My Journey in Search of the Kurds
€39.00Price
Non-fiction, size is 6"x 9" or 152 x 230 mm, weight is 692 g, 368 pages, Pocket/soft cover, Colored cover and Matt lamination
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Echoes of Wisdom
Be the voice to the speechless and an ear to the unheard.
My Journey in
Search of the Kurds
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It began as a thin line on a map. The mountains were unnamed in the atlases of my youth. Rivers split and rejoined like sentences searching for their verbs. “Who are the Kurds?” I asked my father as we watched the news one evening in March 1988. The RPN 9 newscast reported that a chemical weapon attack was launched by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds in northern Iraq. I was a freshman student at the University of Saint Louis in Baguio City back then. My question lodged at the back of my mind. On the maps I knew, the Kurds were an adjective without a noun, a rumor of a homeland. In the news, they were a headline that moved too fast to be seen. In the footnotes, they were history’s afterthought. I wanted to hear the voices between the lines.
More than three decades have passed. Who could have foreseen that I would meet the Kurds?
From the moment I attempted to scribble my story, a message from a young Peshmerga friend guided me in writing this book, leaving a trace on my heart. It did more than comfort and inspired me, it called me to act. In those words, I recognized courage born of hardship, resilience built on hope, and an immortal spirit that even death cannot defeat. That message has crossed borders and endured silence, urging me to stay engaged.
This book came from that sense of responsibility. It tells the story of a people often reduced to headlines or statistics. In seeking the Kurds, I found individuals on the edge of disappearance. I met families trying to rebuild their lives amid conflict, children learning forbidden language, and fighters aware that anonymity risked being forgotten. My friend's message became a call to listen, observe, keep writing, and share what others cannot express or can no longer say.
I do not write as a spokesperson for the Kurds. I write as a witness—partial, imperfect, and accountable. Each chapter of this narrative is shaped by that original message. Stories are lifelines. Memory can resist erasure. Honest storytelling stands against forgetting.
If this book succeeds, I hope that by the final page, the Kurds are no longer distant but a living presence: voices, faces, and names that deserve to be remembered. The message that once reached only me now belongs to you as well.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Freda L. Changat is a freelance journalist, writer, and TESOL teacher. Her enthusiasm for arts and crafts, music, and poetry complements her strong commitment to storytelling. Originally from the Cordillera region of the Philippines, she now lives in Finland. Her first encounter with a young Kurdish adult seeking asylum in Tampere in autumn 2015 marked the beginning of her journey documenting Kurdish experiences. Over the past 11 years, she has chronicled Kurdish stories across rugged mountains, challenging landscapes, and shifting borders. Her engagement with the Kurdish diaspora community in Europe inspired her to write stories about exile and triumph. Her work is anchored in determination and courage, utilizing extensive interviews, rediscovered archives, and detailed field notes. With respect for Kurdish history, language, and culture, she honors their resilience without romanticizing adversity. Her writing invites readers into a vivid narrative interwoven with struggle, dignity, and hope.
SIGNIFICANCE AND SYMBOLISM OF THE BOOK COVER:
The MOUNTAIN: The Kurds have a famous saying that identifies them as a unique people, “No friend but the mountain.” It is a well-known Kurdish proverb that identifies them as a unique people in the Middle East, distinct from their neighbors. The proverb signifies their feeling of betrayal, abandonment, and devastation due to their history as a semi-stateless ethnic minority in the Middle East without faithful allies. They are a nation without a country. But with the mountain, I can relate to the Kurds. More than three hundred years ago, my Igorot ancestors fled to the deep forests and mountains for protection when the Spaniards attempted to subjugate the Igorotlandia. They didn’t retreat but fought fearlessly against the conquerors.
Our Igorot warrior ancestors revolted against the Spaniards with their spears, axes, and wooden shields. The Kurds have followed a similar path for more than a century; they were carving their paths while being displaced, oppressed, massacred, and assimilated by the occupiers of their land.
For the Igorots and the Kurds, the mountain is a haven of refuge, a place of belonging, and a safe place for protection. Same with the Kurds: it's from the land of rivers, the land of waterfalls, the land of ancient chants, and the land of towering mountains, where they would run to escape the warplanes, the bombs, and the missiles, and find asylum within their chestnut trees.
The FIRE: The Kurds celebrate their new year to welcome new life, new beginnings, and rebirth during a great festivity called Newroz. They light the torches and set up a bonfire as a symbol of liberation, renewal, and the triumph of light over darkness. It represents hope and resilience, celebrating the arrival of spring and the end of oppression.
For the Cordilleran/Igorot peoples of the Philippines, we consider fire as a vital, living element tied to animist beliefs. It represents ancestral communion, warmth, and divine wisdom. It serves as a continuous bridge between the physical world and the spirit realm. Our tradition, “Mangapey” or “Pang-apoy,” where the fire is maintained to guide and welcome the spirits of departed ancestors, keeps our homes warm during this transitional practice.
The SNAKEBONE: To us Cordillerans, this can be made into a headdress for women or a pendant for men. In the Bontoc tribe I come from, the snake bones (often worn as duli necklaces or headdresses) represent powerful spiritual protection. They are traditionally worn to safeguard against malevolent spirits, venomous bites, lightning strikes, and malicious magic, while also promoting fertility, safe childbirth, and longevity.
To the Kurdish people, the enduring legend of Şahmaran (Shamaran), a half-woman, half-snake, and keeper of wisdom, is a central figure in Kurdish mythology and folklore.
For many Kurds, Şahmaran is more than myth; she embodies resilience, knowledge, and the complex dualities of life. She acts as a wisdom goddess, guardian of secrets, and a symbol of abundance, healing, and peace.
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