ELMAS NAYİF

Shengal- This year is a dry year for Shengal due to a reduction in rainfall. The low crop yields frustrate the people of Shengal, who make a living from agriculture and animal husbandry but they never give up cultivating their lands. The women of Shengal wake up early morning to go to their fields, as an Êzidi proverb says, “On our lands, first Êzidi women wake up, and then the sun rises; because women create the sun.”

The Êzidi women of Shengal wake up before sunrise to graze their animals, and to work in their fields. Shirin Xidir is one of these women. She wakes up before sunrise to work. “This year, we have more neighbors. We planted many crops this year because many people returned. We expected to have more crops. But we had very little rainfall this year so we have fewer crops. We come to our fields every day even if we have fewer crops.”