- Title IMG_6843.JPG
- Record Creation Date
- Summary Awaiting review
- Resolution
- Region Europe
- Archive series
- Archive source format
- Exif Date 2020:09:09 12:52:12
- IPTC Date
- XMP Create Date
- Alt Ref No
- Alternative title
- Date_Taken 1st January 2010
- Keywords Migration
- Language English: EN
- Location
- Music
- Reference Number
- Rights usage terms For non-commercial use
- Subtitles
- Copyright owner IFRC/Elif Isik
- Country Turkey
- Credit line IFRC/Elif Isik
- Existing Description Houda's niece Food has always a central part of Houda Al-Fadil’s life. Some of her fondest childhood memories center around preparing dishes such as makdous (pickled or oil-cured, stuffed eggplant) with her mother in her home town on the outskirts of Damascus. “We sat around our mom when she prepared it,” she recalls. “We did the same when she prepared mulukhiyah,” she adds, referring to a leafy plant from the region used like spinach in stews or with lamb and rice. “These were happy times and wonderful get-togethers with my mom and sisters.” Then war broke out and the happy days ended. Houda’s husband lost his job and the family faced tremendous hardships. That’s when her cooking skills came in handy. “I cooked kibbah (croquettes filled with lamb or chicken) and I prepared hacked parsley, stuffed zucchinis and grape leaves,” she says. “For those celebrating the arrival of a baby, I supplied wrapped candies. I made pancakes.” In her new home of Kahramanmaras, in central southern Turkey, Houda’s cooking skills are the now key ingredient in her quest for a new life. They not only provide a small income and meaningful employment, they offer a way to connect with people in her new community. Her new culinary adventure began when Houda enrolled in a traditional Turkish cooking course offered at a community center run by the Turkish Red Crescent, supported in part with funds from the European Union and operated as part of a partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). There are 16 such centres in Turkey and they are open to people from both Syrian refugee and Turkish communities. They help connect people with lost loved ones, provide child-friendly spaces, and offer a range of services from vocational training to business development, psychosocial support, health referrals, among many other things.
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