Humans of East - Humans of Kurdistan

“The best time of my life was when I started to know myself more, I knew where my place is in the world and where I should be going, and art gave that rhythm. Negative thoughts are like people who are in your ship, and does not want your ship to reach land, they try to drown you and take you to the bottom of the ocean, but you need to remember that you are the sailor of this ship, never let these thoughts dominate your mind and soul and get them off as soon as you can. Anyone with any way of thinking, if they don't harm the society, then their existence is valid. My darkest times were when I had lost myself, I had created a dark world for myself that I could not be optimistic in. My biggest goal is for my music to reach the world and introduce Kurdish music in a different way to the world. Every day of my life is dedicated for changing for the better, while I learn and understand more”. ...

Feb 14 2021

February 14, 2021

“Life is full of risks, and I'm scared of many things, animals as well as humans. However, we have been brought up to only fear God, so that he doesn't take revenge from us. Growing up, I slowly started to love God, and understood that I don't have to fear God, and I could spend my time as a friend with God. This helped me to spend my days in happiness, I'm happy whenever I speak to God. Now, I don't even get upset from most things, like wearing bad clothes. I found a way to love God and my purpose in life was to be happy”. ...

Feb 12 2021

February 12, 2021

“Age to me, is the biggest thing that could be wasted in life. The fact that we have to think second by second not to waste our lives and that death comes at last scares me a lot, and I believe it's okay because most people are like that. The death of my loved ones has been the hardest thing. While growing up, I realized that regardless of your beliefs and how you think, you could only survive by spending time with your loved ones. Life is short, try to make people happy, and that's the only advice I could give. The best time of my life is when I draw, when I turn people's feelings into drawings. It'd be very difficult for to get away from art. I still regret the fact that I went to Sports college and not arts. The day I saw Alan Kurdi's body on the shore I became hopeless from life, I'll never forget that image. People who I have helped become better have turned their backs on me, and that could be very depressing”. ...

Feb 03 2021

February 3, 2021

“There are moments of happiness and sadness in life. The best time of my life was I as a girl, have participated in work in the village same as my friends. For example, organizing Newroz event, working in the library, or when we established a small library, even though it was very small, but I was happy to provide books for my friends and the kids. As a girl, I was often ahead of other girls when it came to work. There are many sad times in life, especially when a friend leaves or when things are not going the way you want them to. I have never had a reason to be tired in life. I have fallen many times, but have gotten right up. I hope I can continue to serve girls and boys of my country and contribute to their dreams becoming true”. ...

Feb 01 2021

February 1, 2021

“I am still young, but I have many big dreams that I believe they will come true. The worst day of my life was when I lost my grandmother because she you used to love me very much, and I loved her back and learned a lot from her, too. People now live much happier than they used to in the old days. I am sure good days will come, I'm very hopeful for the future and I know that I'll become a doctor. My mother is the dearest person in my life because she always supports me. Whatever she says I'll do, such as shepherding and staying with the sheep the whole summer. This has led me to love all other animals such as dogs and birds”. ...

Jan 30 2021

January 30, 2021

“I have never been hopeless, and I've never been worried about money and wealth. As long as I have good health and live well with my family, I'm happy. I do everything at its time, so I don't regret the things I haven't done. I don't take what people say to the heart, I'm simple, and humble. I believe everyone has a certain fear, and for me, death is scary. After I turned 21, I felt like I needed to turn a new chapter in my life and act more like a lady. My first marriage was arranged, but my second one was through a relationship, and we're very happy together. I think this is how life should be, it'd be a shame if you don't dedicate your life for loving someone. It's very important to leave a life that has no love in it. I have two sons, and we would like a daughter next because we believe that it'd bring light to the house. I am proud to be a mother, and a wife. I don't believe in differences between men and women, so I never wished to be a male”. ...

Jan 29 2021

January 29, 2021

“The scariest thing for me is losing a family member, and that's why I couldn't go away after finishing college; I came back to our village. The best time of my life is when I know I can be beneficial for the world. I have dedicated most of my time to serve the people of my village as I'm now responsible for them. I haven't dedicated any time for myself and that bothers me. It bothers me if I can't reach my goals. Nothing has hurt me as much as time has in my life. Since I have become responsible for this village, I have been trying to think of the people as much as possible, especially the youth. The best thing we have achieved in the village was building a football stadium in the best spot. Most of the young people and kids of the village go there and spend their time there”. ...

Jan 27 2021

January 27, 2021

“Of course, we all experience good and bad times in our lives. I, as anyone else have experienced both good times and bad times, and the worst time of my life was when I lost my son, he was martyred. To see your child, go to see them for the last time, it's extremely difficult. For us mothers, this type of death is much worse than being beside your child and being able to hug them. My advice for people is to be good with each other, and don't cheat each other. My biggest goal is to have a good life, away from sorrow and sadness. I don't regret anything I have done in my life. Many people have treated me badly, but I have always forgiven them. I never keep anything in my heart, and I have gotten married after a relationship. We are still very happy together, and I'm very happy to be with him”. ...

Jan 25 2021

January 25, 2021

“I lost my father when I was 7 years old, and my mother took care of my 3 sister and I. My mother has suffered a lot, and I could see that, and that's why I decided to start working and I was even working during off days, and give the money to my mother. I got a diploma and then was hired by someone, he also told me that they were working in smithing, and offered me to work with them. I accepted, and after a while I knew that they weren't very informed in that field, so I offered to become a partner with them. After a while, I felt like I needed to work alone and have my own business”. “Since I had been working in construction previously, there were many people who trusted my work in Mahabad, I had worked for many of the high buildings. However, I had to work under the supervision of engineers, so I had to satisfy them with my work. Since they were my supervisor, I had to do everything they said even when they were wrong. I used to tell them that they are doing the work wrong, but they used to reply that they were the engineer and they knew better. When I was 42, after 25 years of working I started to go to college and become a civil engineer. After all those years of work, and studying I thankfully have reached everything I had hoped for. I cannot thank God enough because God has always helped me achieve more”. ...

Jan 23 2021

January 23, 2021

“Several years ago, I started working for a restaurant for the first time. Before then, I had never cooked, but that helped me get started and cook several dishes at the same time. I became very able, and started taking over many tasks in the restaurant. That helped me realize how capable I am, and even my friends and the owner of the restaurant were proud of me. I was managing thing very well because I was there all week. At the weekends, I used to go to the wilderness for a body and mind detoxication. Girls can stand on their feet, they just have to believe in themselves. I believe in gender equality, our differences are only physical”. ...

Jan 21 2021

January 21, 2021