Meet S.
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S is an average girl in Shorsh village. She lives with her parents and two brothers. She spends her days at home with her mother or playing on the street with her brothers. Sometimes they watch their dad at work with the sheep in the fields near the village.
She will go to school in a few years time and learn to read and write, she will join in the local community centre's children's holiday programmes, and eventually she will become a Kurdish teenager. Like many of the teenage girls in Shorsh she might get married to an older man and start having his babies. Or, with the progress that Kurdistan is seeing during these years of peace, she might get to go to University and study for a career, maybe teaching or nursing. Her school grades will determine her career subject, and maybe if she is fortunate her family will allow her to work after her training before she gets married.
She will start having children as soon as she is married, and will probably have 3 or 4 before she is considered to have fulfilled her duty to her family. Her journey won't be easy, what with the FGM* she had done as a child and the high rate of miscarriages in her community. She will get basic medical needs met at the local community centre's health clinic. In the evenings when she cooks and puts the children to bed, there's a good chance he'll be watching television while drinking tea or he might be down at the local football cage with his mates.
She will enjoy sitting out in her concrete yard drinking tea with the other women in her extended family. She'll make delicious flavoured rice and stuffed vine leaves and a huge range of other side dishes for the various festivals her country celebrates. She will learn to sew in the community centre where her mother finally learned to read Kurdish. On holidays she'll take her family outdoors for picnics and watch her husband barbeque kebabs while she and her friends line up and dance in their best traditional dresses. And they will rejoice in being Kurds.
Meet B.
B lives at home with his parents, 4 sisters and 1 brother. His father works as a guard at the local community centre and his mother looks after the house. During the day he goes to the local school, and in the evenings before dinner he plays with his friends.
He gets grazes on his knees when he plays out on the streets but he gets cream for them at the community centre's health clinic when he needs it. When he's not watching his daddy work, he's at the barbers watching his daddy and uncles trim their beards. In a couple of years he wants to join the computer classes with the other boys at the community centre. Once he finishes school he might go to university and train for a career, maybe engineering or business.
When he's older he will join a football team and play football at nights after dinner in the local football cage. When Barcelona plays Real Madrid each year, he'll be cheering as loudly as he can in front of his mate's TV. When he's on holiday from university he'll take the English classes at the local community centre so that he can get a better job later on.
He will look after his wife and make sure their family is secure amongst the village politics. When he's got extra time, he'll find extra work gardening or loading trucks at the local community centre. He will work hard to keep his family and aging parents financially secure despite political changes and regional uncertainty.
When he grows to be an old man he'll sip tea down the road at the tea stall and tell stories with his mates. He'll watch the trees in the community centre's orchard grow and produce fruit, and tell his grandchildren off for picking unripe pomegranates. He will rejoice in living a different life to his father and grandfather, a life of peace and security.
*FGM information can be found here
S is an average girl in Shorsh village. She lives with her parents and two brothers. She spends her days at home with her mother or playing on the street with her brothers. Sometimes they watch their dad at work with the sheep in the fields near the village.
She will go to school in a few years time and learn to read and write, she will join in the local community centre's children's holiday programmes, and eventually she will become a Kurdish teenager. Like many of the teenage girls in Shorsh she might get married to an older man and start having his babies. Or, with the progress that Kurdistan is seeing during these years of peace, she might get to go to University and study for a career, maybe teaching or nursing. Her school grades will determine her career subject, and maybe if she is fortunate her family will allow her to work after her training before she gets married.
She will start having children as soon as she is married, and will probably have 3 or 4 before she is considered to have fulfilled her duty to her family. Her journey won't be easy, what with the FGM* she had done as a child and the high rate of miscarriages in her community. She will get basic medical needs met at the local community centre's health clinic. In the evenings when she cooks and puts the children to bed, there's a good chance he'll be watching television while drinking tea or he might be down at the local football cage with his mates.
She will enjoy sitting out in her concrete yard drinking tea with the other women in her extended family. She'll make delicious flavoured rice and stuffed vine leaves and a huge range of other side dishes for the various festivals her country celebrates. She will learn to sew in the community centre where her mother finally learned to read Kurdish. On holidays she'll take her family outdoors for picnics and watch her husband barbeque kebabs while she and her friends line up and dance in their best traditional dresses. And they will rejoice in being Kurds.
Meet B.
B lives at home with his parents, 4 sisters and 1 brother. His father works as a guard at the local community centre and his mother looks after the house. During the day he goes to the local school, and in the evenings before dinner he plays with his friends.
He gets grazes on his knees when he plays out on the streets but he gets cream for them at the community centre's health clinic when he needs it. When he's not watching his daddy work, he's at the barbers watching his daddy and uncles trim their beards. In a couple of years he wants to join the computer classes with the other boys at the community centre. Once he finishes school he might go to university and train for a career, maybe engineering or business.
When he's older he will join a football team and play football at nights after dinner in the local football cage. When Barcelona plays Real Madrid each year, he'll be cheering as loudly as he can in front of his mate's TV. When he's on holiday from university he'll take the English classes at the local community centre so that he can get a better job later on.
He will look after his wife and make sure their family is secure amongst the village politics. When he's got extra time, he'll find extra work gardening or loading trucks at the local community centre. He will work hard to keep his family and aging parents financially secure despite political changes and regional uncertainty.
When he grows to be an old man he'll sip tea down the road at the tea stall and tell stories with his mates. He'll watch the trees in the community centre's orchard grow and produce fruit, and tell his grandchildren off for picking unripe pomegranates. He will rejoice in living a different life to his father and grandfather, a life of peace and security.
*FGM information can be found here
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