Humans of South - Humans of Kurdistan

“I was 28 years old when my husband passed away. Other than sorrow and five kids, he left nothing behind. My husband had another wife, I have five kids, and his other wife has two. After his death, the other wife soon married someone else and left her two kids with me, and I took them in. We have had a very difficult life, so I thought of getting a job so I can raise these 7 kids. I finally opened this shop, and I have been working as a shop owner for 15 years. I buy second hand clothes from people and I resale them. There is a woman from Eastern Kurdistan that visits me often, she buys authentic Kurdish clothes that are old and for a good price, too. She knows plenty about Kurdish clothes.” “Usually, I buy fruits and food for my kids from my earnings from the shop so my kids stay full. There are times that I only profit IQD 250 or IQD 500 from a piece of cloth that I sell, but I always stay thankful. If you are happy with what you have, then it doesn't matter how much you have. I act as both a mother and a father for my kids, and I feel very happy that I don't ask for anything from anyone, I will never let my kids to be hungry.Being a woman is very difficult in this country, a lot of the time despite your responsibilities, you will have to act as the man figure as well. Money is not everything in life, I always say that money can make you forget your religion, or even make you more religious. To me, seeing my sons for one hours means the whole world.” ...

Sep 28 2020

September 28, 2020

“When I used to see people at a bookstore buying my book, I was getting the feeling as Roland Barthes states, "The birth of the written lines must be at the cost of the death of the Author." However, I don't feel that way anymore.I admit that I am very happy when I see people buy my book, because of two reasons:First, because as an Author I feel like that my time and efforts for my writings have been paid off and I have delivered my message.Second, when a book is bought, it means to me that the book has its value. I never support the idea of donating books, I believe that if books are sold for even a small price, they should still be valued. The best thing you can do for an Author is to buy their book because the Authors that make a living off of their writings are very few. Unfortunately, buying books is not a culture here yet, while Kurdish books are usually much cheaper than international books.” ...

Sep 25 2020

September 25, 2020

“I'm twenty eight years old, and don't be surprised if I told you that I have become the chief of my village. Being the chief of a village has changed. Previously, people used to go to their chief looking for a solution to their social problem, but now they come to me to fix their electronic devices. In 2003 I was introduced to satellite TV for the first time, and I started working on it since then. Then I bought a computer and little by little I started learning to work on it. After that, as you know mobile phones were in every home and have become an everyday used device, and I was also the person everyone came to when they had problems with their phones. Now that social media is used by more people, I take the responsibility of creating people's accounts, I may have made more than 200 accounts and emails. I'll admit that I have broken many devices, satellites and computers until I started getting the proper experience” ...

Sep 24 2020

September 24, 2020

“My mother has attended childbirth many times, and I have the same gift as she does. God is the reason for everything happening, but I am also the mediator. I used to be afraid from the beginning, but the first childbirth I attended was of a woman weighing 280 kilograms, from that occasion I have gotten used to difficult childbirths. As much as I have experience, I also implement the academic process. I have a certificate from a Korean organization that teaches how to attend childbirth the scientific way. I only use herbs as medicine, they have no risks at all. I have attended over 250 childbirths, among them European women, or even some medical staff who gave birth to their children. I truly hold my job dear to my heart and believe it brings good. You don't even realize how happy I am that I see families that are hopeless to have children, but at one point they were blessed with a child.I always tell women to not lose hope, God always gives. There are many women who have been about fifty years old and I have attended their childbirth.” ...

Sep 22 2020

September 22, 2020

“I was in Koya when I got married, I thought of buying a cobbling machine; I bought one for 4 dinars and started cobbling. Ever since, I have been working as a cobbler, and to wherever I have moved I have immediately opened a cobbling shop. I have never worked in any other field, I have been cobbling for years continuously. I have taught all of my 4 sons to be cobblers as well, and now 2 of them are still working here and the other 2 live outside of the country. Back in the day, all of the cobbling machines used to be of German made. My machine was truly heavy, about 60 kilograms. Previously, our many had a lot of value, but life has become too difficult now. The most difficult type of shoe I have worked on is Adidas, sometimes they called the PKK shoes, machines and sewing kits can't work with them properly.” ...

Sep 21 2020

September 21, 2020

“It is the nature of life, everyone wishes for a different thing. Some people might find it strange that since I got married at 18, all my wishes was to have a daughter. God blessed me with 4 sons and deprived me of a daughter. When my eldest son got married, I wished for a girl again. When they had a baby, it was a boy. Deep down, I was very sad.But God did not leave me hopeless and their second child was a girl, which was my lifelong dream. Rahin is all my happiness now, I cannot stand not seeing her for one day.Whenever I come across anyone with a dream that they think they cannot achieve, I always bring my story as an example and advise them to be patient and believe in God, knowing that God will not leave anyone hopeless.” ...

Sep 20 2020

September 20, 2020

“Through volunteering I have been able to participate in many activities that help make the society better. in 2016, while I was a sophomore in the university of Duhok, I volunteered to manage all the volunteers in Duhok university. Along with a group of volunteers we had many activities related to youth growth. After that, in 2018 I started volunteering with the Voice of Youth organization and then became an employee after a while. Currently, I have set out great programs for planning and activities for youth. One of my best projects is under the name "The little free libraries," and that was created by several artists and I was a part of it as well. We have each set up a little library, and the idea is to donate the books you have read to other people to read. You can donate a book and in return take a new one, and this will help to create a culture for reading and donating. The libraries have been setup in several places in Duhok.” ...

Sep 19 2020

September 19, 2020

“I have been living in Hawler for several years now, from what I have seen, I know for sure that Hawler is a city of coexistence. Apart from me as an Arab, I have seen many other nationalities living peacefully same as I do. I paint for a living. Everyday I go to near Qalat and spend a peaceful day. What makes me happy the most is that the people also appreciate my work. It doesn't matter to me whether the individuals I paint are politicians, athletes, or artists, what matters is that I deliver what is asked from me.I admit that I do take money for my work, but that has never been the standard for what I do because I usually enjoy the works that I do for free much more.” ...

Sep 19 2020

September 19, 2020

“It is now almost 14 years since I have had this shop. I work here 18 hours a day and do not want to feel like I don’t have anything to do. I want to be constantly busy with work and not think about the world. I also like to keep my shop clean, I always clean the items and outside my shop. Once I was cleaning in front of my shop, my neighbor, who is an old woman, said can you please clean in front of my house as well? I found that very strange, but I said of course dear, I will clean yours once I am done with mine.” ...

Sep 16 2020

September 16, 2020

“My brother has been a florist preparing flowers for events for a while now. When I decided to start working, it was because of him that I chose this. It is a great job; all kinds of people visit us. I have often felt society’s bad psychological state while preparing flowers in that we are facing depression in many aspects. But I see hope with every flower bouquet I prepare and I see people trying to be happy.There are many events, people request flowers for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, anniversaries, or Valentine’s Day. All the days have their uniqueness. I remember one day we were preparing a very special bouquet for a groom, but he was very anxious and was in a hurry. When we prepared the bouquet, he was so happy that he forgot the flowers.I don’t feel at ease only when I am preparing a bouquet for people who take it to their dear one’s graves!” ...

Sep 14 2020

September 14, 2020