Redwan Adalat - Humans of Kurdistan

"Our generation did not pass through the best times, constant running, hiding and fear. We were at risk of being captured and executed every day. We did organizational work in the city with a few friends, but most of them are not alive anymore and some were martyred. I was a supporter of the PASOK party back then, it didn’t matter which faction you belonged to, all that mattered was that you were active against the Bath regime for the Kurdish cause. After a long while, I gave up my political activities and focused on my personal life. Although there are so many things right now that are longer of any value to me, but the only thing that occupies my mind is for my children to finish their studies and seeing them have a bright future." ...

Jul 09 2020

July 9, 2020

in Humans of West

"It has been almost five years since I have been living here with my five children. My husband was a drug addict, he would beat me when he was out of drugs. One of my sons lost a finger while working in a public restaurant in Qamishlo.To support myself and my family, I am currently a supervisor at the Kurdish Red Crescent Society and sometimes I clean houses as well for a small amount of money. When the war in Syria started, my husband left me and the children. So I faced my family and decided to protect my children and continue in any way possible." ...

Jul 07 2020

July 7, 2020

"When we lived with my family in Northern Iran, the area under our loft was filled with my parents’ books. My father was eager about Kurdish literature and was actively trying to improve that language and my mother was also a good reader despite raising three children.When she was pregnant with me, she read the (Kelidar) novel by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi. So, under the influence of that book, she decides to name me (Maral) but my father suggests the name (Zhina), so they name me that.When we returned to Kurdistan with my family, I emerged as a civil activist and journalist and later I established the Zhira bookstore that I thought was suitable for me.If you think that you are living at the cruelest period in history, then by merely skimming through the lines of this book you will realize that many periods in history were far worse and harsher. Books will place you in reality and will create a certain balance in your thoughts, and selling books is a diverse and free work, with no regards to gender or nationalities, it gathers different ideas of which you are free to choose from." ...

Jun 30 2020

June 30, 2020

"After graduating from the college of Arts, I started my first job. I faced many challenges. Most of the people around me did not believe in my skills and thought I would give up, but I never gave up and continued because my goals were clear. I now own my own independent project called, ‘Mesopotamia Moving Images’, it is a long-term project and the first part will last two years, in which we will work on Kurdish culture, specifically architecture, clothing, jewelry, food, dance, music, and unrecorded stories. Our work will revolve around the geographical region of the greater Kurdistan, where people of different nationalities, religions, and languages have lived for many years. So it is important for us to have a cultural collection to prevent them from demolishing and so that information can be easily accessible for all the institutions and people who need them." ...

Jun 29 2020

June 29, 2020

"I started playing guitar two years ago. I initially played classical guitar. I don't know if I did well or not, but I shifted to electric guitar and chose 'metallic' genre. There is anger and doubt within me, and there is a certain tension in playing metallic music. I feel like some of my anger soothes and I calm down when I play this kind of guitar. My dream is to form a group with my friends in the future that is famous all around the world." ...

Jun 28 2020

June 28, 2020

"I am talking about 30 years ago. We had a camera in the studio, the 'Canon AV-1' that had only one shutter speed, which was 60. Along with that, even its light meter did not work. But I was so used to it that my photos would tun out well. In the beginning of my work, I photographed a couple's wedding, 20 years later, that couple's son got married and I photographed them as well. And when their child went to school, they brought him here and I photographed him. I have lost many great events as a photographer that I have not captured. The good events are like a beautiful girl, who you like but do not ask out. Soon she will be engaged to another and you cannot reach her. If you find a good topic, you cannot be indecisive and should capture it, even if you are not entirely successful, at least you gain experience." ...

Jun 27 2020

June 27, 2020

"I remember when I was young, people were beaten and humiliated in Kirkuk every day. Even though I haven't done any political work, but I didn't get away with not being beaten: Once during the Iran- Iraq war, we were practicing our driving with a friend. A very fast car passed by us and I made in indication with my hand, it came off as more of a curse sign. He returned and stopped in front of us, they got out and started beating and kicking us so hard. Then they took us to the 'Intelligence agency', there, we were just able to be quite convincing, I said: ‘we are going to give blood, this guy's brother is wounded in the frontlines’. So, we got off with that. When there were talks of a revolution in Kirkuk, they would not let anyone come out and would often take people in their own homes for no reason, especially the Kurds. In 1991, when the Kirkuk IDPs came to Penjwen, I was one of them and I stayed. It has been almost 30 years I have been in Penjwen and have spent a lifetime in this shop." ...

Jun 26 2020

June 26, 2020

"Only one word ignites my thoughts! Sometimes the saline smell of the water places me in a boat rocking under me. I am magically unrestrained in a deep end ocean, protected in a wooden box. My life started this way. A calm girl with a mind full of dreams. Big dreams. As a grew up, my passions faded. I was studying painting at the College of Fine Arts in the hope that my anxious mind would settle. I would paint, but life took that away from me and I drifted further away, further and further...

Jun 25 2020

June 25, 2020

"I was deprived from studying at an early age. I couldn’t continue because of the situation and time. When I pass by the school, I reminisce about my terrible childhood and feel like I have left something in it that I can never get back. Sometimes in life you face something that takes all the happiness out of your heart, even if you have a lot of possessions, they won’t make you happy. Sometimes I see myself as a very calm person inside, but I don’t appear that way. I look very angry...

Jun 24 2020

June 24, 2020

"In 1991, we returned to Penjwen with my family. Some people of southern Kurdistan in the 90s would move to Eastern Kurdistan and Iran for a living. Like those people, I started off to Iran as well, as a young kid. I have worked in brick manufacturing, carpet weaving, agriculture, and herding. One of the jobs I started to like was herding because you serve an animal that cannot speak and he serves you in return. I have always worked consistently, now I work as a bricklayer. Like all other workers and laborers, it will affect me significantly if I don't work for one day. Even if it is not for the money, working still makes me happy and I enjoy it." ...

Jun 23 2020

June 23, 2020