Monday, November 24, 2014

Working Class Princess



Do you ever just sit down and think about life? I do that all the time. I try to find logical reasons for everything that happens within me, around me and all around the world. It's already scary enough to think about everything that is happening in the world, that we constantly try to minimize our thinking into smaller pieces. Like for example "Me, me, & me" -thinking.

The fact is that we all are selfish, either we like it or not. We all have our own problems and we put all of our energy into us -don't even mention other people's problems.



But.. then again the case is not always this. Sometimes, just sometimes we happen to meet someone who makes us feel ashamed for being able not to be just like them. We wish to be like them because they amaze us by just being who they are. So.. who are they? More precisely said who is the "Working Class Princess"?

Is she someone like her?


Or perhaps someone more closer to reality?



Or maybe... Young and Successful?





Noup. She is none of these lovely ladies. She is one of us. She is the type of a princess we call our best friend. She is the first person we call for awesome news, for not so awesome news and for really bad news. She is the girl who does not judge because she knows better. She knows how rough life can be and all we need is someone to tell us "You know that you are really strong"? and hugs us tight.




The best of all. She has been through more than anyone else I know, yet she is always there for you. Even if you are a stranger, she will care for you if you need her. You can always count on her because you know she will ALWAYS be there for you. This is rare.

She is selfless, she loves you with all of her heart and no matter what the world has done to her she never ever lost hope and never will. You know why? Because god blessed her with a heart no one else has. Because god blessed her with a soul you cannot find. Because god blessed her with a smile on her face even when tears are falling down. She is beautiful in and outside. 

She is:



The only person who understands me completely. 






Yet.. we find peace in them, in people like her because what would the world be without people like her? Just nothing.

I love her with every beat of my heart. 

Saturday, November 1, 2014

It's All so Black in White

It's Sunday morning and I wake up to the sound of rain drops. The weather seems so cold and laying on my warm bed felt the best thing in the world. I look at the time and it's 10 AM. Still too early to wake up but I still get up.

I open the window blind and I see a foggy world. The moment felt different because for once I didn't feel like the world needed to make any sense. The world didn't make any sense.



No matter the weather, I still decided to go for a jog. As I run under the rain, the cold wind hits my face, the rain drops on my head and nose -a small memory hits me like a flash back.





I suddenly see myself on a summer afternoon back in the 90's, when I am 6 years old. I am at the playground and building a sand castle, but I am alone. All the other kids are running around, screaming and laughing. Seeing myself playing all by myself I remember something. I remember that I did not know anything about the world I know today. I did not know anything about the world I am originally from. I did not know anything about the world we live in. I did not know what it meant to worry or suffer. I knew one thing, and it was that I was free to do whatever I wanted.
I was only a child and that meant that the world needed to love me and care for me as much as I needed.

But this is not for every child. 



We are living in the 21st century and yet we see suffering children every single day. The worst part is not that they are living in bad conditions, the worst part is that we see them walking on their bare feet without a shelter and we are not doing anything about it. Innocent children are in the battlefield as our shields.
"Kurdish children don't know how to be children, they act as if they know everything. They skip the age of knowing what being little is. They act like they are the protectors. And they are willing and always will look on the bright side."
-Ashna A. Wasman

What does it mean to be a child? Humanium -Help the Children defines a child as the following: "Etymologically, the term “child” comes from the Latin infans, which means ” the one who does not speak “. For the Roman, this term designates the child from its birth, up to the age of 7 years." If the definition of a child is one that does not speak, then how can they tell us they are suffering? They can't. It is our responsibility, the worlds responsibility to nourish a child in a  way that promises them a brighter day and a brighter future. 

What happens when we don't guarantee them a safe life?





"Kurdish children are not suffering from a natural disaster, being abandoned or for being homeless. Their role is to survive a war. A war, which has been going on forever and protect their fellow siblings through it. Even the ones living outside of Kurdistan, who have escaped war and have managed to be taken in by other countries, they struggle too. They struggle to explain to their friends what and where Kurdistan is and where they originate and why they had to leave. Kurdish children are the strongest ones and Kurds have it in their blood to keep fighting for their nation and it runs through each and every generation. It's amazing that Kurdistan is not officially on a map and all the Kurds are separated and scattered around the world, they are all united as one spirit. All our thoughts are with these babies, our babies. I pray for them all the time. They didn't do anything to deserve what they are going through, but they will fight against it and keep the Kurdish faith running through their veins for the Future Kurdish Generation."
-Joanne Abbassi-Nejad



As Miss Joanne put it, the role of the Kurdish Children is to survive a war -an ongoing war. What makes me wonder is that since when being innocent is for the privileged ones? Since when a child has to live inside the European union or the states to be cared for, to be protected, to have the right to breath and live in peace? We feel sorry for them but we refuse to help, we refuse to plan a better future if it does not directly concern us. 

The future doesn't lie in the hands of a 6 years old child who has an iPad to play with, a warm bed to sleep in, a healthy breakfast he gets or a school he attends. The future lies in the hands of a child that has nothing but still survives the war, sleeps during the cold dark night, barely eats. That is where our future is and will be.



I don't know for how long the West will close their eyes for the injustice that is happening in the same world, not in light-years away. Our children are scared to live every single moment of their life.

Imagine if your own child didn't have their safe haven, their own safe surrounding where they can play with their dolls, laugh and run as much as they want. What if your child's future was All so Black in White? I can bet, that is the moment when you open your eyes and do your best to guarantee them a brighter future. What kind of a parent you would, if you did not do that?

Well imagine these are your kids.



Imagine that these two little children are in the middle of a war, and their only playground is the battlefield and each second could be their last. 

Forget the iPads, the dolls and even shoes, but focus on their face expressions. These two little angels don't even realize what is happening, because they don't know any better. All they know is today. 

What if we can give them also tomorrow? We can. Every passing day we have the possibility to change their life, and their future. We can give them shelter and not just in our hearts, we can give them a smile that lasts longer than a minute - a life time, and mostly we can give them a real life. A life every child in the world deserves.

The Children of Kurdistan deserves a colorful life just as our flag.





Long live #Kurdistan !



The pictures with name of Rekar Hiwa are his property and they are used with his permission. For more information: Rekar Hiwa.