Podcast transcript 

 

(Music from the Maté Café)
 

Host: Welcome to the Spaces with Stories podcast. Within the Brighton community, asylum-seekers and refugees have created their own spaces of sanctuary by setting up community cafés. In this episode, we want you to hear from the founders of two such  cafés about why they set up these spaces and why they are important. First up, we sat with Houssien Tawil from the Maté Café who tells us the impact of sharing Syrian culture.

 

Houssien: I am a refugee. I came here in 2015 and I found it difficult to talk English. At the beginning, we made our plan to help Syrian families who came new to England. The Government brought them in different places, where they cannot speak English, they cannot do anything. And when they come to Maté Café, they will find another friend who will now start to speak English. These two to three hours where we meet give a chance for the Syrian people and other people to see other culture. Like starting with the food, we are cooking everytime Syrian or traditional food. We keep talking while we are drinking. Really, you can forget all your stress. 

 

Host: Next, we caught up with Luqman Onikosi from the Jollof Café at his community hub. Let’s listen as he talks about the community beyond the Café.

 

Luqman: We wanted to find a way to alleviate people’s problems. Most of us are going through mental health problems, because of the immigration cases we are going through. Using this food to open up spaces and using this space to build solidarity between British people and non-British people, particularly migrants and refugees and asylum seekers. And also to introduce people to the food from our country of origin, because those who eat together, fight together, you know. The impact that we are having is confidence boosting for our members. You see other people like you and then no one is going to judge you and you have a bit of fun with the people there that you see as family now. And also it makes a bit of poverty alleviation. 

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When we cook every week, we collect some money and some of the money that people donate towards the cooking, we share it equally among the volunteers. It is helping us with our food shopping, being able to go on and socialise with our friends, where we can buy our own cup of tea for ourselves. 

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Host:These spaces are crucial for helping the transition into a new environment.

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But without their own physical premises these cafés operate on an ad hoc basis. 

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To find out how you can lend your support to these wonderful spaces, please visit the Café page on the Spaces with Stories website. 

 

(Music from the Maté Café)

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