Humans of South - Humans of Kurdistan

“I started from the streets, and ended up at a big club like Halabja club. I see my dad as much as a leading factor as I am in my success story, but his effect was behind the scenes. He isn't just a father to me, he was like a castle to me. In a city like Halabja, playing in sports outfits for a girl like me in front of thousands of people is not easy unless you have support. Furthermore, many people who considered themselves educated were criticizing me because I wasn't covering up my body and sports wasn't for me. Nevertheless, with God's support as well as my family being behind me, I was able to overcome all of the obstacles and reach the goals I had since I was a kid. Now I play for the biggest club in Kurdistan, which is Hawler club.” ...

Dec 13 2020

December 13, 2020

“We were displaced and we came to Sulaimani, all of our belongings are gone. I started working here and thankfully we were able to restart our lives here. We couldn't have a good youth life, but we are doing well now. life is good, but our country is going through a rough time. For a while, I was working at an arts company specialized in sound and cartoon dubbing, I was a sound director. I slowly started learning other work, especially lighting, but I still liked working in sound more because it is my field of work. I have also learned about cameras and its types. A lot of changes have been made now, but for me it was a great field of work and I really liked it.” ...

Dec 10 2020

December 10, 2020

“I have been working in a garage for a couple of years, I'm happy about what I do, and I care about the cars more than their owners do. While moving the cars, I will try my best to avoid hurting the cars. I am not like the other people who work in garages, moving cars of people they know under the shadow in expense of other cars. I have never allowed myself to use the radios in people's cars or take selfie's with expensive cars. In the mornings, my pockets are filled with expensive cars’ keys, but all of the keys go back to their owners in the evening. I go back home with a clear conscience and empty hands, listening to music using my headphones.” ...

Dec 07 2020

December 7, 2020

“I have reached a point in life where I can't remember much, I'm getting older, and we all must be prepared for the inevitable. I am not scared of death. I now live with my sister, and we both don't have much time, but we are living. I have been very unfortunate in my marriage life, my husband used to beat me a lot without having done anything to him. This is how we used to live as females, and we couldn't do anything about it. I was very happy in my father's home, but when I got married that life was over for me. I was even divorced, but we still couldn't say anything.” ...

Dec 05 2020

December 5, 2020

“There are many things in our lives that remain unnoticed. Humans are naturally ambitious to gain better things, but we already have many things that we are not aware of or are not appreciated. When I was young, I really liked motorcycles and I really wanted to drive it, I used to say that one day I'll buy the best kind of motorcycle for myself. One day I was sitting with my friends and I noticed that he was driving a really nice motorcycle, it immediately caught my attention. Coincidentally, he sat beside us and I heard him talking about his terminal disease. At that moment, I realized that I had something much more important and that was a good health.” ...

Dec 01 2020

December 1, 2020

“I am from Rayati village in Balakayaty area so they often call me by Zrar Rayati. I have been singing Hairan since 1973, and because I enjoy singing, I do it for free on many occasions and events so many people also recognize me by Zrar Hairan. In 1986 while I was singing in a wedding, I saw a girl and I wanted to marry her. We are now married. That experience affected me so much that even now I go back to that same spot every time I sing in a wedding. Love is very precious, and because my love for my wife is so genuine, and that's why I believe it's precious. I'm always baffled by how people can get in love several times because I always say that falling in love happens only once, when it happens more it'll lose its value.” ...

Nov 28 2020

November 28, 2020

“When winter starts to come, women from the village have to account for next seasons food despite all the tiredness. One of the authentic Kurdish food is Trkhena, that is served in cold harsh days of the winter. It is also served to special guests that come to our house. Our kids don't really like it, but it's very tasty to us. A lot of the times our guests give us a phone call before they come, and they say that they'll come under the condition of serving them Trkhena. Many women in the village make it for sale, you can buy a portion for IQD 1,000.” ...

Nov 27 2020

November 27, 2020

“As an only girl in Sarkapkan town, I decided to go to Sports institute, this was unacceptable for a lot of people because the people from my town are closed minded and they were telling me that sports are not for girls. However, with the support of my family I started playing in 2006. After graduating from institution I decided to go further until I was noticed by several clubs, and I've played for several of them in Iraq and Kurdistan. I was also a part of the Iraqi's under 23 team to participate in Asia's tournament in Vietnam, but I couldn't go due to some personal reasons. There has been a lot of ups and downs in my career, but the worst thing that's happened was the death of my coach. It shook me inside out because all of my experience and achievements were due to my coach, he always supported me.” ...

Nov 23 2020

November 23, 2020

“I see cooking as art, and it gives me a great joy, it's not just a day job for me. I can say that I've been fairly successful in it, I've been invited to a lot of important events to cook. When I first started cooking, I was a student so I had to study as well. It was a bit difficult because I didn't want to do it just for the money, but I had to learn as well because it became like an education to me. I remember one day I was practicing on Pizza dough and I was throwing it in the air, and a girl came up to me and complimented me for what I did. It was the first time anyone had said something nice about my cooking so I completely forgot about the dough and it fell right on my face. I was so embarrassed that I sat down and didn't look up again.” ...

Nov 18 2020

November 18, 2020

“I'm seventy years old and I have nine kids. Ever since I left Ababaile, I haven't experienced happiness. Living in the city is difficult, and it's very expensive, and it's only my wife and I together and I can't do much work. Even now, if someone buy's me a cow, I'll go back to the wilderness, you can at least survive eating natural food. The wilderness is blessed, it's not the same as here! In the cities, God has become angry from everyone due to all the crimes and sins going on. Villagers don't even know how to sin. We used to collect loads of spear thistles (Kingr), but you can't even see it in farmlands now. I remember when we used to farm, we neither saw reduction in water resources, nor diseases hitting the soil. Unfortunately, everything's changed now.” ...

Nov 16 2020

November 16, 2020