To be a Kurd

I want to share some part of my life experiences, including what I have witnessed and heard. I was born in 1908 in Sablagh (Mahabad city). My father had two wives. When I was four days old, my mother passed away. As I grew older, my neighbors and relatives told me that my stepmother had supposedly poisoned my mother. After my mother’s death, my father and my stepmother refused to accept me as their child. Instead, they gave me to a woman named Ayşe Qal to foster. Ayşe Qal also had a newborn son who was four months older than me. she worked as a water carrier for the local residents in her neighborhood. Her husband, Hama Gawan, was a cowboy in the area.Behind Ayşe Qal’s house, there was a damaged house. One day, a neighbor entered the Ayşe Qal’s house for doing some daily chores. she witnessed an astonishing and shocking scene. A mother dog was lying down with its puppies. Among the puppies, one stood out, it appeared older than the others and resembled the offspring of a human being. As the neighbor moved closer, she saw that the dog was nursing a human newborn alongside its own puppies as one of its own.When the neighbor saw such a scene, she started screaming, which drew the people to see what was happening. They took me out of the dog’s arms and then informed my father and stepmother. Once Ayşe Qal was found, they forced her back to her house, beating and kicking her along the way. They then informed Kaka Rasha, the ombudsman,about the incident. With the help of the local authorities, he summoned her husband to come back from the fields. The authorities expelled both of them from the city immediately, as they were followed by a crowd throwing stones and pouring yogurt on their faces.