Digital Storytelling | Michael Denha
Michael (Mike) Denha grew up in Telkaif where he worked with his family in their businesses, working and harvesting fields during farming season and making tahini (sesame paste) in his father’s mill in the winter season. The Denha family was the first to manufacture tahini in Telkaif. Michael attended the first middle school in Telkaif in 1949, later worked for an oil company, and left Iraq in 1956 when he was 21 years old. He took a ship to the U.S. which took 30 days from Telkaif to the U.S. He studied at the Detroit Institute of Technology as well as the East Side Design School. Michael was chosen as the 2022 Businessperson of the Year by the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce.
These interviews were conducted in the modern Aramaic language, in the Chaldean dialect, also known as Sureth, and sparingly in Arabic. They were translated and subtitled in English.
This interview took place in 2021. Filmed and edited by Michael Nafso.
This project was made possible with funding by Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and Michigan Humanities.