Melbourne Citymission has launched a Kitchen Cultures program, which brings youths from various migrant backgrounds, like Nyichwar, left, and Samra together through cooking. 71453 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Charlene Gatt
THE Braybrook Youth Enterprise Hub will use the universal languages of food and art to forge friendships among young people from diverse backgrounds.
The hub launched its Kitchen Cultures program recently, aimed at reducing incidences of racism and discrimination in the inner West by bringing together young people and getting them to cook and create pieces of art.
The Kitchen Cultures program will take 10 young people and host five workshops over the next year.
The young people will cook a meal together from one particular culture while explaining such things as how they eat in a certain way, what they don’t eat and why.
At the same time, the youths will create a slogan or logo that will be screen-printed onto t-shirts and hoodies, plus create a mosaic.
The program has been funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
“The idea is that you bring together a diverse group of people – including Anglo Saxons and new arrivals – through the collaborative activity of working alongside one another towards a shared outcome,” Melbourne Citymission’s Steve Maillet said.
“That informal contact between young people promotes cross-cultural understanding and develops friendships that they may not otherwise have had.
“Similarly, the food that’s there are foods that are coming from other parts of the world so that those conversations around culture and belonging and connectedness to food happen.”
The Braybrook Youth Enterprise Hub, which has been running for the past three years, helps young people from Braybrook and Maidstone find jobs, access training (including traineeships and apprenticeships) and supports ‘at risk’ students to stay connected to school or re-engage in study.
It also helps young residents tackle legal issues, find stable housing and also provides homework tutoring, careers counselling and resume preparation.
