MEDYA HAWAR

Shengal (Sinjar)- When Penaber ( means ‘Refugee’ in Kurdish) was born in the village of Siba Sheikh Khidir on July 25, 2014, she brought hope to her parents who had wanted to have a child for seven years. 10 days after her birth, ISIS attacked Shengal. She was named Penaber by her parents because she became a refugee when she was 10 days old. Now, she lives with her parents in the Xanesor town of Shengal.

When ISIS attacked Shengal in the early morning of August 3, 2014, her mother held Penaber in her hands and ran to the mountains. They were one of the Yazidi families, who walked for two days to reach Shengal mountains without food and water. Penaber’s mother did not eat anything for two days so she could not produce breast milk but she did her best to keep her daughter alive. When she saw sheep in the mountains, she began to give her daughter sheep’s milk. Thus, she kept Penaber alive.

After spending a week in the mountains, the fighters of the HPG-YJA-STAR and YPG-YPJ opened a humanitarian corridor and saved thousands of Yazidi families. Penaber’s family was one of those families. The family of Penaber stayed in the Kurdistan Region for five days but then decided to go to North and East Syria due to deteriorating living conditions in the Kurdistan Region. Penaber grew up in the Newroz camp built by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) for the people of Shengal. After living in the camp for four years, they returned to their homeland, Shengal.

‘She opened her eyes in the arms of the female fighter’

In an interview with NuJINHA, Penaber’s mother Fehîme said, “On our way to the mountains, we saw how dozens of children lost their lives. I was so scared and thought my daughter would die, too. But when I heard that the guerrillas would come to help us, I thought my daughter would live. We got into the vehicles that the freedom fighters brought for us. I looked at Penaber but she turned black. When I screamed, everyone looked at me. A female fighter was there and told me, ‘Give her me’. She took my daughter and poured a few drops of water down her throat and then a few drops of water on her face. Penaber took a deep breath and opened her black eyes. My Penaber opened her eyes in the arms of the female fighter. That moment was the moment when Penaber was reborn.”

“My parents fled from Shengal when ISIS attacked our homeland. My mother’s name is Fehîme and my father’s name is Eli. My parents named me Panaber because they were refugees at that time. Our house is in Siba but we live in Xanesor because ISIS burned our house down in Siba. When ISIS attacked our village, I was 10 days old but now I am 10 years old. I am afraid of all animals, but I love sheep because I drank their milk. During the genocide, my mother could not produce breast milk so she gave me sheep’s milk to keep me alive. I love sheep very much,” Panaber told us.