Dani Ellis

For my first few months here the weather was pretty bleak, creating quite a different scene to the desert I was expecting. Northern Syria becomes particularly lush (and incredibly muddy) over Winter which I experienced in my first trip out with the @CommuneIntpic.twitter.com/veMxa7MSWl

This was my first visit to Qamişlo, arguably the most important municipality in Rojava. There's a lot of interesting graffitti here, and quite common is the phrase 'Ez naçim' (I'm not going), a call-to-arms for Syria's youth to stay and protect their land rather than leaving.pic.twitter.com/jZG9VWASNn

Just a few days after arriving in Rojava I attended a funeral for the first time, which was a far more emotional and informal event than anything I'd attended in Europe. It was incredibly moving and I found it far harder to stomach than I was expecting.pic.twitter.com/oOMZAXknu5

This funeral was for SDF fighters and members of the internal security forces who had laid down their lives fighting Daesh (ISIS) in Hajin, one of the last strongholds of the islamist group.pic.twitter.com/iLuON6yyId

In early January we visited a human-shield action in Gire Spi / Tel Abyad. Turkey's threats were just as great a year ago as they were before the recent invasion and people were expecting an attack an time. Regular actions on the border showed their defiance.pic.twitter.com/Uv2iB0IelX

At this action I got quite an education in social norms here, with one man immediately taking my gimbal and camera to film his friends while I was perpetually asked to take photos of the people gathered. What I expected to be quite a solemn event turned out to be quite a party.pic.twitter.com/pIZJSncn1H

This visit to Gire Spi was part of a trip organised by some members of the Commune for those of us recently arrived. We visited Kobanî, which for many of us is the place that first caused us to be interested in Kurdistan. The scars of the historic seige were still plain to see.pic.twitter.com/fmh7tsw9m3