They laugh, they share, they cook, and they eat – and these simple acts have brought nine diverse women out of isolation and into a friendship that may lead to a business partnership in the future.
That wasn’t the original purpose of the multicultural community kitchen program started in September by Maria Giltrow, settlement and outreach coordinator with Welcoming Communities, but she’s thrilled at the possibility.
“It would be fantastic if they could take the skills they’ve learned here and make some sort of lasting employment out of it,” she said, noting most of the women involved in the program are unemployed stay-at-home moms.
Once the multicultural kitchen program ends in mid-December, there’s talk of the participants getting together to cook for farmers’ markets, put on their own cooking classes for the community or perhaps start a catering company of their own.
The women have been meeting every Tuesday since September at the Christian Life Assembly (CLA) church kitchen in Gibsons to prepare and share a dish from their country. Each takes a turn heading the Tuesday get-togethers that see the woman in charge teach the rest how to make something special from their homeland.
The women hail from places like Japan, Mexico, Indonesia, Chile, Tibet and Morocco and each has been on the Coast for a different period of time ranging from a few months to several years.
What they all have in common is the need to connect with other immigrants, learn about the area and practise their English, which was the vision behind the multicultural kitchen.
“I wanted it to be educational, so we’ve had a nutritionist come in and talk about nutrition. We’ve talked about budgeting. We have a budget for each session and we’ve gone grocery shopping and talked about how to stretch our dollars,” Giltrow said.
Participants must speak English while in the multicultural kitchen, which is handy since no one speaks the same native tongue, and laughter can be heard echoing from the CLA church during any given get-together.
Add to the laughter the delicious and unique dishes, some requiring ingredients you can’t find in stores, and you’ve truly got a one of a kind program for immigrants on the Coast.
The women involved have found the multicultural kitchen to be a welcoming space free from judgement and a great opportunity to connect, learn and form friendships.
The only downside may be the inability of the program to continue past December due to a lack of funding.
The multicultural kitchen project is a pilot project funded through $2,000 from the Sunshine Coast Credit Union and $500 from the Town of Gibsons.
The CLA church provided its kitchen space for a nominal rental fee, Giltrow noted.
“With the money we were able to cover the kitchen sessions and we’re also going to be hosting a community lunch for our sponsors and partners on Nov. 24,” Giltrow said.
The funding also covered the cost of food safe certification for all participants.
Giltrow said she would like to offer the multicultural kitchen project again next year if more funding becomes available.
“I think it’s been really successful and I’d like to continue somehow if we can find a way to sustainably fund the program,” she noted.
“Welcoming Communities is funded by the government, but we don’t get funding to do this kind of thing.”
