March: Kurdish History Month.

I am a Kurdish mother to two children.  In my ideal world, all of March my two children will go to school. No, it will not be a holiday. March is a holy month on the Kurdish calendar, how dare us not use it in favour of our children.  Instead, it will be Kurdish History...

Where did we go wrong? Youth and their love for Kurdistan

Let’s meet Hama. His father is sitting in front of the television screen, swearing at every face he sees. His mother is complaining about this and that and blaming the government for everything, including the lack of ripe okra at the grocery store down the road. After graduation, he hasn’t got his ‘taeen’ yet, so...

Medya Diagnostic Center: Pioneer of modern healthcare in Kurdistan

Hello loyal reader, Here is what happened three days ago.  I enter the Medya Diagnostic Center, MDC, the white (with a little blue) building on Erbil's hustle and bustle of the 60-meter road.   A smiling young woman greets me at the main reception, "can I help you?" she asks as she widens her smile. I...

Snapchat Destroyed Kurdish Women!

I am given a mobile phone to take a selfie. I look at the screen to take the photo, and I see myself. Well, not exactly myself; an Angelina Jolie version of me with a little bit of Bella Hadid, and a mix of Aishwarya Rai when she was in her twenties and Haifa Wehbi...

Year 12 is suicidal.

It is that time of year. The internet shuts down in the entire country. Walls of homes fume with stress. Teenagers cry to sleep. Youth vomit in examination rooms. Young girls have panic attacks like they have ran four marathons in a row from one summer holiday to the next. A few commit suicide. A...

Your nest is no longer Kurdistan.

I heard you left. You left a place I call my nest, and you decide to fly, ironically, you decide to fly with no wings to a place yet to give you a nest. But you are determined to build one. Photo: Jamal Yad click here for more I thought and thought of why I...

Why here, and not there?

You ask me "why here and not there?" I don't blame you. I often ask myself the exact same question, when life here gives me a slap in the face, I ask myself "Why here? Why not there?" Why live in Erbil when you can live in London? Why be in Iraq when you can...

Secrets from Slemani

Pssst. Hello. Care to know a few secrets from the Cultural Capital? I am sat at a local cafe. If I did not search for it, I would have never known it was located on this inner neighbourhood road. I need to pinch myself to believe what I am seeing is real. In fact, I...

Just a thought.

Just a little outside of Slemani, I am sat with a few families in a little farmhouse over a little hill. One person, in particular, takes my attention away from the setting sun and red coloured sky to much deeper levels of thinking about the state of education in our society - typical Sazan Mind,...

Made in Kurdistan Businesses and Startups

Loyal Reader, if you are travelling, sending a birthday gift, if you wish to surprise a loved one or you are hosting a large event and want to give gift bags, please remember these startups and businesses. Because for these entrepreneurs, most female, every order makes a difference. These businesses are all Made in Kurdistan,...