Irma: Syrian refugees respond to Hurricane by cooking feasts for displaced victims
'We were uprooted from war. We know the feeling of leaving everything behind'
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Your support makes all the difference.A group of Syrian refugees have responded to Hurricane Irma by cooking feasts for victims.
Abeer and Nora al-Sheikh Bakri, two sisters, fled their homeland in 2012 and settled in Georgia four years later.
After witnessing the destruction, they drove an hour to the Hamzah Islamic Centre in the city of Alpharetta, where they were told 39 evacuees were staying.
They then prepared a range of traditional Middle Eastern dishes and refused to take any payment for the food.
“I called my sister Nora and we got cooking,” Abeer, 28, told HuffPost. “We were uprooted from war. We know the feeling of leaving everything behind.”
Her sister, Nora, 30, said they did not want others to feel the way they had.
“I was so afraid when we heard about the hurricane. Especially us Syrians. We’re already traumatised,” she said. “I wanted to be able to help these people, so that these people can feel happiness. So they don’t feel uprooted like how we felt.”
Nazer Gazel, a 53-year-old Syrian refugee also living in Georgia, had the same idea and delivered home-cooked meals to Omar Bin Abdul Aziz mosque where roughly 25 evacuees had sought shelter.
“We were forced to come to the US because of the war, but we’re here now and see good in this country,” Mr Gazel, a chef and food artist, told the Huffpost. “It’s on us now to do good here. We’re used to wars but not hurricanes. We weren’t that afraid, to be honest. We’ve been through war.”
Hurricane Irma, which has been categorised as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, has killed more than 60 people so far.
At least 18 people have died in Florida and nearby states and destruction has been widespread.
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