By: Adrianne A.

March 21, 2018

Dr. Kajal Rahmani; VOKRadio interview

Interviews with Kurdish Writers Series

 

March 9, 2018
Exclusive; VOKRadio, Los Angeles

In observance and honor of International Women's Day/Month, Voice of Kurdish American Radio for Democracy, Peace, and Freedom, from the U.S, in collaboration with the organization World Women for Life (WWFL), conducted interviews with women identified writers from Kurdish decent. In this series, we learn about the lives and work of these talented writers, as they share with us the inspiration behind their work and contribute their insightful wisdom on working as Kurdish writers in today's world. In these interviews, we learn about the writer's backgrounds, interests, their role models, motivations, the role of mother tongue and relationship to other languages, as well as their take on feminism in their writing, experiences of gender-based discrimination, and misogyny.

These writers work in diverse fields and span different genres of writing. Some are accomplished authors of novels, while others work in journalism, poetry, and non-fiction.

Please introduce yourself the way you would like to be introduced to our audience but with a specific focus on your interests in writing.

My name is Kajal, born and grew up in Roj-halat Kurdistan Province. I began my early education in primary and high school in my hometown. There was no college in town so, I married and moved out of Kurdistan. I continued my education in Ahwaz at the time when I had two small children. Later, I continued my education in the US and received my Ph.D. in 1986.

I am a social-cultural anthropologist with the specialty in Mesopotamia including Kurdistan. I have been teacher and lecturer at the US-colleges and universities for most of my life. The last decade I have been with Anthropology Department at Boston University and Harvard University as faculty --a senior research fellow at Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, and now I am retired. I am a mother, a grandmother of five and live in Boston.

Also, I am director of Kurdistan Justice and peace Academy established in 1998. The KJPA/I mission is to provide modern education to Kurdistan. Since 2012 KJPA has helped with health and welfare of Kurdish refugees from Syria. KJPA has organized campaigns for US-based humanitarian groups to come to Kurdistan Bashour. Among the charity groups -the LDS Charity has helped with education -offering free courses in English, Economy, marketing, training physicians for laser surgery at Duhok Hospital and they have contributed to building a chicken farm for Ezdis in Sinjar etc. Overall, they have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars of medicine, clothing, and other life necessities to refugees in various projects in camps in Duhok, Sinjar, and Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

Our Mottos at KJPA are;

No Kurds should be left without education.
Education in mother tongue is a Human Right.
Peace cannot be accomplished without Justice.
Justice cannot be accomplished in Kurdistan without freedom and self-determination
Freedom and pursuit of happiness is a human right

Furthermore, I am activist and a lecturer and have delivered many conscious raising talks to publicize the Kurdish cause. I have traveled to Kurdistan on several occasions since 2005. My purpose was just to reorient myself to my identity. Professionally, I have found all parts of Kurdistan very fascinating and as one of my colleagues at Harvard anthropology department said, "Kurdistan is a gold mine for archaeological research." So, I fell in love with my motherland. I continue to work on a few projects to this day.

These writers work in diverse fields and span different genres of writing. Some are accomplished authors of novels, while others work in journalism, poetry, and non-fiction.

Please introduce yourself the way you would like to be introduced to our audience but with a specific focus on your interests in writing.

My name is Hanna Jaff Bosdet-a philanthropist, human rights activist, conference speaker and author. I have also authored three self-taught English books. I founded the Jaff Foundation for Education with the purpose to teach English through my self-taught English books. Till today, we have donated more than 25,000 English learning books to refugee camps and orphanages in India and Iraq.

Please introduce your book/books or any published work that you may have. What are they about, whose voices do you center in your work? Who are the heroes of your books, and how do these related to your personal life?

I have authored three self-taught English books; English manual for Spanish speakers, English manual for Kurdish speakers, and English and Spanish manual for Purépecha speakers. They are related to my life because knowing English has helped me compete with others in fulfilling my goals, and having an advantage in my career choices.

What is the Future for Kurdish Women?

By: Ghomri Rostampour