Jiyan Foundation Podcast

Wan Rashid is among the first Iraqi-Kurdish children born in Guam. Her family, who lived originally in northern Iraq, sought asylum in the United States after experiencing years of violence and persecution in Iraq. Today, Wan is Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Effendi Foundation, a Tennessee-based non-profit that seeks to uphold and educate Kurdish-Americans about their civil rights.

In our conversation, Wan talks brief...

Does the Earth's changing climate fill you with feelings of anxiety, stress, fear, and overwhelming emotions? In this episode, we speak with friends of Jiyan Foundation, Sarah Newman and Cindy Pace from Climate Mental Health Network (CMHN), on the impact climate change has on the mental health of adults and young people from around the world. In their latest short film, young activists, including a member of Jiyan Foundation fo...

On March 8 2021, International Women’s Day, President Barham Salih ratified the Yazidi Female Survivors Law, law enacted in the Iraqi Council of Representatives. This groundbreaking law mandates several critical reparations for survivors of ISIL crimes from Yazidi, Christian Turkmen and Shabak communities.

The Yazidi Survivors Law referred to as the YSL, includes compensation, rehabilitation, land, housing, continued education, emp...

In this episode, we provide some context to the U.S.-Kurdish relationship, exploring the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East and its impact on Jiyan Foundation’s mission to provide mental health treatment and humanitarian assistance to people in the region.

Our guest, Ozum Yesiltas, received her Ph.D. in International Relations from Florida International University in 2014. She also holds a B.A. in Sociology and an M.S. in In...

Kurdistan-Iraq is a diverse place, rich with different cultures and religions that are too often isolated from one another. In this episode, we talk with Larsa Imad, a coordinator working with Jiyan Foundation's Youth Network for Peace and Dialogue. We are also accompanied by two program participants, Arez and Banu. Despite growing up relatively close geographically, each person was raised in a different religious group and without...

Originally from the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, Deeman Pirdawood started her career working for the United Nations (UN) at UNDP and UNHCR agencies supporting immigration and refugee programs. She also worked as a coordinator between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the United Nations in Northern Iraq.

Ms. Pirdawood has lived in the Virginia area for the past 15 years and has worked with the Fairfax County Government, De...

Originally from Duhok, Kurdistan-Iraq, Zaid Brifkani has lived in the United States since 1996 and currently resides in the Nashville area. A physician with board certification in Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and an additional subspecialty in Kidney and Pancreas transplant, Dr. Brifkani practices as a Transplant Nephrologist in Cookeville, TN, and manages several outpatient dialysis clinics as a medical director.

In addition to m...

Stigma and a lack of access to mental health treatment is a global issue of special significance in Iraq and Syria, where decades of violence have caused mass displacement, loss of life, and trauma for people living there.

Chenar Seerwan, Co-Head of Trauma Care & Health at Jiyan Foundation is a practicing Psychotherapist and co-manages Jiyan Foundation's clinical program, supporting thousands of psychotherapy patients annua...