Kurdistan is Our Home

The other day I came home from work and I heard my dad talking on the phone with our relative. They were talking about when would our relative leave Kurdistan for good and settle down in Europe, Finland.

The more I think about it, the more I want to know what our fellow Kurds back home really think about leaving Kurdistan. I asked the question below in a Kurdish group, and I got plenty of good answers!

After couple of hours few of the Kurds answered me with their thoughts and opinions. Many thought that leaving Kurdistan would never be an option and for some it would be the best decision they would ever do. So why is that?

"Kurdistan has a lot of problems but living in another country is even worse. Kurds living abroad usually have satisfied needs in term of their life needs, but they always have one problem: home sickness."  -Ahmed Duhoki

I personally grew up in Finland so I could say Finland is my home, but I can't because it is not. Surely Finland has given me everything and I can't show my gratitude enough, but there is always home sickness, a sense of belonging, shared culture and language. I am not alone in this, because many Kurds abroad share the same feelings.

"For many it's a golden ticket to a better life but of course it comes with lot of disadvantages too. Right now Kurdistan is a mess in the hands of the corrupted people so I am glad I chose to leave it but there are other times I think why did I leave my motherland, because at the end home is where your mother is." -Shaho Ahmed

 Indeed.. Home. Where is your home? Is it in Kurdistan, Europe, The States or Africa? Shaho Ahmed defined home to us better than I could've ever defined it. But what if my mother is here with me, in Finland? I still say my home is in Kurdistan and that will never change.

"No, we know the hardness of life out of Kurdistan but at least we know life abroad is fair."-Miran Shamall

"I've been in Kurdistan for 3 years and each day I hate it more and more. Imagine how the people who have lived here all of their life feel? Yes, they will try anything to get away from this hell hole." -Gilan Norie

Life is hard no matter where you are, it just depends on the perception one got. As Ahmed Duhoki put it "Building a good life can be done anywhere under any situation. It depends on how hard you want to build that good life", it all comes down to you personally. Some have seen the worst of life hence they would cherish every second of something good even if its 2 hours of electricity per day but then there are some who are so used to a good life that having everything is still not enough because they can't adjust to the Kurdish mentality. 

" I was born in Europe so I had no choice but I am grateful. I need to make enough money to be able to help my family back home." -Serxwebûn Agirî

"I went back with my husband and two kids, we both had offered great jobs, and it took us 11 months to change our minds again. Once you have seen both Kurdistan and another country, you really can't make up your mind. If I was living alone I would be living there but as a mother I can't just think of myself." -Shayma Sadiq

Those who left Kurdistan back in the 80's and 90's didn't really have much of a choice. Whose parent wouldn't want to provide their children a brighter future? Those Kurds who succeeded safely all the way to Europe are mostly there to do their best. But we will never forget our country, we will never stop helping our people because to us it will always be our home. 

"There are people who came back to Kurdistan and never wish to leave it again, some burn their passports, some lives like a king, and then some are ready to pay anything to get an European residency permit." - Soran Mohammed

 I'm not arguing that life ain't difficult in Kurdistan, but I am arguing on is leaving your home today really worth it? You could live in the middle of the desert or forest and still try to live a good life since as previously mentioned it all goes down to you. 

"Kurdistan is like a mother for us, even tho there isn't a quality life here, our soul will be hungry if we are far away from mother's lap. Even those living overseas will come back to their mother's hug." -Shahkawan H. Qadir

That said, Kurdistan is our mother land and we are Kurdistan's future. Kurdistan is and will always be our home and no distance can take that away from us. This is my home.

How to Reach Your Goals?

Yesterday we had dinner with my colleges at a Swedish restaurant in Stockholm City. While we were waiting for our main course to arrive, we were sipping drinks and talking at the same time. One of them said: 

"it would never be boring to be friends with you because one day you are moving back to Kurdistan, the next day you are planning to get your masters in Estonia and day after that all of your plans have changed."

I couldn't stop laughing. I laughed so loud that at one point it kinda got a bit weird. 

Thank god I know how to react fast so I replied: 

"BUT, I always have the same destination. The journey keeps changing because there are so many routes and I cannot decide which one is the best, so sometimes I choose all of them at the same time."  

Obviously at that precise moment I didn't think about it more than that. 

Seriously speaking, how many of you thinks about their goals and destinations every day? How many of you gets up, looks into the mirror and says "Today I am one day closer to my goal"? I bet not many. Tho I know there are some people in this world who are so determinant that their every breath is towards their goals. These people work day and night without getting tired or frustrated. Why? Because they are willing to work for everything they want.

I want to believe that I am this type of a person. I have my goal written on my forehead, stained in my heart and clear in my eyes. So how did I do this? 

The first thing I did was figuring out what do I want from life.

These goals don't necessarily need to be life changing, world peace or curing cancer -even tho they can be these too. Only you can set your goals and only you can achieve them. So make sure its for yourself and not for your parents, partner, friends or people you hate (yah, sometimes we want to impress people we don't even like!). Instead only focus on yourself. Take a deep breath and listen to your heart, after this start writing them down.

The second thing I did was to think of ways how to achieve my goals.

I think this is the most hardest part, at least for myself. Sometimes I think there are thousand things I want to do, million things I want to experience and billion things I want to learn. Life feels way too short! I guess in times like these we should stop and think for a second. We need to put our goals into sections and achieve them step by step. I know it can be hard sometimes but believe me when I say it will be much harder to look at someone who is living their dream already and you are just sitting there and doing nothing.

It might take even half of your life before you achieve your goals, but its much better to live a life with a purpose than wake up everyday without a good reason. Life doesn't necessarily have a meaning but you can change that. You can decide to believe in yourself and then focus on how to improve yourself to the person you want.

The third thing I did was maintaining my everyday life with my goals.

Never stop reading! I feel like sometimes we are forgetting how much there is still to learn and instead we spend all our days in Facebook liking idiotic photos, scrolling down Instagram over and over again and Whatsapping random stuff to our friends. Are we that afraid to sit down, grab a book and just relax? I'll make it easy for you. On your way to school, uni or work take a book with you. Instead of playing with your phone read a book for that 20 min. That's what I do and it really works. 

I didn't want to write very specific ways of reaching your goals, because I would be just lying to you and myself. No one can tell you how to exactly reach them, but what you can do is get to know yourself. Stay determined and make it happen!