Humans of South - Humans of Kurdistan

"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

“Life will present you with different paths. When I graduated from Duhok’s Chemistry science department, I worked in journalism as an independent Kurdish Yezidi woman with the Kurdish based TV channels and radios. Then life presented me with another opportunity, which was working in movies and cinema. I now work in Northern and Southern Kurdistan with an international team as an assistant fashion designer, which is a great experience for me in cinema. That is life, it doesn’t stay the same. I am yearning to work as a journalist in media again, and I will continue to work in cinema, because I truly love it”. ...

Aug 07 2020

August 7, 2020

“I am 22 years old and I have come from Eastern Kurdistan to go to Sulaimani for our great Sheikh’s funeral. It was initially not in your plans to come here, but the Sheikh’s son announced and said:Let all my father’s Darvishs come and fear nothing. Hopefully nothing will happen. When we arrived at the Bashmakh border, they stopped us at the Iranian side and Iranian forces fired at us. Me and a few others were wounded, but fortunately my wound is not deep. They wanted to stop us at the KR’s border as well, but later they were very helpful”. ...

Aug 06 2020

August 6, 2020

“There was a strange fear in my heart when I first started this job because we work with an invisible enemy, so we have to do the job with utmost focus and attention, you give your life for the smallest mistake.It was 2009, I had recently started in power distribution and worked at the Shahid station. We had a job at Kareza Wishk that day to fix the power cable. One of my friends, Taha, was electrocuted and lost his life. I could never forget that day. But I got used to my job with time and now I love it”. ...

Aug 05 2020

August 5, 2020

“My love for sports started at the age of 6. Due to the lack of sport supplies at the time, me and my friends had to make the supplies ourselves. When I was 7, the first girls’ tennis team formed in Duhok and I was fortunately able to join. I was one of the top players in Kurdistan and I participated in many local and international competitions. The path was not easy and I faced a lot of challenges, but I was proud to be a representative of my city and country for 8 years. My love for sports did not stop there and it actually grew. It grew in another area, which was hiking and travelling across Kurdistan’s beautiful mountains. I was again lucky to find a group who enjoyed hiking like me. After one year of hiking together, we became a sort of family and our home became the mountains we passed through together, whether it was under extreme heat or under the winter rain”. ...

Aug 04 2020

August 4, 2020

“I have been reading for 15 years. People get addicted to drugs, I am addicted to reading. In the middle of the night, when people are in deep sleep, I am constrained with the texts in a book, in a way that I sometimes feel like I am a character in the book. There are books I have not been able to read because of the lack of time, I have thought of ripping it all out and eating it as a meal. I have been willing to go very far for the rare books. The totalitarian and fascist systems steal everything, but I have done it for the sake of knowledge and self-growth and have stolen books”. ...

Aug 03 2020

August 3, 2020

“I have studied Geography and graduated 6 years ago. I have been a lecturer for 4 years in the towns across the Penjwen border. Due to the bad roads, our towns are not accessible to constant movement so I have no choice but to stay. It is true that these towns are not easily available and lack some services and I, too, am away from my family, but when the people of the towns treat me with respect and see me as one of their own, I no longer feel my family’s absence. We have guests over or visit others most of the nights. Our time is spent really well in towns, life is simple and away from the crowds. I usually go to the mountains and go far from my house. I do not miss the chance that I have in the towns and enjoy the beauty and calmness of it all”. “Everyone says my field of study is not good and doesn’t get me jobs, but I always say that I am one of those who studied the field they wanted, so I am very pleased with my field of study and even more pleased that I am a teacher, although I am not employed and only a lecturer. When I think of the love and respect that my students have for me and how they expect me to teach them something new, it makes me completely happy. When I teach and educate my students, I always tell them that what they have excess of should be love and to perceive everything with love”. ...

Aug 01 2020

August 1, 2020