A number of pairs of fingers assist scrape steaming couscous into a big bowl whereas others peel potatoes, carrots, and onions. Greater than 10 girls are crammed into the small kitchen, chatting loudly and laughing with each other. “It’s like a marriage in Tunisia! There, all the ladies all the time make couscous collectively,“ says Salha Zaouali, one of many girls working at Al Ciliegio, a restaurant situated in a property confiscated from the mafia, within the small Sicilian city of Salemi, about an hour’s drive from Palermo. Right here, migrant girls from North Africa cook dinner alongside girls from Sicily, sharing recipes and studying Italian alongside the best way—and in doing so, having the prospect to totally combine into the local people.
The Progetto Donna (“Girls’s Challenge”) at Al Ciliegio is now in its tenth 12 months. For many years, males from Tunisia have come to Sicily to work as fishermen, usually spending months at sea. Most of their households stayed in Tunisia, however over time, increasingly more girls have joined their husbands in Sicily. Presently, about 20 girls are concerned within the mission. “Over time, we’ve had greater than 100 girls right here. They acquired their expertise right here after which put these expertise to make use of of their every day lives”, says Giusy Agueli concerning the mission’s idea. She gives help to the ladies who come right here, serving to them navigate the various difficulties that stem from settling in a brand new nation. Agueli provides that, at first, some girls wanted their husbands’ permission to take part within the mission. “Now it’s altering. The ladies who’ve been right here longer are instructing the newcomers that they don’t have to ask. You possibly can resolve for your self.”
Cooking and coming collectively by means of meals are on the coronary heart of Progetto Donna. “Historically, these girls know methods to cook dinner, and so they can categorical themselves by means of it and share their creations with others. That’s very empowering,” explains Agueli. “That’s the start line for a mission like this: realizing, ‘I can do one thing on my own.’ So cooking turns into a method of serving to one another deliver out one of the best in themselves.” At a time when immigration is below assault worldwide, Al Ciliegio and its girls’s mission function a shining instance of integration and cultural change.
