Humans of North - Humans of Kurdistan

“I used to work in the municipality of Amed. I was fired in 2016. After I got fired, some of my friends and I started farming. We made our first tent here; then we built a house with adobe. We built our workshop, kitchen, and cottage and set up our solar energy. We got drilling and other energy needs entirely from solar power. This way, we can continue our self-sustainable economy. With this environmentally friendly economy, we certainly have products to sell. Our main goal is to collect, preserve and exchange local seeds. We grow fruit trees and keep animals like chickens, cats, dogs, and pigeons. We want to maintain the natural balance”. ...

Sep 16 2022

September 18, 2022

“We spent our childhood taking care of pigeons. We opened our eyes, and they were the first thing we saw. Our parents and grandparents also took care of them. This is a tradition. After me, my children will take care of them. In the past, our house was in a poor neighborhood. The roof of the house was suitable for keeping pigeons. However, that opportunity ceased after we moved to this neighborhood where wealthier people live. Despite all that, I did not give up on my pigeons and brought them to this neighborhood. We built a mobile home for them in the garden. I have been watching them like this for 15 years now. In the beginning, many people in the neighborhood reacted negatively. But once their children came to play with the pigeons, their opinion changed, and they loved them too. I give them water in the mornings and also in the evenings. I fly them. In my opinion, the most beautiful thing to watch is pigeons flying”. ...

Sep 16 2022

September 4, 2022

“There are people living on the street. They stay there, not having money, and they’re usually hungry. When they pass by the factory, they look inside. I know they are hungry but are ashamed to ask. That’s why I wrote on my window, “If you are hungry and have no money, don't be hesitant.” So, this way, pay if you want to take some, but even if you do not, it’ll be halal for you to take. No matter how much they say humanity is dead, we still write that we have hope. It is a year since I have written this. After writing it, many people come to eat and drink for free. Some people pay later, but some cannot. It is all halal. This is also a blessing for me. At least 30 toasts a day are consumed like this. Not everything is money. We are also in need of humanity”. ...

Aug 22 2022

August, 22

“I’m 50 years old and this is my everyday job. For the past ten years, I have been making a living by collecting materials such as plastic, iron, and cables. I have three children, and one of them is kidney disease. I have to work to raise them. That's why I get up at 05:30 in the morning and go on the road on my motorcycle. I go from village to village. Sometimes I return home at 10:00 p.m. I take down the things I have collected from the motorcycle and bring them home. Then I sell them to second-hand traders. The money that I earn is between 70 and 80 lira per day. Some days I return home empty-handed. It does not support us enough. When I pay electricity, water, and food bills, I don't have anything left, but thanks to the neighbors, we make a living. Benevolent people often help us as I can’t make a living with this job alone. During the holidays, my children want new clothes and shoes; unfortunately, I can't buy anything because I can’t afford them. Living conditions are harsh”. ...

Aug 13 2022

March 23, 2022

“I have been working as a blacksmith for 52 years. I began when I was 10 and I am still working. I started in 1969. For 9 years I worked under the supervision of my employer. In 1978, I opened my own factory. In those years, people engaged their children in such works. When we moved from the village to the city, my father brought me to a blacksmith. His name was Ismail. My father handed me over to him and said ‘my son is entrusted to God and entrusted to you’. May God be pleased with him, he loved me very much and taught me blacksmithing. Our work used to be very difficult but the money was good. Our workload decreased by 90 percent after technology advanced and the machines came out. I make axes and billhooks. Mainly villagers around the city are purchasing them. The most important thing of the job is putting the iron in water. Each blacksmith has their own way, some use oil and some use water. I use water. If you don't use water then it is not iron. Each iron goes into the fire 11 times and then we make axes and billhooks. We had 4 employees but due to the economic situation we are now 3 people. That's ...

