Orphans at UKH

University of Kurdistan Hewler Students Union invited a large number of children from Mali Khanda Orphanage to the campus. The kids were warmly received by the students and enjoyed their time by painting the students faces and playing. Later on they were taken to the auditorium and enjoyed their time watching an animation movie Rio.

"Making these kids happy is a our mission," said Amin an Access student. "We want them to give the impression that they do have a family, and that is the UKH family."

 

University of Kurdistan Hewler students are in constant contacts with the orphanages to socialize them, enable them and train them to be effective individuals for this nation. The University encourages students to be socially active and engage more with the community 

 

 

 

UKH Trip to Halabja

          When I quickly walked into university on the rainy early morning of the 17^th of March, I became really happy and excited to see that number of students who were waiting in the rain for the buses to come and pick them up for the trip. But this time was different, it wasn’t a trip to Maseef of Dukan for picnicking and dancing; it was a trip to the city that introduced Kurds and Kurdistan to the world, to the city of the immortal martyrs: it was to Halabja.

 I was excited and yet drowned with sorrow because I knew that our five-hour’ drive will take us to a place where every inch of it witnessed a genocide 24 years ago. But the students of UKH are not apart from the Kurdish spirits of survival, hope and happiness. On the way there, we sang the Kurdish anthem, old poems and songs about nature and beauty until we arrived Sulemany.  Eating breakfast at a casual restaurant of Sulemani on that snowy and windy day of the city meant the whole world to the students and me. 

 

Then we headed off to Halabja, as we entered the city we saw the shattered walls, old houses neighboring the new buildings and the green mountains guarding the city at the back. At first we went to the graveyard of the martyrs of the genocide and put flowers of respect on their graves to honor their deaths. Some of the students were sad while some were faking a smile for a picture and others were visiting the graves. After a while, we went to the monument: the historical museum that embodies hundreds of tragic pictures of the dead and burned kids, mothers and old men. In one of the halls of the museum we watched a video that was recorded two days after the attack. The pictures, the video and the statues of the victims made us sad and depressed. And yet they made us to renew our sense of patriotism; the stories that we heard from one of the survivors there made us to remember who we are. 

 

The students were all busy with taking pictures in front of the victims’ pictures on the walls and the flags of Kurdistan. Then, driving for a short time in the city to see the ruins of the attack and yet to witness the developing and revival Halabja. At six o’clock of that cold evening, the heading- off to Hawler was the end of our trip to Halabja. 

 

Written by: Hawar Majid ( access year 2 student )

University of Kurdistan Hewler Celebrated International Women's Day

University of Kurdistan Hewler celebrated the International Women's Day on 8th of March on Campus with presence of high ranked guests, staff and students.
The event started with a speech from UKH Vice Chancellor Professor Serwan Baban, he focused on ways of empowering women to rallise their full potential and emphasised two key points; first, Women's rights and human rights are the same thing and should not be separated, hence the society as whole should work hard together to realize our collective human rights. Second; the development process in Kurdistan needs to harness 100% of its human resources and cannot proceed successfully without fully utilising the talents of women, i.e. some 50% of the population. Prof. Baban's speech reflects his continuous support to women to develop, prosper and achieve their aims.





This speech was followed by various activities, comprising poems, short videos and a number of colorful ideas that presented women in various ways. the event was prepared by the Student Union, and was sponsored by START Organization for Social Development.




In the event, eight personalities were awarded by professor Baban; they were people who have an active role in the Kurdish society regarding women's issue and have worked hard to bring equality between men and women.

The International's Women's Day is celebrated at UKH every year. Women empowering and raising awareness is one of the most important features of UKH.

Uprising Commomemorated at UKH

A large event was held for the 21st anniversary of the Uprising of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region on Monday inside University of Kurdistan Hewler (UKH). The event included celebration of the Uprising of 1991, known in Kurdish as the Raparin, in which the Baath regime organs in the Iraqi Kurdistan were ousted and overthrown. The Uprising started in Rania and within days spread to Suleymania, Erbil, Duhok and Kirkuk, which was liberated on the 21st of March.

 The Uprising was then severely crushed by the Baath regime and caused mass exodus of millions of people to the border areas and neighboring countries. The images of the exodus was displayed on the world television channels caused public opinions in countries who forced their leaders to establish the No-Fly Zone in only three provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan. In the Uprising thousands of people died from the battle between Peshmargas and regime forces and the exodus.

    Standing for Kurdish National Anthem (Ay Raqib).

    Vice Chancellor gives speech on Raparin day and remind the students what it means to be a Kurd.

 In 1992 the first Parliament and cabinet of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region was established and elected. UKH looks up to this day and gives it a special attention to make the student aware of their national glories. Every year on 5th March, students display videos that refer to the bravery of Pesharaga; students and staff wear Kurdish traditional dress and dance Kurdish halparke.

