Humans of South - Humans of Kurdistan

“I was in first grade when my mother passed away. In 1986, we were in Sirwan town in Halabja city. My father was a driver going to Baghdad and coming back. It was at the time of the war between Iraq and Iran, and people were hiding in schools scared they might get injured. However, Iran soon launches an airstrike on a particular school. During that incident, my mother and brother and sister all become casualties in that school, they all died that day. That airstrikes are known as the burnt building of Sirwan. My father got married again after 45 days, and we became homeless due to my stepmother, our darkest days began then because even if we went to other people's houses my father used to get mad at those people. My sister was in an arranged marriage with our cousin since childhood, and I left to Iran when I was 13 and didn't come back until 2007. My mother's passing left a gap in my life that will never be filled, and I will never forget her. Even the whole world cannot be compared to your mother's finger”. ...

Feb 10 2021

February 10, 2021

“During the 80s when Peshmarga forces were active in the mountains and the cities, there was a volunteer force in Garmian called Pshtiwani force. Wherever help was needed, they were there. I also felt I had a responsibility then, so I bought a weapon and joined that force, and after a while I became the commander of a team consisting of 10 people. Then after the revolution, no one even said thank you to us. As far as I could, I was able to make a living for myself doing construction work, and being a shepherd. Unfortunately, I now cannot get out of the house much, I have become very weak and I don't like going out. I don't even like going into crowds of people. I don't even go to funerals in our village. Cities, streets, and events have no meaning to me anymore. The only thing that I have hope for is going to the house of God, I always dream that I will one day get there”. ...

Feb 08 2021

February 8, 2021

“My life may be different from many other lives on this merciless planet. I have been trying to reach my goals ever since I was a kid, and every day I see my goals and dreams get destroyed. Nevertheless, I haven't stopped dreaming, and I hope that one day of them come true. After graduating high school, I didn't get the grades I wanted, and so I left school, even though it was always my dream to have a degree and work. As I grew up, I understood that education and degrees have no value in this place. I loved photography, but I couldn't work despite having many goals because in this country families are the worst enemy of their children's dreams, especially when you are a girl. I now do sewing for work with my sister. I hope one day I can develop this work and it allows me to reach my other goals. Life hasn't stopped, so we shouldn't stop either and we should always try to make our dreams come true”. ...

Feb 06 2021

February 6, 2021

“I was 21 years old when the Anfal started in 1988. I will never forget how my 5 brothers and 3 nephews and nieces were killed in front of my eyes, then took us all to the Duz prison then Tkreet. Only God knows what I suffered away from my mother and family in those prisons for 6 months and 12 days. I was scared and missed my mom so much, I almost lost my mind. I tattooed my mom's name on my hand out of my miseries and loneliness. Not long after we were freed and returned to Chamchamal, my father passed away. Our wound from losing him hadn't healed, when martyrdom of my Peshmarga brother was added too. The only person remaining I was attached to was my mother, who also passed away 5 years ago. We went through Anfal and we were punished for being Kurds, but who remembers us now? I don't even have a political prisoner's ID yet”. ...

Feb 05 2021

February 5, 2021

“My father was alone, and my two brothers were small and couldn't work, I was the only one who could work with him. I left school when I was in fifth grade and started working as a laborer. I first started working in Mousel's bazaar transferring things for 10 fills per day. In 1964, when Abdulkarim Qasim was the president of Iraq I started working in Mousel's sugar factory. I was the only one able to carry three 100kg bags of sugar at once in that factory. One day, a man from Gayara of Mousel challenged us to carry three 100kg bags of sugar for a reward. Despite being the youngest one, I said I could, too. The Arab man laughed at me, and said that if I could carry the bags to his car, he would invite all of the laborer’s to lunch, and if I couldn't do it, I would have to pay for their lunch. I completed the challenge. Back then, my father used to make 6 dinars per month, and mine was 16 dinars. I’m 80 years now and I have visited God's house five years so far, and I feel very healthy”. ...

