ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Karwan Akrayi was only 11 years old when he led his younger siblings on an uncertain journey from the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province to Germany’s port city of Kiel. There, he has been able to create a success story, starting from shoveling snow to owning multiple businesses in the city.
Karwan, the eldest of six siblings, was born in Duhok’s Akre in 1984. His father migrated to Europe in 1992 without his family, but planned to receive them in Greece in 1994. He recounted his story to Rudaw’s Hemen Abdulla on Tuesday.
While attempting to cross the Iraq-Turkey border at Zakho’s Ibrahim Khalil point, Karwan’s mother and one of his sisters were killed by Turkish soldiers, preventing their entry into the country. Reluctantly, they returned to Akre, while their father decided to stay in Greece and wait for their next opportunity.
“We were trying to get out of Kurdistan [Region] when we were shot on the border of Turkey. The Turks shot us. That night, August 23, 1994 my mother and my sister were killed along with several other people,” said Karwan, fighting back the tears.
With his mother killed, and his father abroad, 11-year-old Karwan was now responsible for providing for his remaining four siblings. Polishing shoes, and selling popsicles and cucumbers, he was doing any job he could get his hands on to put food on the table for his brothers and sisters.
“When we returned to Kurdistan, we had no one. No father and no mother, which could be quite difficult for a child. From then on, a difficult life and great responsibility were put on my shoulders. How am I supposed to raise those children? An 11-year-old with four brothers and sisters, and no mother and father… but I always had hope”
Awni Akrayi, Karwan’s father, says he has always enjoyed a great relationship with his son, and the two always consult each other if they are ever uncertain about anything.
“I have never treated him like a son. I have always treated him as a friend. He has been my friend,” said Awni.
After saving up for months, and with some financial aid from their father, Karwan and his siblings were able to give the borders one more try. They arrived in Turkey, and from there traveled to Greece where they reunited with their father, and then collectively headed to Germany, where they have been residing in the city of Kiel in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1995.
After arriving in Kiel, Karwan started to pursue an education once again, after having dropped out of school in the Kurdistan Region to take care of his siblings. Paying for his tuition meant that Karwan would need to start working again, and that was when he bought a snow shovel and started clearing snow-covered roads for money. He was able to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
After finishing university, Karwan steered away from engineering and started his own business: a cleaning service firm named “KIAN”. The firm currently employs around 320 employees, mostly Kurds and is often hired by the Schleswig-Holstein government to clean up military sites, police stations, and hospitals, according to Karwan.
“Kian is a traditional Kurdish name meaning future, and it is also the name of my son.”
In addition to KIAN, Karwan has also founded a security company, providing protection during special events, and is also the founder of FC Azadi Kiel - a football team made up entirely of Kurdish players, currently active in the low-tier German regional league Kreisklasse A.
Despite his successes, Karwan has not forgotten his humble beginnings and always seeks to give back to the community in any way he can, especially helping families of people killed in conflict in Akre and other parts of the Region.
“To this day, I continue my work in Akre. During Ramadan, I distribute foodstuff, and during winter I distribute 20 to 30 thousand liters of oil to families in need, and families of martyrs,” said Karwan, passionately stating “Those martyrs spilled their blood for us, to create us… We must not forget them. They gave their lives for the Kurdish cause, for this land, for this country.”
Karwan says his lack of parental presence when he was younger has made him especially sympathetic towards children of “martyrs”, as he knows how it feels to want to celebrate Eid and other celebrations with your family and loved ones, but not being able to do so.
“When Eid came around, after my mother’s tragedy and my father not being around, seeing kids dressing up and going to their parents, and then I look at myself and I have no one. That was very difficult for me… I still remain with that feeling.”
Karwan says that his team distributed Eid clothes for around 650 kids of martyrs families this year.
In addition to helping kids in the Kurdistan Region, Karwan believes it is also important to help Kurdish kids in Germany by teaching them the nation’s language and culture. The businessman says that he has brought in Kurdish teachers to teach the children the alphabet in a “small school” inside the mosque he built in Kiel, adding that they have around 100 students between the ages of six to 18.
“The kids here, when they go back to Kurdistan, they should be able to read what is on the signs. Be able to read the word “Kurdistan” and at least know what Kurdistan is, what Erbil, Akre, and Rawanduz are. They should know Kurdish so they can read history, a Kurdish book.”
Owning multiple businesses, running a football club, helping kids in need, yet Karwan still maintains the same humble spirit he had the day he arrived in Kiel, still holding on to that one snow shovel that started his incredible journey.
“This shovel is 13 years old. I have kept until now… The KIAN that I founded and many KIANs that followed all started from this.” [1]