"I Miss My Hometown, My Friend, and My Mom's Delicious Cooking": The Refugee Cookbook
When Suduba Akbari, a former member of the Afghan women's junior soccer team, took a flight in July 2021 to escape the Taliban, she probably couldn't have imagined that 18 months later, she would spend an evening as a VIP guest at Leeds Civic Hall. Next month, however, in the same building where the queen's death and the king's proclamation were officially announced, Akbari and 29 other unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, along with social workers, carers and government officials town, will come together to celebrate the completion of a year-long cookbook project called Cooked with Love.
Originally conceived by a social worker and responsible for the city of Leeds for unaccompanied asylum seeking children, Louise Sidibe, Cooked with Love involves groups of young refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Chad. Without exception, each of those involved has endured unimaginable hardship and loss.
Ali Saleh Sany, for example, arrived in the UK in 2021 at the age 15 years old, in the back of a truck in which he had smuggled himself into Belgium. Sitting in his room in Leeds last week, wearing a baseball cap and red T-shirt, Saleh Sany might be mistaken for a typical British teenager, but in fact he spent his life in refugee camps in Sudan and in Chad.
< p class="dcr-kpil6a">When he was 14, as the situation in Chad deteriorated, Saleh Sany's father told his son to flee the country. "I just left, but I didn't know where I was going," he explains in a calm voice. He finally arrives in England, with a mobile phone and the processions of his life in a small backpack, and goes directly to the police station. "I was shocked, scared and confused," he recalls. “But when I got to the police, they were so nice. There are no words to thank them and this country enough. dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-10khgmf">
For Akbari, who is now 19, when the Taliban took over power...
When Suduba Akbari, a former member of the Afghan women's junior soccer team, took a flight in July 2021 to escape the Taliban, she probably couldn't have imagined that 18 months later, she would spend an evening as a VIP guest at Leeds Civic Hall. Next month, however, in the same building where the queen's death and the king's proclamation were officially announced, Akbari and 29 other unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, along with social workers, carers and government officials town, will come together to celebrate the completion of a year-long cookbook project called Cooked with Love.
Originally conceived by a social worker and responsible for the city of Leeds for unaccompanied asylum seeking children, Louise Sidibe, Cooked with Love involves groups of young refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Chad. Without exception, each of those involved has endured unimaginable hardship and loss.
Ali Saleh Sany, for example, arrived in the UK in 2021 at the age 15 years old, in the back of a truck in which he had smuggled himself into Belgium. Sitting in his room in Leeds last week, wearing a baseball cap and red T-shirt, Saleh Sany might be mistaken for a typical British teenager, but in fact he spent his life in refugee camps in Sudan and in Chad.
< p class="dcr-kpil6a">When he was 14, as the situation in Chad deteriorated, Saleh Sany's father told his son to flee the country. "I just left, but I didn't know where I was going," he explains in a calm voice. He finally arrives in England, with a mobile phone and the processions of his life in a small backpack, and goes directly to the police station. "I was shocked, scared and confused," he recalls. “But when I got to the police, they were so nice. There are no words to thank them and this country enough. dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-10khgmf">For Akbari, who is now 19, when the Taliban took over power...
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