We share the same table
Samer and Esraa
Samer is a smart man, driven by his passion for family together with a determination to acquire knowledge. A decade ago he was a lawyer with his own practise. He had a fiancee who similarly felt promise and hope for their future.
All that changed when instability in his home country unraveled along with everything he knew and considered reliable. He and Esraa had no choice but to leave the life they had begun to build together and along with his parents they sought refuge in Jordan. They remained there, displaced for the next 9 years.
We revere our identity. It is our core. When you lose the ability to open a bank account, search for legal work or secure a home, you lose the foundation of who you are. Globally, along with our couple above, millions of people have been forced to flee their home countries for safety.
The reality of such safety as a refugee is precarious. It includes the inability to work professionally in a transition country. It leads many to seek unskilled jobs for cash, often contravening refugee status agreements. Families may be excluded from health care and education for their children which can result in a poorer quality of life thus impacting their mental and physical health. This insecure predicament defines the dual nature of poverty; the lack of tangible needs along with an impoverished human spirit.
Food security has become a topic for global study as many face different forms of food crisis due to migration, a pandemic and general instability. For those struggling, the discrepancy between healthy food prices and income is overwhelming. Talent Beyond Boundaries recently surveyed some of their skilled refugee candidates in transition. Many are experiencing a compromised quality of diet. The majority have limited means to access fruits, vegetables, dairy or meat, which impacts the nutritional value of what they can consume. However, in all cases the families strive to prepare at least one decent daily meal.
Food on the table provides sustenance, but it also brings people together. This could be a single meal or a single bowl of food, shared with others in a makeshift community. Food is a staple, yet so much more. We all eat different foods. It's what makes us unique but also what can bring us together.
People may struggle to understand each other across language and cultural boundaries but they can speak with the flavours they create and the ingredients they use.
Samer and Esraa endured indescribable hardship during their transition period although they also had the joy of marrying and having two little girls. Thanks to the support of the Talent Beyond Boundaries team and Samer’s skills, they have now moved from being displaced people to recognised working residents in Australia. Samer works as a legal assistant with Maurice Blackburn in Melbourne. This fresh opportunity has given them a chance to focus on their family, to build on health, community, education and revisit cultural identity.
They appreciate that they have landed into one of the friendliest and safest cities in the world. Samer is working on his English along with his navigation of Melbourne. He initially found supermarket shopping a little challenging. "I'm so happy to have google", he quipped, "If this had been too many years ago I couldn't have looked anything up". The internet access has enabled him to find foods quite easily. He adventures through the ‘foreign’ aisles learning where to head for his own familiar ingredients.
Esraa cooks traditional Syrian dishes by working through the myriad of speciality recipes she knows from home. Eating together is an integral part of their culture and the time they share their contrasting daily experiences.
They are facing individual challenges. Esraa is working on her English. She is also planning a return to study as until now she has been solely caring for the family. Samer hopes that she can fulfil her desire to study teaching which will provide purpose along with connection to a community of similarly minded peers.
Their eldest daughter is now in school and both girls are rapidly picking up English and love the freedom of socialising with new found friends. The children are missing their Grandparents but Samer notes how adaptable they have been to all the changes. It is incredible considering the profound life stresses facing them as a family.
Samer is meantime getting used to his new work environment. Since their arrival in March he had only worked remotely and met the team via Zoom. Last week he physically went into the office where he met his peers in person for the first time.
They had already been invited to a local BBQ lunch too. I laughed with him and asked if he had consumed sausages, steaks and salad. He replied with humour, “I think you must have been there.” I was not sure whether to feel cultural pride for the ubiquitous Aussie BBQ format or shudder at it’s simplicity!
The day I interviewed Samer, his wife was putting the finishing touches to a lunch they were hosting for some of the Talent Beyond Boundaries team.
He took me on an online tour of the kitchen activities where his pride was visible. The benches were laden with homemade delicious morsels whose aroma I sensed from my living room on a different continent. Esraa had made a turkish pie, lamb kibbeh (which is the most celebrated dish in Syria), horaa isbao (a comforting and hearty dish of lentils and pasta), rice with peas, barak (Syrian pastries stuffed with cheese), yalanji (Grape leaves stuffed with rice and vegetables) and stuffed zucchini.
The table was laden with these sharing plates where a community was coming together to understand a little more about each other. Sharing a meal is one of society’s most beautiful moments. The preparation of individually wrapped morsels of goodness is time consuming but it is such a wonderful way to unite a community. Individual parcels of food invite you to share, try and experience more. The following discussion around ingredients and recipes is inevitable.
The lunch was shared by those who had experienced trauma in life together with those trying to make a difference.
It filled the bellies of children who had never lived in their country of origin along with those who have never had to move. The day was filled with laughter, smiles plus plenty of conversation.
It was the depiction of how a community can embody peace, hope and change as we all share the same table.
