MAMIHAN HALBIN ZIDAN

VAN- Women, who contribute to all aspects of life and bear the main burden of securing livelihoods, face heavier responsibilities in rural environments. In the countryside, they rely on combining their manual work with what nature bestows.

As the land begins to enter its winter slumber, a new phase of women’s struggle begins in Van city in northern Kurdistan, as multiple tasks fall on their shoulders, starting from gathering wild herbs, milking livestock, and making cheese, yogurt, butter, and cream, reaching to baking and tending the garden.

Maqbula Simo, 62 years old, is a living model of the struggling rural woman. She is a mother of eight children living in the village of Sak in the Shakh district of Van city, and she takes pride in her career extending for half a century in the profession of "Berivan" (livestock milker). We met her on her way back from the pastures, and while she was busy straining milk in preparation for boiling it, she summed up the reality of the situation by saying: "Men work without a doubt, but the greatest burden always falls on women's shoulders."

"Hard Work"

She explained that the work season opens with the arrival of spring through sheep milking trips and gathering wild herbs, noting that local production is the economic pillar of families. "We sell herbs and cheeses derived from the milk we milk, and despite the extreme hardship of this toil, it provides our basic income. Sheep represent a treasure from which we produce ghee, cheese, cream, and yogurt, and we have been practicing this activity for 50 years, and every year the burdens double with the beginning of the spring season."

"Everything We Produce We Earn Our Living From"

She said: "The wheel of production does not stop with the arrival of autumn, as harvesting walnuts and collecting honey are seasons we await at this time, and we sell what we obtain as well. We earn our sustenance from everything our hands produce, and we are preparing our winter provisions from now, when milking stops completely. Winter here passes very harshly, as snow has begun to cover the mountain peaks." She added that the rugged nature of the region has come to make walking the mountain paths difficult. "The pasture trips will end a month from now, and with the first of the Chilla (the forty coldest days of winter), the largest part of this daily fatigue will end."

"I Wish No One Had Gone to the Cities"

Despite that harshness, Maqbula Simo confirms that rural life has a magic and beauty that make one forget the fatigue. "I wish no one had migrated to the cities. We plant our vegetables with our own hands, and we do not need to buy anything from outside," renewing her emphasis that "the greatest burden falls on women's shoulders."