On Tuesday February 4th I went to the Ukrainian Centre in Edmonton to learn about the work of Touch Grass Club. This is a new NGO that began in the spring of last year, their focus is on advocacy for the protection of nature, but as we will see they offer diverse programming. This is their Cooking4Community event, once a month locals to the area get to learn how to cook a special dish and then that dish gets distributed to the houseless in the area. The Ukrainian Centre has kindly allowed their space to be used for this, and the location is close to several homeless shelters like Boyle street, so it’s a prime location for unhoused peoples.
The event is a collaboration of several small organizations working together including: CPCA Women’s Committee, the Ukrainian Centre, New grocery movement, Touch grass club, AUUC, The Cherry pit, and Bear Claw. Each cooking event has a special theme, last month was pies, and this month was Palestinian cuisine. This means the event was headed by the Canada Palestine Cultural Association based here in Edmonton, so they were able to share their culture through several talks given at the event. Pictured above, you can also see some of the art they produce, cross-stitching is a large part of their culture, and depending on the color and image sewn onto a garment can symbolize many things about the person. They laid out several examples as they also hold workshops so that you can learn how to do this.
Above you can see the Canada Palestine Cultural Association team sharing some background about the significance of the keffiyehs (scarves) that can be worn in several ways and for several purposes. They also shared some of their personal stories of growing up in Palestine before moving to Canada, how much they miss their homes, but now there is nothing to return to, their homes no longer exist there. With the tragedies happening in Palestine, it’s important to learn about their unique culture to help educate others on the importance of its preservation and the protection of the Palestinian people. There is a lot of talk in the media and it can be confusing to digest all of the information, especially if you don’t feel it directly effects you, that’s what makes these events even more special, forming real connections.
Ultimately, this series of events is a great way to connect with different cultures and local people alike. A great part of volunteering is the amazing people you meet, everyone has a unique story, and you can learn a lot from them while engaging in fulfilling conversations. In this case, it was -30C outside, despite this, people are not deterred to come out and help their community. I have attached the poster below which includes the upcoming dates for the following months, in March they will be making Indian cuisine. Follow their social media to be a part of their events, the tickets for this one sold out in the first 24 hours!
