

in Humans of West

"Parkour is not very popular in Rojava, that is why I am constantly faced with questions and surprise when I carry it out in public places.I became familiar with this sport through the French movie (District 13) when I was 8. My love for the protagonist and that sport stayed in me, but I couldn’t do those moves. When I turned 16, I wanted to reach my goal and started watching Youtube videos, repeating all the movies immediately. I uploaded the first video on my Youtube channel in 2015. My family and friends really liked it, to the point where my friends were pressuring me to teach them, but due to the risk involved with the moves, they didn’t continue.I have been injured many times when I play, that is why my family decided to prohibit me from playing. So for a while, I practiced secretly. I had plans to open a club specifically for that sport, but war prevented that." ...

Jul 15 2020

July 15, 2020

in Humans of East

“Getting into college is a difficult path that requires a lot of effort. Girls and boys my age must study constantly and deprive themselves of most visits and going out.This year’s examinations are very crucial for me as a student. Getting into college has certain specifications here, so other than working hard and preparing more, I see no other way out. Determining a clear objective has helped me work harder. No matter what obstacles I face, I will still try to get further ahead in my studies.” ...

Jul 14 2020

July 14, 2020

“There used to be recorders and radios, a lot of people used them. I really enjoyed repairing the pieces when I was young. But as I grew up, I gradually lost interest in that job because it was a very detailed work. I then started repairing easier things, but I still have that interest. It was in the 70s, I had a radio I was really happy about. It had an issue and I took it to an Arab radio mechanic. He said he would fix it for one and a half dinars. As soon as I got home, the problem started again. I quickly went back to the bazar to another mechanic who said he would fix it for one dinar, but I didn’t have enough to fix it. So I decided to learn that job and fix the radio myself. I started to learn the job really well and people in the neighborhood would bring me things at home so I would fix it for them.” ...

Jul 13 2020

July 13, 2020

“Anyone who sees me is instantly drawn to my eyes. That is mostly because I am dark-complexioned. I am from Khanaqin, but it has been many years since I came here and I work with my partner in this tea shop. Tourists visit the tea shop every day, always asking if I'm wearing contact lenses or not. One time a woman came and asked me the same question, she returned soon after and said I have looked around Sulaimani a lot to find contact lenses of that color but I have not found it.” ...

Jul 12 2020

July 12, 2020