Jan 27 2021

January 27, 2021

“I have been doing sewing as a job since I was 13. I first started in 1974, due to being displaced by the Iraqi government, we had to leave our village (Xelaki), which was the place of our ancestors. We went to Erbil and I started working for my older brother, and started getting some experience. After we ran away from the government in 1991, we came back to our village and kept doing what I was good at. I have taught many people, from my own kids to many strangers, all of which have become fairly experienced now. My father always used to tell me if I teach people to work and they make a living off of it, God will always bless my home, so I always have to be ready to share my knowledge. I have met many different people during half of century of this work, I have interacted with many people. The fact that I am so calm now is due to all that experience I have had”. ...

Jan 23 2021

January 23, 2021

“I am 67 years old, I'm originally from Rojava from Kobane, but I've been living in Erbil for eight years. I love flower, especially how colorful they are, and mostly red and white. Every morning I get out of my house and take a walk on Erbil's streets, and sometimes I go to the bazaar. I take some time to sit, smell my flowers, and watch people go by and hear how they talk, I want to guess where they come from by the way they talk. Whenever I know someone is from Rojava, I go and ask them from where from Rojava they come from. When I hear Kobane, I sometimes start to cry a little, and sometimes I feel like I have holy water in front of me and I'm finally breaking my thirst for my country”. ...

Jan 21 2021

January 21, 2021

“After graduating from high school, I was accepted in Social Science college in Mosul. We started visiting museums for culture related subjects. After four years of college in 1991, I thought about collecting folklore items in the region. Due to technological advancement, the items that were used by our ancestors are not used anymore, and were about to be forgotten. So, I thought about opening a place and collect folklore items and protect them from being lost. At the beginning, I was asking people about these items, some of them were brought to me by the people, and I collected some of the other ones. I collected about 25% of the items in the region. I faced a lot of criticism from people back then, but that couldn't stop me. I am still collecting these items to today, and I have collected about 1000 items. Most of them are agricultural equipment because our area is suitable for agriculture”. ...

Jan 16 2021

January 16, 2021

“If you are born blind, you'll get used to it easier, but I believe that God won't put anything in your way unless it's written for you. Also, whether you're disabled or not, you'll leave this life, but it's important to stay faithful until you die. Thank God for the time that I could see, during my young ages, I had never hurt anyone and even until I was married my life had been pretty great, and once I lost my sight, I trained myself to recognize the things around me. I met many people while I was working, I recognize some people just by hearing their voices. In 1976, I was serving in the army with someone, we lost contact for forty years, and the moment I heard him I recognized him. I also had a classmate three years ago, we met again a while ago and I instantly recognized him by his voice”. “I go to the mosque in the morning, and go back home and take a shower, I never wake anyone to change my clothes, and I can also shave and take my clothes with me to the shower. I can even recognize which piece of clothing is which. True, it's been a long time since I've lost my sight, but I can still recognize colors, I know that in fall leaves turn yellow, and they turn green in the spring. I know what's red and what's white, and I can also recognize things by touching them. I also dream like I did before losing my sight. For example, I had met a gentleman wearing a suit, and I still see him in my dreams, or I had seen a woman wearing Kurdish clothes, and I still see her in my dreams. I still have my sight in my dreams, and see everything as they used to be. After losing my sight, my boys have gotten married, I always ask what they look like, and they answer by saying that the look like a certain person. My memory is pretty good, I can go on the street and walk and I wouldn't need anyone”. ...

Jan 13 2021

January 13, 2021

“I have overcome many obstacles in my athletic career, despite the fact that women have significantly less freedom than men in a city like Akre. Even my brothers didn't want me to continue, but my father's support helped me even go out of Akre and play for clubs in Hawler. Coming to Hawler was very good for me, I was able to learn Sorani dialect and got to marry a man from Koya. From the beginning, I was very nervous about how my husband feels about me playing sports. However, I was relieved when my father in law brought me athletic clothes and shoes as a gift. I didn't understand that it was a gift right away, but my husband said that it meant that he was a supporter of mine and would like me to continue”. ...

Jan 09 2021

January 9, 2021