Humans of West - Humans of Kurdistan

“I have worked in different fields, making aluminum doors, being a black smith, and now selling ceramic. My job is risky while going from Jzire region to Furat region afraid of Turkish airstrikes. The worst of my days are when I go home from work and I see either my father or mother sick. During the war I have lost a friend and one of my cousins as well. However, the worst one was losing the girl that I loved unilaterally for five years, they informed me that she had gotten married. I was left alone and I'm still depressed about those days, but despite all that I continue living my life hoping that brighter days are coming.” ...

Nov 29 2020

November 29, 2020

“After I left school in 9th grade, I started to become a barber, but because I wasn't taking money from my friends and less fortunate people, my father asked me to leave the job because I was mostly working for free. I started fixing sewing machines after a while. I taught myself, and it took me a short amount of time because I already knew how to sew and I used to fix my machine by myself. I became better and better day by day. Nowadays no one really does this job in Qamishli, because the machines aren't used anymore, there are now advanced machines used in factories. These machines are more used in a household because of their lack of speed, and a lot of times people bring them for fixing, but I don't charge them because they don't have the money. My children don't know how to fix machines, they like education, they like science.” ...

Nov 25 2020

November 25, 2020

“I have had drawing talent since I was a kid, I used to draw on school desks and my books at home. I really loved Art class, I used to show off my talent and the teacher appreciated it. They even asked me to prepare some paintings for our gallery in the school, and being different from the other kids made me try to develop myself more. In the beginning, I was drawing just for fun and had no plans in becoming a skilled painter and make paintings a part of my life. However, when I was fourteen, I came across a video showing how art is used in video games and how the characters are created and details are added, and I was really intrigued. From this point on, my life changed. I decided to create video game characters with great details. I have even thought about creating a short animation movie.” ...

Nov 18 2020

November 18, 2020

“I have nine kids, 3 boys and 6 girls. My love story with my husband goes back to before our marriage. We loved each other dearly when we were young, he didn't disappoint me and we got married. We still love each other, he has never made me upset, and I haven't made him upset either, I miss him whenever he's away. We go through difficult times together. Nothing can stop a heart to get to what it loves, but Syria's war has wiped happiness from everybody's heart, you don't see a single person smiling.” ...

Nov 17 2020

November 17, 2020

“My family and I traveled to the capital Damascus, I was studying English literature there. We weren't doing very well financially, I was working and it was very tiresome. Even though my family did not agree to the fact that I was working, but I had to stop studying a couple of times to gather some money to spend on myself and my education. I was going to work after school, and a lot of times I was being harassed and catcalled, which even made me leave my job a couple of times. Furthermore, going to college was becoming dangerous because there was an ongoing war between the Syrian army and the Islamic radicals. I was thinking of going to the university and live there because my family were always worried about me.” ...

Nov 17 2020

November 17, 2020

“I remember when I was twenty-one, people used to be good to each other, whenever there was a convoy following someone deceased, people used to follow it and help the family. I was very affected by that and I used to follow them as well, I even helped digging the graves, I was known as the Gravedigger. Whenever there was a deceased person, they had me in mind for the grave digging because I was doing it as a volunteer so they used to ask me to help out. I know exactly how it feels to lose someone, so I usually tell them to leave the digging to me. I admit that it's a very hard work, and when I turned fifty, I needed a surgery in my hand because it was badly damaged due to the digging. However, this didn't stop me, so I hired a couple of people, and after 8 years I was able to collect money to buy a machine to dig the graves. Best thing in my life is that I go to bed every night with a clear conscience. I am sure people are praying for me because of the work I do.” ...

Nov 15 2020

November 15, 2020

“In 2019, Turkish forces started to come into our cities and started bombarding the city through their air force and army. We had to leave the city to save ourselves. We were about 5 kilometers away from the city, we stayed at a different place each night, we used to walk while crying without knowing where we were going. After several days we went to Hasakah to stay at a school for a while. Something that I'll never forget is when there was an airstrike on us by Turkish forces and everything in front of me became suddenly dark. I was seeing bodies on the street. I will never lose hope, and we will one day go back to our city and liberate it from Turkish forces.” ...

Nov 14 2020

November 14, 2020

“I'm thirteen years old. I play with my neighbor’s kids, and we're having a great time. I quitted school due to my family's financial situation, they couldn’t send me to school. Currently, my father is living elsewhere, making a living for us and himself. After he left and I quit school, I have started working and taking care of the house because I'm the oldest child. I work as a welder, it's very difficult, but I have to do it to take care of my sisters until my father comes back. When I see my friends going to school while I go to work, I feel a pain in my heart, it's because I like going to school.” ...

Nov 12 2020

November 12, 2020

“In 2015, there was an explosion in a Newroz celebration event, I was there at the time. My friends and I got injured, my body had 43 wounds. The event was in the middle of the city, along with three of my friends we decided to attend. The explosion seemed like it happened in a few seconds, all I remember was I was laying on the floor, and there was a noise in my ears. I didn't feel the wounds in my body, I saw everyone laying on the ground covered in blood. I wanted to get up and help people, I could barely recognize my friends because of all the blood, and I was unconscious after a while. Once I regained consciousness, I was in the hospital and I was informed that my friends were missing, I found out later on that they were in another hospital. It was a terrible night for all the people there. I was on a bed for several months until I was well again, we stayed in contact with my friends through the internet, and that helped me survive and keep going in life.” “After two years, in 2017 I was in a shock when I was diagnosed with cancer, I was truly upset asking why me? Why is does my destiny hold so much unfortune. I survived an explosion, but now I'm diagnosed with cancer. I went to Damascus for treatment, and chemotherapy was truly difficult. All that fear and uncertainty was like dying to me. My life stood still, and I was going through a rough time. I got treatment for a year and survived cancer. I have been well known for eating a lot of lemon, I either drink its juice, or have it with other food, I eat about half a kilo every day. Maybe that's what helped me survive cancer.” ...

Nov 10 2020

November 10, 2020

“I am originally from Armenia, during the Armenian genocide my father had left to Qmaishli. When I served in the Syrian army, they sent me to the mechanics department, even though I had told them that I was just a shop owner and had no idea about mechanics. They told me that it's not possible to be Armenian and not know about mechanics. In 1960, my father had opened a shop selling consumer goods, I was just 16 then, and I have been working there since. I was so attached to the shop, I couldn't stay away even for a day. Even during the curfew because of COVID-19, I was coming to the shop and was sitting right in front of it.” ...

Nov 09 2020

November 9, 2020