Beyond the heatwave: The quiet strength of Iraq’s southern families

Shafaq News/ Life in Iraq’s southern countryside doesn’t slow down for the heat. Even as temperatures soar past 47°C, families carry on—steadily, without complaint.

Near al-Mahanawiya in al-Diwaniyah province, a rural family caught the lens of Shafaq News photographers. Their day is unremarkable in action, but striking in what it reveals: a woman balances a bundle of straw on her head with practiced ease, while her husband leads a flock of sheep down a cracked path. Their young daughter rides a donkey beside them, shielded by a scrap of cloth tied above her head.

This isn’t spectacle or crisis. It’s routine—relentless, silent, necessary.

Their day begins before the sun becomes unbearable and stretches deep into the evening. They graze livestock, gather fodder, and walk miles to fetch water or reach a distant market. Breaks are rare. The heat is constant. But the work goes on.