Butterfly Kitchen

Created by: The Liverpool Arabic Women’s Group

Our view of the city is different from one person to another depending on where you have come from. Someone who came from an Arabic country or a country with war in it will see Liverpool as heaven. But, if someone came from another European country they will start comparing.

In Arabic (with translations) and English:

My life was better in Sweden but I had to leave because of racism towards my children. My children are the most important thing in life, I miss Sweden. I was there for 9 years, but I won’t go back.

Some people are forced to come because there is something bigger forcing them to leave their country.

Her Name is Roula, she is not sure what the meaning is, but it is like wise woman with good judgement. Her name is Ghenwa her name means something like self-sufficiency or self-dependence My name is Nour and it means Light or brightness. My baby son is here. His name is Ouwais – meaning one of the name of wolf.

Our view of the city is different from one person to another. Everyone of us has a story of the past and memories. It all depends where we came from, which country, which city and what you been through before in your life.

Were you happy or no. Some people were forced to come and to live a better life. Other people choose to come to study or to improve their situation in general.

If you come from Syria or Palestine it depends when you leave the country, I came before the war. All of my memories of home are happy I never thought of leaving the country. I never intended to stay away.

People were asking about life in Syria.

Do you have washing machines? Is this the first time you used a microwave? Are you educated? Do you have work? Do men control Everything?

I have a high education. I used to work in Syria and my house was spacious and beautiful, better than my house here. And yes I had a washing machine and a microwave. Actually nothing was missing from her house. I had a car since after high school I would drive to university, I would drive even between cities. We have the same freedom like women here have it, but what is different is the religion and the culture.

After the war the country became not safe to live so we had to leave it.

People will face difficulties because they need to start from scratch and there will be a difference in their economic status to start with.

We cannot judge people and their past unless we talk to them and listen to their stories.

Language is a barrier for a lot of people A barrier that will make you unable to express yourself and tell your stories It’s very difficult to feel that you are trapped in a new place. Everything is new You need to say everything. But you cannot because you don’t have the language You feel lonely.

You feel trapped like a butterfly in a chrysalis. All the people look at you as different You are waiting for a chance to fly To be able to communicate to show the traditions and stories that make your life colourful.

Sharing food is one of the ways that we express ourself When we share our food we can express more about ourself about our religion and culture. Get to know people Share our stories with people without saying it in words Using our native local ingredients and having it combined with European ingredients.

We cook some dishes with love and share it between our friends and neighbours. Some people are afraid to ask some personal questions like Why do you wear hijab? What food you can eat and what is not permitted? When we share food we open a place for discussion so people can talk to us and ask us what they want to know?

We looked at Benjamin Zephaniah, the British poet. he says “leave the ingredients to simmer. As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish…….. Add some unity, understanding and respect for the future.”

Last year I organised international food day at the university. Each student shared a dish and wrote its ingredients, and shared part of their tradition and culture and even their own traditional dress.

Sharing food is part of the community cohesion we share food in our special occasions like Eid celebration, or having a new baby

We convinced the school that there was some minority in the school and that there will be a celebration for Eid and that mostly in celebration we will gather for food and does anyone want to come with us? Around 35 students came and we had a big table with lots of vegetarian food. It was nice. Many of them were from the UK.

Also, we make charity dishes to sell the food to support the needy people. There have been charity food events for wars in Gaza Palestine, the Yemen, Syria. , and for Morocco for the earthquake and Turkey and for Libya,

When we stand here at the bombed out church we see a lot of restaurants. Each restaurant reflects a country and its culture. There is also a lot of community activity in this place to support refugees, homeless people and people affected by wars.

What is the origin of your favourite cuisine? How do you find ways to come together with your community?

To find out more about Liverpool’s research into migration, literature and culture visit the project pages at https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/english/community/soundjourney/