Celebrating Sisterhood with Soul Food Sisters
Women are celebrated globally every year on 8th March – a date dedicated to recognising women’s successes in all areas of work and life, and a call to accelerate women’s equality.
It has grown in visibility in the past decade with images from women’s marches and bold empowering slogans all over Instagram. However, International Women’s Day is not a new holiday. Its roots go way back to 1909, when 15,000 female workers marched the streets of New York City for better working conditions.
We work with so many great female entrepreneurs, but the business that immediately sprung to mind, when thinking about celebrating women’s achievements, was Soul Food Sisters.
In the heart of the Barras, in the East end of Glasgow, lies their café and catering premises – home to a female-led social enterprise working to bring together women from all over the world and increase their confidence and build their skills.
In their own words: “At the moment, Soul Food Sisters is made up of eight women from 5 different continents. From Malaysia and Cuba to Poland and Thailand, we are a culturally mixed group, with many skills to share. And our talents extend further than just the kitchen. Together our cooks can do anything, whether it’s teaching German, making wine, designing buildings or driving trains!”
We caught up with Djamila, from Soul Food Sisters, to discuss female empowerment, collaborative learning and building connections through good food!
Q: Your story is very inspiring and we thought you would be the perfect people to speak to for IWD. How did the idea of SFS first come about?
I only joined in 2015, but Marysia, the original founder of Soul Food Sisters, tells me the sisters joined a cooking course at the Hidden Gardens, in the Southside of Glasgow in 2012. It was a diverse group of women from different backgrounds and nationalities (Polish, Spanish, South American, Asian, African!).
All the women were facing the same barriers, such as lack of recognition of their qualifications and difficulty with childcare. They wanted to make a change in their lives and their careers, and so Soul Food Sisters was born. However, it has been a long journey, full of challenges in terms of policies, experience and funding.
Q: We love the idea of SFS being a sisterhood centred around empowering women. What do you love most about working with other women and how has food been part of this?
It is a privilege working with this amazing group of women, from different places, speaking different languages and having great experiences and skill. We have used food to share our stories and bring everyone together. It has allowed us to enjoy diversity and experience other cultures.
Q: Projects such as yours can be great for promoting inclusion and sense of belonging for people. How do you feel the work of SFS has improved the confidence & wellbeing of the migrant women who work with you?
You can see a positive change in the lives of the women we work with. They are financially independent, there is an improvement in their self-images and they have learned new skills like organisation, planning and communication.
Q: This year’s theme is #EachForEqual. “Collectively, each one of us can help create a gender equal world.” How important do you think it is for everyone to be involved in creating equality, including men and people in privileged positions?
We think that it is really important for everyone to be involved. Of course, everyone is unique but we believe to make a change, you need a variety of people from different backgrounds to be involved. At Soul Food Sisters, we all believe that diversity is key to our success.
Q: We hear you’re planning an event for IWD, can you tell us some more about that?
Yes, of course! We are using 8th March, this year, to celebrate success and recognise our staff efforts. We will have a wee party at Soul Food Sisters, Gallowgate. We’ll be serving free coffee between 10am-12pm! Pop along for a bite to eat and a coffee any weekend when our café is open 10am-4pm.
Images from soulfoodsisters.org.
#strEATtalk is our narrative series that shines a spotlight on Scotland's street food & independent catering scene, focusing on the journeys and stories of up and coming food innovators. Follow #strEATtalk as we get to know the people who are making our nation taste better!
