Humans of South - Humans of Kurdistan

"I'm now a senior in Agriculture college, when I was first accepted to college as a twenty years old girl from the cold mountainous areas of Balakayaty going to Hawler, it was very difficult. Getting used to the busy city was very hard compared to the calmness of Balakayaty. It is worth mentioning that having family and closed ones nearby really helped there, but in Hawler, I must take care of everything myself. In addition, there were several other things that made me stressed out and made me ask myself whether it was really me in the middle of that busy city. Nevertheless, I have been able to get used to things by making connections, and now the city has become a big part of my life and I love it here. I now miss the place whenever I get away. I used to think that I can't stay here for four weeks, let alone four years." ...

Nov 03 2020

November 3, 2020

“My dream was to work in the media. When I graduated high school, all of my family were against me studying in the media. The closer college applications got, the more I was nervous, thinking how I can convince my family. I remember they were all against me except for one of my friends. Only that friend supported me and made me even more determined on my goal, and eventually, my big brother started supporting me as well. One thing that I tell my colleagues is that success does not depend on your position at work, but it depends on your desires and goals, I always say go for what your heart tells you and what you desire. I'm now a senior studying in media, I passed every year being the third of my class, and I work as a reporter. The people who were against me and were telling me that I can't do it now can see that I can, I can even do more.” ...

Nov 01 2020

November 1, 2020

“I was very young when I got married, a lot of people thought that I was wrong getting married so young, but I never regret it and I am very happy with my life. When I go anywhere with my kids, people think they are my younger siblings because I look much younger than a father with two kids. I'm very happy that I am still young and I see my son growing up. That was the reason I got married young, I wanted my children to grow with me. Marriage is one of the pillars in life and you will have to do it soon or later, so I believe that as long as you are strong you should decide to do it.” ...

Oct 31 2020

October 31, 2020

“I am a descendant of Mshko the singer, and I am very proud of my grandfather because the respect we get from people especially in Hawler is because of him mostly. It appears that older artists were highly respected unlike this generation's artists. You can see that most people don't even recognize the artists. People whose ages are as my grandfather's and are still alive tell me that I look like him the most, and this is why they really like me. It is strange that I really do look like him, but unfortunately can't sing like him.” ...

Oct 30 2020

October 30, 2020

“I have been selling flowers for two years, I had no idea that every color has a different meaning, but I now even recognize their smell as well as their colors. I can recognize any house's atmosphere by the look of their flowers. I want to see flowers anywhere I go. When I started selling flowers, I hadn't gotten married. People were visiting me every day buying flowers for their events, especially the ones that were buying flowers for their lovers, they were very interesting to me. Now I'm married, I often give my wife flowers to show her how much I love her, and I buy the flowers from myself, that's how I value both the flower and my wife. I love my wife very much, at the same time, I love my flowers.” ...

Oct 30 2020

October 30, 2020

“I knew that education wasn't made for me, so I decided to quit school and start working. Initially, I was working for a barber and I liked cutting hair myself. I continued working until I was able to open a barber shop, but I had to close it down after a while due to some problems. I tried other jobs, but none of them worked out, they were not what I expected. Then, I decided to move out of the country illegally, and again I faced many obstacles that stopped me from going. Then I went back to my first job and once again I was able to open another barber shop. I have a lot of goals I want to achieve, at the same time there are a lot of obstacles, but I will never stop, I will keep going. The most important thing is to constantly remind yourself that you can do it.” ...

Oct 27 2020

October 27, 2020

“I have been a barber for more than 11 years. Most of my relatives and even myself have learned to cut hair from one of my brothers. I alone have taught about 80 people, and despite the fact that it makes me very happy to teach people, I have done it also for the sake of God. I am also very happy that my students have been loyal to me; when I visit them, they still treat me as their teacher and are even a bit shy when I watch them working. I have never told a customer how much money I want or tell them what they have given me is not enough. I am convinced of whatever I get, and I believe that what I have earned is due to how I have been content with what I have.” ...

Oct 26 2020

October 26, 2020

“I used to think that guitars were only used in fights and was specific to fights when I was watching movies about cowboys and the wild west. Even though I am an architect and have worked as an architect for a while, but I chose to learn playing guitar. Now that I am a guitar player, I think differently from how I used to think about guitars. Now I am a kindergarten teacher, I play the guitar for the kids and dance with them, we do Samba and Flamenco. We dance and move around and have fun. When I see the kids, I know what I have missed as a kid, and to compensate myself for that sometimes I want all of my body to become ears to enjoy music and songs.” ...

Oct 23 2020

October 23, 2020

“When I was a student, I really liked the scientific lessons, but I only got 63/100 in the twelfth grade. It was much less than I thought, and I didn't like any of the colleges that had accepted me. I went to study Kurdish in Baghdad university because I wanted to see Baghdad. I graduated after four years, but I still liked scientific lessons. After several years of teaching I became the principal of Kawa school. All of these years passed and I still wanted to study scientific lessons. One day, we were notified that there was a math course for teachers so I quickly signed up. After I took that course, I started teaching math until the day I was retired.” ...

Oct 21 2020

October 21, 2020

“When you set someone as your role model, you would want to turn most of your life like theirs, even your hair and clothes. Because of my love for Marcelo the Brazilian player, I have made my haircut to look like his, even though a lot of people criticize me for my looks. I hear a lot of people saying that I look like a woman, or say that it's a shame how I let my hair grow so much. One of my teachers told me once if I shave my hair, he would give me 15 grades for it, I told him if he even lets me pass, I wouldn't shave it. My father really supports my decision, and doesn't want me to shave it, but my mother always fights with me because of my hair.” ...

Oct 17 2020

October 17, 2020