Redwan Adalat - Humans of Kurdistan

“During Ahmad Hasan Bakr's presidency, there was an opportunity for students to travel outside of the country for 3 months. I was able to get a travel passport, travel to Vienna/Austria and then stayed there illegally. I handed myself in and told the police that I don't want to go back to my country. I was put in a camp in 1979 and then had my residency card. I was working in an Austrian electric company for a year where we used to make light bulbs. I was doing well financially. I started learning German because German is the main language in Austria. I stayed there for 8 years and got my citizenship. In 1985, my father was arrested by the government and they used that as a pressure card for me to go back to Mousil. I went to the Iraqi consulate there and said that I will only go back if my father was released”. “I remember that they drugged me, and when I opened my eyes I was in Baghdad. I later realized that they treated me this way because I supported Kurds in protests and participated in rally against the Anfal. I had an Austrian citizenship and they saved me from being executed by the Baath regime. Being tortured has affected me psychologically, but I feel fortunate to be living in a peaceful Kurdistan now”. ...

Mar 29 2021

March 29, 2021

in Humans of East

“I have had a shop for many years, but due to how expensive shop rents are I have come to setup my business at my father's house. I have set my equipment next to theirs, and am slowly organizing myself. I work in Sanandaj, and my work is unique in all over Iran, but we are not supported at all. I am now thinking about attracting customers from outside of the country. What we do is very difficult, crafting is an art, and it's a shame if it's not developed well enough. During my work, I always make sure the people who work from me learn the work as well, and they make a living out of it”. ...

Mar 28 2021

March 28, 2021

in Humans of West

“I was just three months old when my father was martyred, and I have been raised without a father, but my mother acted like both parents. On March 12, 2004, there was a football game between Jihad and Fatwa football teams. During that game, Fatwa fans, attacked the Kurdish fans of Jihad team in Qamishli stadium. This led to a chaos and a protest by the Kurdish fans, but the Syrian police forces shot fires at the Kurdish crowd. Qamishli and the other Kurdish cities did not go to sleep that night. Every young person went back to the stadiums and protested, the police fired again and my father along with other fans were martyred. My mother told me this story, I truly wish he was here with us now because I really miss him. On the other hand, my mother had always tried to do what is best for us and sent us to school. Every year Qamishli's municipality arranges a game between Qamishli (Jihad) team and Fatwa team to spread love between the fans. I am proud to be a daughter of a man who had fought the system back then”. ...

Mar 26 2021

March 26, 2021

“I have been working for my father ever since I was a kid, and I learned sewing from him. I have always been fascinated with celebrities and wanted to see them, but now some of them visit me. One day Bizhan Kamkar visited me and requested 6 Kurdish suits to wear for a special program at Kurdsat TV and his concert in The United States. Before requesting the suits, he wanted me to first fix his jacket, and once he saw the result he really admired it. I was really happy seeing him on TV wearing the clothes I'd made. I have made Kurdish clothes for many well-known people in Kurdistan, and I am always pleased when I see them wearing them because I know I had done a good job”. ...

Mar 24 2021

March 24, 2021

“I really like arts, especially makeup and cinema SFX. This year, I received an award for zombie makeup in Duhok, and that encouraged me to further develop my career. I am now working on a project for our Peshmarga forces, I'm planning to include cinema SFX in their trainings in order for them to be able to adapt better to the environments they are in. The equipment I use are the same that are used anywhere around the world. Therefore, I tried to come up with better makeup material. I am also working a horror movie about zombies because that's something our cinema is unfamiliar with. I remember when I first started working on this people were looking down on me, so it took me a while until people became more familiar with it. As a girl, I want to defy the odds and show my community that we as girls are no lesser than our male counterparts, we can even do better than them”. ...

Mar 22 2021

March 22, 2021

“I was always into sports, and that encouraged me to study sports in college. I started getting into cycling in 2011. The first thing I tried was going from Barzan to Soran town. Then, I expanded on my travel and went from Duhok to Soran, then Slemani, Halabja, Biyara, Tawela and Iran's borders. I travel solo, and that's a testimony of being confident and making decisions for yourself. The longest I have traveled was from Duhok to Istanbul, 1700 kilometers away and it took me 23 days. I had a GPS with me, and every cycler knows how important it is. My last travel was from Duhok to Basra, and it took me 18 days. Security situations weren't ideal, but I took the chance and did it anyway. Traveling to Basra had taught me how the people their love Kurds and Kurdistan. I was wondering why they love Kurds so much, and it was because how Baath regime had all those bad things to Kurds and Shias. This is why they had so much love for me and Kurdistan”. ...

Mar 20 2021

March 20, 2021

in Humans of West

“I became friends with several people who were smuggling tobacco, the police found out and they were arrested. I was also tangled in the situation just because I was their friends, I was in prison for three months. After a month and a half, they distributed gas for cooking. That evening, some prisoners who hadn't been trialed created a chaos, some of them were in prison for theft and some for obtaining illegal drugs. They poured the gas on the blankets and sheets we had and burned them in the room we were in. At the time I was able to run, and some of my mates hid in the bathrooms”. “I couldn't do anything, the fire was getting bigger and was out of control. Even the police ran out of the building and called firefighters, but it was too late and about 58 people died in the fire. Once the fire was controlled, I went searching for my cousin, thank God he was alive because he had hidden himself in the bathrooms. It was a tragic day, I lost friends that I had made in there. There were an investigation and the people who did it received a death penalty. After I was released, I decided to never go back to smuggling and everything that was against the law so I never go back to prison. I opened a coffee shop, and now I manage it as my main job”. ...

Mar 19 2021

March 19, 2021

“I spend two hours a day with my birds at home, I have a place for each and every one of them. People usually call for a good duck, rooster, chicken or goose. I have been doing this job for more than 20 years. You have to be experienced in this job and not trust everyone. Sometimes I buy birds from the bazaar and take them home to keep them. If the weather is nice, I go to the birds' bazaar in Bardarash and sell my birds. I once bought a sick rooster, I took it home and it cost me $4000 worth of birds. Ever since, I decided to not trust everyone and trust my own intuition. Thankfully, I have also profited a lot, I might have profited more than $10,000 during those 22 years. The profit is not much, but it's enjoyable. I work tirelessly because I make a living for my family out of it”. ...

Mar 17 2021

March 17, 2021

“Due to my job (selling spices), people visit me daily and ask me about casting spells. Some request to remove a spell that has been cast on them, and some ask to cast spells on others, or they ask for some materials and say that some Sheikh asked them to buy them. Whenever people visit me, I ask them to talk about their symptoms, some of them don't have any symptoms of spells, so I recommend them to go to a psychiatrist. I don't personally believe in casting spells on others, it is a sin in terms of religion, and also a very bad thing to do in general, why ruin people's lives? Why all this hate? Some people thank me and say that I am right, but some get frustrated and say that because I don't sell those stuff I don't want people to buy them elsewhere. There are now people who trick others for their money, I hope everyone stays away from it”. ...

Mar 16 2021

March 16, 2021

in Humans of East

“According to our tradition, if our brothers are older than us, then we have to do whatever they say. I couldn't go to school, so after several years of just staying at home, I went to a shop and learned how to cut women's hair. At first, my family was against it, but when they knew that only women will visit me, they agreed. After years of being an employee, I sold my earrings and opened this little shop. Thankfully, I am now able to make a living for myself and cover my expenses. I am happy as long as I am not constantly staying at home, and I get to know people and hear their stories. I sometimes laugh with them, and sometimes even cry with them”. ...

Mar 15 2021

March 15, 2021