 

It is one of the colorful days in University of Kurdistan Hewler, as the flag of Kurdistan is flown from the UKH academic building. The event also included reading poems on Kurdish survival, the martyrdom and the revolutions. In his speech to the audience, UKH Vice-Chancellor Professor Serwan Baban referred to the times when Kurds had no freedom and there was fear behind every door, days "that no one knew what would happen to them the day after." He also said that the struggle of the former generation has provided the liberty, freedom and prosperity that today we are enjoying. "Commemoration of this event is a tribute we pay to those who contributed to what we have today," said Professor Baban.

 

    Roj Dohuki reading poem.

   UKH students standing as Kurdish flag comes down from the building.

 

   Kurdish Dance

Ballet Dance at Peshawa Hall

Ballet Dance at Peshawa Hall

The Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education welcomed members of Ballet School from Sulemani to hold ballet festival for the third time. The School is established in February 2009 and has more than over 30 students from different ages of children and teenagers, teaching them ballet lessons by professional teachers. It is the first Ballet school in the Kurdistan region and the second in whole Iraq.

Ballet dance has received minimum attention in the Kurdish culture. However, this school which is led by Rubar Ahmed (the head master of Ballet school) has broken the norm and decided to open up Kurdish culture and to introduce it to international arts and culture.

In the evening of 29 February 2012 in Peshawa Hall the Ballet Group performed a series of outstanding dance moves with its unique meaning behind each move. During the hour of their performance, they filled the hearts and spirits of the audience with music and art.

University of Kurdistan Hewler supported the event by giving out UKH gifts to members of the ballet group. UKH continuously supports the development of art and culture in the Kurdistan region.

66th Anniversary of establishment of Mahabad Republic in University of Kurdistan Hewler

On the the 22nd January University of Kurdistan Hewler remembered the 66^th anniversary of the establishment of first Kurdistan Republic in Mahabad.

On  22^nd of January 1946, the Kurdistan Republic was declared in Iranian Kurdistan, led by Peshawa Qazi Muhammed. The Republic lived for 11 months, only to be crushed by the Iranian regime with the assistance of Soviet forces crushed the Republic and executed Peshawa Qazi. The few months of the Republic saw countless outstanding accomplishments, such as making Kurdish the official language of education, building an army which was named Peshmarga, having ministries of services, releasing several newspapers and magazines in Kurdish language and first groups of Kurdish girls attended school. Even though the life of the Republic was short, it remains  the greatest accomplishment in Kurdish history.

(UKH Auditorium )

The event was celebrated in the University’s Auditorium and was managed by the Student Union an attemded by staff, students and guests. The celebration started with a minute of silence in tribute to the spirits of  great Martyrs and  was followed by the Kurdish national anthem (Ay Raqib), and reading poems by students for the souls of martyrs. Also a documentary was shownwhich illustrated the main achievements of this Republic and which included the last words and advice of Peshawa Qazi. He advised the Kurds to be united among each other, which is the only way to destroy opponents.

(Reading Poems)

The University is dedicated to educating the young people of Kurdistan to be loyal to their homeland with lessons from the past.

Celebrating Christmas at UKH

Merry Christmas

     On 22^nd of December, like previous years, students celebrated Christmas in University of Kurdistan Hewler. Current students, Graduated students and a number of guests participated in the party. However, what differentiated this year’s ceremony from earlier years was the increased number of students. Before UKH was a small family, but now it is a small society.

University of Kurdistan Hewler is diverse society, consists of a relevant amount of students coming from a range of different backgrounds, ethnicities and religion. This has given UKH its color and specialty. Inside UKH campus students regardless of their background have formed a harmonious society.

The celebration was carried out by the Student Union. Students decorated UKH cafeteria with Christmas tree with notes of ~Merry Christmas~.  After the Merry-Christmas and Jingle Bell songs, various activities were performed. The party started by a song from a student of UKH Music band. Santa Claus was also present and distributed gifts, then students started Kurdish dance in various styles. Students exchanged gifts among themselves as a symbol of remembrance and The party continued until 6:00 PM.

(Ameen Zangana with Santa Claus)

Marcel a Christian student, talked about the party and asserted “I enjoyed the party and participated actively along with my Muslim and Christian friends.”

Payam Sultan a UG3 student claimed “the party included something new, like exchanging gifts and I saw students were enjoying it along with having Santa Clause there. It’s nice to have activities like that in UKH or in any school. Although the occasion was returning to the Christians, but still all the other religions and nations could participate and have fun there.” she added “you could see not only students, but staffs and workers even the chefs were included in dancing and sharing smiles and happiness without any weirdness”

(Kurdish Dance )

University of Kurdistan Hewler is known for the spirit of co-existence and tolerance that is present among students and the staff. This small society can be seen as a model of diversity and together living for the wider area, and as a place where differences are respected and similarities celebrated.