Meet our team: Lotus Driver Pasha on why his job is so important to him

Pasha is one of our drivers, who has been working with us for more than a year now.

Originally from Sinjar he was displaced during the ISIS conflict along with his two brothers, two sisters and their mother. “We were asleep in our village, but when we found out everybody in the area had escaped we fled to the mountain. Me and one of my sisters were separated from the rest of the family for three days. Then we came to at Rwanga IDP camp.”

High school graduate Pasha had previously been a volunteer with both local and international NGOs, and used to have a bus which he used to transport students to different universities. “Then I would take Lotus Flower beneficiaries from Rwanga camp to Duhok, and I formally became a driver for the organisation in May 2022,” he says.

Since January he has been assigned to our Child Protection project with UNHCR, and his main role is to transport staff between various centres and camps. “I go nearly everywhere in Kurdistan – to all the places that the Lotus Flower has services.”

Speaking of what he most enjoys about his job, Pasha adds: “The best thing is when the staff are in the car with me and they’re happy with my service. We are all like friends here.”

Although his role keeps him very busy, he’s also working on his own personal development too, saying: “People may not know this, but I stay at the office after working hours to study English, as I want to improve my skills.” 

Pasha believes if it were not for his job, things may be very different in his life. “If I was not working for the Lotus Flower now, I would have many problems – some of them financial.”

As father to a two-year-old daughter, his hopes for the future are simple: “Life in camp is very hard. I want to keep working for my family, and hope for a better future where I can return to Sinjar and buy us a house there.”

We’re very pleased to have Pasha and so many other hardworking drivers on our team…