Mam Hashm’s Century of Warmth

At 95 years old, Mam Hashm does not rest. Inside his small, soot-stained workshop in Erbil’s Tayrawa district, the master craftsman repairs a dilapidated kerosene heater—the only barrier against the freezing winter for many working-class families. Despite the Kurdistan Region sitting on an estimated 45 billion barrels of oil reserves, chronic infrastructure failures mean citizens still rely on these vintage stoves as the national power grid falters. Hashm’s calloused hands, working with the precision of a century of experience, offer a warmth that the region's vast natural wealth has yet to guarantee for its poor.