Flemington Sisters
FOODThe Flemington Sisters are a group of women from diverse African backgrounds in Flemington and North Melbourne who came together to celebrate food, culture, and connection through shared recipes and stories as part of Shelter 2 in 2021.
“We, Huida Omer, Leila Ali, Halima Ahmed, Emebet Asfaw, Ruth Eyakem, Samira Musa, Awatif Taha and Sara Zakaria are a group of women from different African backgrounds living in the high rise in Flemington and North Melbourne. Food, culture and friendships are so important to us. These things nourish us, keep us connected and keep us confident and strong in who we are.
We loved being together and sharing our recipes and stories for MAV’s Shelter 2 project in 2021. Each of us chose a favourite recipe that has been passed on down the generations in our families. We cooked, we ate, we talked over a weekend with the MAV creative team and now we would like to share with you.
We’d like you to know that participating in this project was a very new experience for us and speaking to people outside of our community about our lives, was a big step. We were happy to share our stories and recipes but most of us felt shy to have our faces photographed or filmed for the project, except for our sister Ruth Eyakem. Maybe next project we will be more confident to show our faces!
Happy cooking and eating!”
— The Flemington Sisters
About the sisters:
Awatif Taha
“My name is Awatif Taha. Home is Sudan and for the past 20 years, Australia. I like Australia for its humanity, rights, education, health and job opportunities. I work and volunteer my time with my community across different fields, but especially with women and kids. I’m involved in running a homework club and working with the Multicultural Sudanese Centre where we have provided women with certified training in commercial cooking.
A big project I’m involved in at the moment is Mum’s Kitchen which developed through co-design with Moonee Valley City Council. Mum’s Kitchen is for women from different African backgrounds to build skills and confidence for them to access employment opportunities in aged care, child care and hospitality and to create their own business which might also support employment of other women in the community.
During the hard lockdown I was so busy working with different organisations and DHHS, door knocking to get information to people, ask them what they needed and link them to services to make sure their needs were met. I especially helped with new arrivals and old women who needed extra support. I also did some media interviews on radio about our situation and I wrote an article that was published in The Guardian.
For the Shelter 2 project I have brought together 7 other women from different African backgrounds who live in the high-rises, to share our recipes and eat together and it’s been amazing. For us it’s not only about sharing our food but also about us having confidence and affirming our value in the community.”
Emebet Asfaw (Amy)
“My name is Emebet Asfaw, people call me Amy. Home is Ethiopia and I’ve been living in Australia for over 20 years now. Now Australia is my home. I like the freedom and peace here.
I used to work in hospitality and I keep busy now by cooking and looking after my kids. Vegan cooking is my specialty and my recipes are popular. Every month I have a stall at the Vegan Market in Richmond selling my food.
During the hard lockdown I was worried about COVID and spent my time researching a lot of different foods and the vitamins they contain and their benefits to protect my family’s health. The lockdown was a very damaging experience and really increased anxiety levels. I worry about what’s going to happen next.”
Leila Ali
“My name is Leila Ali. Somalia is home and I’ve been living in Australia for 25 years. Before coming to live in Melbourne I was in Papua New Guinea for one year. PNG was nice but there was too much fighting. I like the peace here in Australia and it’s fair.
I keep busy with my work in Mum’s Kitchen in Moonee Valley cooking food for people in need and delivering the food to everyone. I have six children and still two are living at home.
The hard lockdown made me feel very scared and I spent a lot of time looking out my window and talking to my friends on the phone. I felt jealous when I looked outside and saw all the police and other people walking around. I felt like why am I stuck here and everyone else is outside.
During the lockdown I didn’t want the food that the government was bringing, my community looked after me and brought the halal foods. But I didn’t need food, I just needed air and to get outside again.
I wanted to be part of Shelter 2 because I like spending time with my friends. I am the only Somali woman in this team and I wanted to share my special dishes from my culture.”
Huida Omer
“My name is Huida Omer. Home is in Sudan and for the past 20 years I’ve made Australia home. Australia is a good country for education and health and good for living. You can find good jobs as long as you have a qualification.
The main thing that keeps me busy is my 3 children, I have 3 girls. In 2018 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and spent a year in intensive treatment. Since then I have to rest a lot but it’s important for me to stay connected with my friends and that’s why I’ve joined the Shelter 2 project.
The hard lockdown, at first I felt sad and it felt unfair that we were the only ones being locked down like this in Melbourne. But later when I realized that there were some families here in the flats with COVID, I was glad that we were locked down like this. We all share the same facilities and live close together and I was worried because my own immune system and one of my daughter’s immune system is not 100%. We stayed home for 5 days and spent the time watching the news and finding out more about what’s happening and understanding the pandemic. There were people helping us and bringing food so it was okay in the end.”
Ruth Ekayem
“My name is Ruth Eyakem. I was born and raised in Ethiopia but I am from Eritrea. I came to live in Australia 28 years ago because of war in my home country, to look for a better life.
I live in the Flemington high rise with my lovely daughter. We speak English and Arabic. I love cooking, my job is waitressing and I love hosting and serving people.
I chose to be part of Shelter 2 because the hard lockdown was very stressful and I wanted to share how I passed through that time. When I first heard about the 5 day lockdown on the news I went quickly to buy medication that I need for stress and anxiety. I had none left at home but they would not let me out of the building and said they would bring us everything we needed. It never came and that was hard for me.
But I had my traditional coffee ceremony and this became so important. During the lockdown I did it everyday with my daughter. It helped me pass the time, helped to calm my nerves. It gave me a good feeling of having my friends and family around me and kept me calm. My coffee ceremony was my medicine.”
Ruth is available to perform the East African Coffee Ceremony. To enquire or book, please call 0401 251 873 or email ruthrutha29@gmail.com.
Samira Ali Musa
“My name is Samira Ali. Home is in Sudan and now in Flemington since 2000. I speak Arabic and Tigray. Australia is a nice country and we have a good life.
I wanted to be part of Shelter 2 because I like to share my culture and want people to learn about my culture and maybe try our food.
I wasn’t scared of the hard lockdown. Actually it was good for me because I cleaned my house, I had time to cook the food I like to eat and had time to discuss some important family business with my children. I stayed connected with my friends during the lockdown through our Whatsapp group so it was okay.”
Sara Zakaria
“My name is Sara Zakaria. Home is in Sudan and now, Australia since 2004. When my son was born in 2006 I made Australia my permanent home.
I look after my son, take him to school and soccer and keep busy with my friends. I work in Moonee Valley cooking my sweets and different kinds of foods. I became part of this project because I wanted to share my cooking, especially my sweets, which everyone likes.
The lockdown was very bad for me, just sitting at home and I couldn’t go out. Talking with my friends and family on the phone helped me get through that time.
I’m here to help people with food, sweets and cooking anytime!”
Artwork
Flemington Sisters
Recipes and recorded conversations
2021
