[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bg-img.jpg” width=”100%” max_width=”100%” fb_built=”1″ _i=”0″ _address=”0″][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ width=”90%” max_width=”2560px” module_alignment=”center” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/kk.png” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ custom_padding=”|||3%|false|false” _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.1″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ text_font=”PT Sans Narrow||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”22px” header_3_font=”PT Sans Narrow|700|||||||” header_3_text_align=”left” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_3_font_size=”25px” custom_padding=”||||false|false” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.1.0″]<\/p>\n
Journalism and advocacy work in womens organizations.<\/em> [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ text_font=”PT Sans Narrow||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”22px” header_3_font=”PT Sans Narrow|700|||||||” header_3_text_align=”left” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_3_font_size=”25px” custom_padding=”5%||||false|false” _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.1.1″]<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a meeting with a lawyer\u201d my husband reading the mail which came in the brown envelope. Yes, I said, finally we have a lawyer Great! How can we get to go to Vancouver to see our lawyer and then maybe to the beach for a walk?\u201d. I asked. \u201cYou need to take buses to get there\u201d my husband replied, [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ width=”90%” max_width=”2560px” module_alignment=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.1″ custom_padding=”0px||||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.1.0″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.3″ text_font=”PT Sans Narrow||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”22px” text_line_height=”1.5em” header_3_font=”PT Sans Narrow|700|||||||” header_3_text_align=”left” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_3_font_size=”25px” custom_padding=”||||false|false” _i=”0″ _address=”0.1.0.0″]\u201cNo, No, No, I am not taking that many buses I exclaimed with a still happy face looking forward to going to Vancouver from Abbotsford where I lived. I wanted to spend time in Vancouver and walk all around the city and visit all the landmarks I heard about it. My husband was looking at me, and said in a serious voice \u201cShanga , It\u2019s the only way we do not have a car yet!\u201d. [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bg-img.jpg” width=”100%” max_width=”100%” fb_built=”1″ _i=”0″ _address=”0″][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ width=”90%” max_width=”2560px” module_alignment=”center” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/kk.png” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ custom_padding=”|||3%|false|false” _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.1″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ text_font=”PT Sans Narrow||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”22px” header_3_font=”PT Sans Narrow|700|||||||” header_3_text_align=”left” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_3_font_size=”25px” custom_padding=”||||false|false” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.1.0″] Shanga Karim Journalism and advocacy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1077,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions\/1077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I was a voice for those women who faced honour killings, FGM, and<\/em>
violence in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq.<\/em>
Languages:<\/strong> Kurdish, English.<\/em><\/p>\nFirst Days<\/h3>\n
\u201c three buses to Surrey and one skytrain to get to Vancouver then one more bus to take you to the lawyer\u2019s office\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe woke at 5 am. We start walking past the beautiful lake which was between the house and the first bus station. It looked beautiful with the white lillies but I feel only sadness. Why nothing makes me feel happy? I don\u2019t know! We reached Vancouver after many hours and were so happy to find our lawyer\u2019s office after
\nwalking around the same place three to four times! We walked in and knocked the door. I was fretting. How will it be? What will he ask? How can I answer with my little English?
\nA man in a suit unlocked the door. \u201cDo you have appointment?\u201d I said \u201cyes\u201d.\u201cOk wait\u201d, he said that without
\nlooking at us or giving us a smile, I stopped smiling and tried to be serious like him.
\nAfter a few minutes, he opened the door and said \u201ccome on in\u201d. We tried to sit on the chairs unsure whether to say anything or not. He looked so busy. \u201cWho is Shanga\u201d? I said \u201cme\u201d quickly.
\nHe started to explain what his role was as a lawyer and what we should do. He said \u201ctell me about yourself\u201d. I felt relieved. \u201cI am from Kurdistan, I was a journalist and I had to leave because\u2026..\u201d \u201cStop stop\u201d, he started to ask me specific questions and I tried to answer, but he seemed frustrated and I felt stupid. He told me to slow down, \u201cDon\u2019t answer my questions before listening\u201d. Then he brought in an interpreter who shook hands with us and said \u201cchawaani bashi\u201d in Krmanji kurdish dialect…
\nWe started again, with questions and answers, the interpreter rounded his head to us and asked \u201ctanaskrd?\u201d My mind froze. I even forgot all my sadness. I asked my husband, can you translate it for me please? I don\u2019t
\nunderstand the interpreter\u2019s Kurdish dialect! The lawyer is perplexed. \u201cIt\u2019s the same language! Why you don\u2019t understand each other?? If you listen carefully, then you can understand.\u201d But the one who didn\u2019t want to
\nunderstand was the lawyer, and I told him,\u201d I replied that so many times, that I can understand you more than the interpreter, but you even don\u2019t want to think about what I am saying.
\nIn Kurdistan I was fighting for women who suffered from lack of respect in society, but here in Canada a lawyer was chiding me and everything was going wrong! We finished our first meeting without understanding each other. It was already late and we had to head back home taking so many buses and the sky train again.
\nHow hard it is to start a new life in another big country with all the stress and sadness, you can\u2019t be same person as you were anymore, you can\u2019t smell the same way as you did, you can\u2019t laugh from the bottom of your heart as you did, and you can\u2019t have same lovers that is the hardest to live without. We missed one bus from Aldergrove to Abbotsford and the next one will come after an hour and half. Then we will go home
\nwalking past the lake without seeing it\u2019s beauty.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"