Humans of South - Humans of Kurdistan

“Drifting is a driving technique filled with passion and love for cars and adrenaline. First of all, my drifting skills is not something I learned from studying and training. To be honest, it is a talent. At the same time, it is a show to enjoy and I enjoy it myself. I see it as art, it is like dancing for me. People judge you based on how well you dance and how well you organize your skills in drifting and display them. What makes it unique is that I can change it however I want and use the moves in their right places. I test the car and prepare it for the race or show. Either way, what I do is a type of driving on closed roads and specific places that are safe.” ...

Aug 18 2020

August 18, 2020

“My hobby was iron since I was a child, I wanted to work with iron. If I sleep on screws and nuts, it is as if I am resting on a kashan carpet. That is why I opened this store and I am always among iron. Another one of my interests is weapons. I want to have all kinds of weapons not for use, but just for aesthetics. I also enjoy taking photos. I had a camera when I was a child and I would take pictures around the city in the 1990s just for fun, I have still kept all the photos. My interests are far from each other, but I have worked to make them come true. I liked bicycles as a kid, but my father didn’t buy me one. That is why the first thing I did when I got married was getting a bike”. “Because I have had many interests as a child and as an adult and most of them have come true, only a few haven’t, it is important for me to be able to make any good dreams my children have come true.I have 13 daughters! Last year, the Penjwen Institute opened and they had dorm issues. I said I was willing to give a floor in my house to the institute, as long as the government was aware. A floor in my house became a dorm and 11 girls lived there. It got to the point that I couldn’t separate them from my own daughters, so I always say: I have 13 daughters”. ...

Aug 16 2020

August 16, 2020

“The children of the rich and chiefs are thankful for their ancestors for leaving them properties and money, but I am thankful for my grandfather for passing on this job to my father, who taught me as well. It is true that our job is difficult but we are very content because we make our living with our own efforts.I left school very early, I thought that repairing water pumps was much more resourceful than waiting to get employed. I wouldn’t learn anything in school so I studied up till 5th grade, I learned nothing at all. But fortunately I know my job very well and I see myself providing a living for a whole family by myself”. ...

Aug 15 2020

August 15, 2020

“When I graduated university, I really didn’t like teaching, but it happened that I became a teacher. I remember I was very reluctant on the first day, I was afraid, afraid of not being able to direct my students in a good way, or that I wouldn’t be good in that job. With time, my students’ love made me love my job and pay attention to it. I later overcame that reluctancy and fear. I haven’t seen my students in a while, I miss them”. ...

Aug 14 2020

August 14, 2020

“I haven’t gone to school for even one second. I have been herding in this wilderness since I opened my eyes. Life is very repetitive, every day is the same for me. I often think that no one has gotten a better use out of phones and social media than me. What assuages me is only my phone. I thank my brothers for teaching me how to use the internet. I cannot read, I recognize the applications through the colors, that is why I always watch funny Tiktok videos on the black application. And whenever I am not in a good mood, I listen to Amanj Yakhi’s Bends, it really calms me down”. ...

Aug 13 2020

August 13, 2020

“I am 21 years’ old, I study architecture at the American University of Duhok. Other than my studies, I also enjoy art, measurements, entrepreneurship, and 3D prints. I enjoy starting from the bottom and building everything by myself. In 2018, I was the founder of the Gans Mor organization for encouraging and developing the youth’s skills with two other activists. And in 2019, I was chosen as the head of the communications committee for students at university.I later thought of starting a company, which is why I established the Qud company for design and printing services for cultural clothing and fashion, to be able to take that business a step further. I never took the easy way out, I have always enjoyed creating and forming things, enjoyed starting from zero, the enjoyment you get out of creating something and taking it to the top”. ...

Aug 12 2020

August 12, 2020

"I was 7 when I learned tailoring through my father in Arbat. In 2002, we returned to Penjwen and continued tailoring to get an income through. I love my job, I am thankful that people from most of the cities come to visit me. They have even come from Erbil. In terms of outfits, Penjwen is similar to Meriwan and Bana, especially in the last few years. The difference lies mostly in the sharwal (loose-fitting trousers), the young Rojhalatis tailor their sharwals loose, but they do it tighter here. Rich people used to wear the Muradkhan outfit, but it is now increasing among the youth and they pay attention to it. They would knit their Muradkhan so that it would stand solid, but they use paper now. I work with both, depending on the person’s request, but the knit ones cost more". "There have been changes in men’s clothing compared to previous years. What the youth request and I sew it for them, my father cannot, due to the changes in the form of tailoring, especially in the jacket part. Sometimes people visit us with a special design in their mind and we tailor it that way. There are many types, some use buttons and percussion caps, they ask for half-necked or full- necked. Some ask for designs in the front or back. So, I can say that there are many more designs now and the tailor has to go with the changes”. ...

Aug 11 2020

August 11, 2020

“I remember when I was very young, I was very shy to mix with other children because they would call me the boy with the mismatched eyes!It got to the point that I wanted to quit school to avoid the repetitive questions from my classmates and teachers. But when I got older and saw other people like myself, I was convinced that I am not the only one.I have no problem with my sight, the only thing that annoys me is when people see me for the first time they stare at my eyes, which bothers me a bit. That is why I decided several times to wear lenses so that it looks normal to people, but when some people see me and say Mashalah, it is very unique and beautiful, I regret that decision and want it to stay as it is”. ...

Aug 10 2020

August 10, 2020

“My older brother was sick for a while, I was always worried about him and wanted to see him lead life as any other person. Fortunately that day came and not only did he have a healthy body, but he also decided to get married and forget the past. Today there is joy in my heart knowing that my brother is smiling again and that they have created a new life with his partner”. ...

Aug 09 2020

August 9, 2020

“I am 19 years’ old, I wear my scarf and niqab because I chose to. What people say has never stopped me because God’s affirmation is more important than anything else for me.It is true that my outfit is black and thick, and I also know that I feel the heat more than anyone else, but my faith is so strong that I take the heat in this life for the sake of hell.In the same way that people are free to wear what they want, it would make me happy if that freedom isn’t taken from me and my clothing is accepted.What makes me sad is the fact that most of the criticism I get is by people of my own gender and they are women!”. ...

Aug 08 2020

August 8, 2020