5 Questions for a Church Keeper in Iraqi Kurdistan


Tiziano Reporter, Savina Dawood, asks a local church keeper in Erbil, Iraq five questions about what he does.


Tell me about yourself and what you do?

I am Noel Mammo and I am 50 years old. I work as the Saint George church keeper in Shorsh, Erbil. When the previous church keeper left his job they asked me to be the next because my house is next to the church and It is only me and my wife we don't have children, we have a dog named Mshmsh.

When did you start?

I started working as a church keeper on November 2009.

How often do you work at the church?

I work every day, because everyday we have the evening services and everyday I have to go half an hour before the prayer starts in order to ring the bell. I go before 5pm to ring the bell and at 6pm the pray starts and I have to stay there until everyone leaves and then I can leave. In other days when we have morning services, I have to be there from 6:30am to ring the bells and the prayer starts at 8am and it finishes around 9:30am. Then we would have breakfast meal and it takes us until 12pm or later until everyone finishes and leaves so that I clean and arrange the church before I can leave.

What do you exactly do?

My duties at church are first of all to ring the bell, but also to prepare incense, clean the church, do office work like, type, copy, print, scan and I also take photos and videos for the events that take place at church and I upload them on the Internet.

In case you are on vacation or sick who takes over your job?

It is hard to go on vacation because there is nobody that can ring the bell instead of me. The bell needs to be rung everyday and even when I am ill, I still ring the bell. My wife helps me though. She stays in the church kitchen, prepares breakfast, cleans and stays there for any help that might be required. But regarding the bells, even when I have an appointment with a doctor I have to delay it until after I ring the bells. I must be there to ring the bells.

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