Dallas welcomes refugees from Afghanistan with an authentic Afghan meal

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Dallas welcomes refugees from Afghanistan with an authentic¹ Afghan meal

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An organization in Dallas started by refugees is helping³ to welcome new ones from Afghanistan, and helping newly arriving women find jobs.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

After months of waiting at military bases, more than 50,000 Afghan evacuees⁴ have been resettled in communities across the United States. NPR's Michelle Aslam reports on how Dallas is welcoming some with a familiar meal.

MICHELLE ASLAM, BYLINE⁵: In Afghanistan, Roshan Mashal, the deputy director of the Afghan Women's Network, felt obligated to stay there and help as long as she could after the U.S. withdrew in April. But things got too dangerous. She had to leave.

ROSHAN MASHAL: Eighteenth of August, I evacuated⁶ from Afghanistan.

ASLAM: Mashal spent two months at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and is now in Dallas. Adjusting to a new place is hard, especially because she had to leave her 21-year-old son behind at the military base for now.

MASHAL: I am also under many pressure and many stress because of him. So I hope he become very soon here because I think I can't suffer more.

ASLAM: But today, she's sitting down to an authentic Afghan meal.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Thank you all so very much for being here together with us.

ASLAM: Catholic Charities, which has resettled more than 200 new arrivals in Dallas, got them together to meet one another and celebrate.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We would like to welcome you all to not only America, but Dallas.

ASLAM: The food was prepared by Break Bread, Break Borders, an organization that trains and mentors⁷ refugee women to work in the food industry. It's also a catering⁸ business, offering dishes women contribute with recipes from Syria, Chechnya and Afghanistan.

MASHAL: I saw there is - the cooks are Afghan women. I become very happy that there is some opportunity for women, that they are - they can do every skill they have. They can use it. And I am very happy that they had the Afghani food today. It was very delicious.

ASLAM: Jin-Ya Huang founded Break Bread, Break Borders in 2017, after she lost her mother, who herself was in the restaurant business.

JIN-YA HUANG: We speak food really well (laughter), so that's how we know how to say welcome in all the different languages, is preparing these authentically⁹, culturally appropriate meals.

ASLAM: Huang's mother used to talk about food as a social equalizer.

HUANG: My ancestors are refugees who escaped from China, from communism, to take refuge in Taiwan. And my mom, as a chef in our kitchen, used to be really mindful about training other refugees, immigrants and migrants to come and work in our kitchen.

(SOUNDBITE OF KNIFE CHOPPING)

ASLAM: Today, Jamileh Jafari and her sister Sharifeh prepared the meal - Kabuli Palao and Chicken Korma. They left Afghanistan more than a decade ago.

JAMILEH JAFARI: Lot of people last - the past two, three event. All the people Afghanian people. We make the food for them, yeah. We say welcome. We talking with them. Yeah.

ASLAM: Jafari says it means a lot to these families to eat a familiar meal after everything they've been through. But it also means a lot just to have someone to talk to who understands what they're going through.

JAFARI: Some people say, I miss Afghanistan. I say, it's terrible in Afghanistan right now. You're so lucky to come here. You're so lucky to save your family.

ASLAM: New arrival Roshan Mashal says she does feel lucky. Still, it's hard to move on when you've left so much behind.

MASHAL: I cannot be comfortable. Even I am here - at least my life and my children life is safe. But I don't know how I can accept that I am comfort, but my people is not.

ASLAM: Jin-Ya Huang with Break Bread, Break Borders says while it might not seem like much, a meal can mean a lot to someone.

HUANG: You know, we want people to know that, you know, when you lead with love, the rest will come.

ASLAM: Michelle Aslam, NPR News, Dallas.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARP'S "NZUKU")

1 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

7 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网

8 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

9 authentically   

ad.sincerely真诚地

参考例句：

• Gina: And we should give him something 2 authentically Taiwanese. 吉娜：而且我们应该送他有纯正台湾味的东西。
• A loser is one who fails to correspond authentically. 失败者则指那些未能做到诚实可靠的人。