During the fall, women from the African diaspora who have immigrated to Canada continued to come together to share their cultural food and stories with each other. Participants prepared dishes from their countries of origin, such as Geema (a Sudanese dish), Moi-moi (a Nigerian street food), and Msemen (a Moroccan street food). The prepared food is distributed to members of their communities, and some has been given to people who attend the church service the following morning, thus widening the impact and community served. Obi Nwanguma is our kitchen coordinator, and Fadilah Balogun is the volunteer coordinator from the African Women’s Alliance (interestingly, both originally from Nigeria!!) A couple of St John’s members have joined them one a few Saturdays, so wider community building is happening! For more details, read the from the September and October sessions.
Food and Belonging is a joint project between the Co-op, the African Women’s Alliance of Waterloo Region, and St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church. It is supported by grants from the United Way of Waterloo Region. It started as a pilot project in 2020, and has continued to grow by drawing in more volunteers and widening food distribution. We look forward to further growth in 2022 as we seek to partner with a new organization, to provide food and food-focussed skills education to more of our neighbours in Waterloo Region.
The next round of Food and Belonging will launch in January. If you are woman-identified and interested in helping prepare food and clean up, email ckcoopkw@gmail.com and we will forward your information to the project’s Volunteer Coordinator who would welcome your participation.