Aug 13 2022

May 8, 2022

“I have been doing shoe repair work for 35 years. I have ten children who I have raised with this job. I have been repairing shoes since my childhood. There used to be many shoe repair workshops, but now 3-4 workshops remain and a few of the old shoe repairers. We did not have such a machine before; we worked by hand. There were needles, threads, nails, hammers but nothing else. Now the technical conditions are better, but there is no work. Today, one does not bring their shoes here and does not repair them for 15 lira. At that time, people were coming from the village, and there were work. There was no machine, but we had more workload. Things are fine now, but sometimes we wait until the evening and still receive no customers. Twenty years ago, our work was excellent, but in recent years it has decreased. I was going to close my workshop. However, after the economic crisis, the price of shoes increased a lot. Since shoes are so expensive now, residents repair their old ones. Our work is on the road to recovery. Many professions have been lost in history. The shoe repair business was also on the verge of extinction. However, now our profession is certainly getting a lot of attention because of the economic crisis”. ...

Aug 11 2022

June 1, 2022

“When I was young, I was very interested in culture and art. I was drawing, and my teachers were kind to me and were interested in what I was doing. I also gave way to my friend in this art. Personally, I couldn’t continue because of the difficulties of that time. We moved to Mersin and worked as a cartoonist there. Then I came to Mardin and started working with stones. Later in life, I couldn’t work on stones anymore when I got old, so I started carving. I have been doing this for ten years now. When I paint, I try to get to know the culture of Mesopotamia and the Kurds. I made about 200 artworks on Sumer, Assyria, and Medan, such as Ahura Mazda, Shahmaran, Ziha of the Euphrates and Tigris, Dawrêşê Evdî, and Edûl. I still continually work on portraits. I also made portraits of many renowned Kurdish figures. From Eyşe Şan to Mela Mustafa Barzani, I painted many artworks on textiles. Moreover, I am inspired by Kurdish culture; I show this through my art. Besides, I also teach; my door is open to anyone who wants to learn”. ...

Aug 11 2022

July 24, 2022

“I am a graduate of Dicle University, department of elementary education. Since I never got employed, I opened a workshop and named it “Şewl û Xaraw.” At my workshop, I dry flowers and make them into paintings. At first, I was doing this work at home, but then I decided to open a workshop. This art is also like therapy for me. When I work, my body eases, and bad thoughts leave my mind. At first, I go to collect flowers from the wild. After I bring them home, I put them between book pages. They dehydrate, and I collect them all together. It is complicated work and requires patience. They should not absorb moisture from the air and must be kept in a dry place. Once the flowers dry, I take them to the workshop, and we think about how to make these flowers into paintings. Then, we design the flowers and put them into frames. Everything we do here is natural; we don’t use any chemicals in the process of drying the flowers. Moreover, we do not use adhesives either”. ...

Mar 02 2022

March 2, 2022

by Redwan Adalat

“The main work in our village is animal husbandry and there are about 20 thousand small and large animals. Stock raising is getting harder and harder. When it snows a lot during winters, the roads get blocked and we cannot leave the village. The roads remain closed for months. Our biggest problem is water. The village does not have drinking water. We get this water from wells. During winter, the water freezes and we cannot use it. We can melt snow for our needs but our animals die in thirst. So far; four of my animals have died due to lack of water. Just as how human beings cannot live without water, neither can animals. Every year we face this problem. In the summer the water dries up, so in the spring we take the animals to the towns of the Sarhad region and stay in the mountains there until autumn and then return to the village. Living in the countryside and stock raising are very difficult now. Due to these difficulties many villagers are moving to the cities. We have no choice”. ...

Feb 13 2022

February 13, 2022

by Redwan Adalat

“I study for a PhD in Ardahan University. My PhD thesis is on the culture of nomadic tribes. I work on the nomadic tribes of Elikan, Duderan, and Soran. I live and migrate with them from city to city. I stay with them in tents in different mountains. This year, I spent all my time with them and only went home three times. In the beginning I found it very difficult because I came from the city, but now I’m getting used to it. They see me as their daughter and I see them as my family. Now we will move from Sirnak to Serhed, which is a 2 month-long trip. I witnessed a lot of their problems. Villagers who live in the village ask for a lot of money. They face a lot of hardship and difficulties because there is no defined route of migration. To resolve these problems, I prepared a report and informed the authorities to resolve them”. ...

Jan 23 2022

January 23, 2022

by Redwan Adalat