They are eight women. Most of them applied for asylum. While waiting to find out if they can stay in Canada or not, they cook.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
Their names are Deepali, Parveen, Chetna, Kamal, Sunita, Taranjit, Naila and Promila. Originally from India, particularly Punjab, they left their suitcases in Montreal to escape poverty, violence or a world that offered them far fewer opportunities.
In their country of origin, they were teachers, educators, nutritionists, social workers or stay-at-home mothers. Here, they are the leaders of the Curry Collective of Parc-X. Every week, they cook Indian dishes delivered to customers from all over the island of Montreal and to people in need in the Parc-Extension district.
They are at the heart of a magnificent self-help initiative imagined by Leonora Indira King (my new idol).
The 40-year-old woman is a doctoral candidate in psychiatry at McGill, a researcher for Concordia’s Office of Community Engagement and coordinator for the organization Afrique au feminine. She founded the Collectif Curry in April 2021… Since then, she has ensured its success on a voluntary basis, alongside her three jobs.
“I’m paid with a lot of love and good meals,” she humbly slips before my admiring gaze.
The idea was born while Leonora accompanied new arrivals in integration workshops (about francization, the Quebec medical system or domestic violence, for example). She noticed that the latter often had a common passion for cooking and, above all, a real talent!
“We were in the middle of a pandemic,” she recalls. The restaurants were closed, I was tired of cooking and I said to myself: I would buy a lot of dishes from them! And maybe other people would too? I launched the idea in my network. The response was immediately positive. We had something! »
A year later, more than 150 clients regularly support the Collective’s eight leaders, all of whom are women facing immigration barriers. Not only do they have to learn a new language and reorient themselves professionally, but six of them have young children at home.
Given their status as asylum seekers, they do not have access to subsidized child care. Difficult, then, to leave the hearth.
“By cooking, they can stay with the children, summarizes Leonora Indira King. It’s flexible! It also allows them to have a little financial autonomy to navigate more easily through training and job search. »
Each week, five chefs each prepare between eight and ten dishes. The menu varies according to their desires and discoveries. The dishes are vegetarian, simply because those who cook them are too. Among the most popular are manchurian (balls of minced vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce), anything with paneer (an Indian cheese) and curries, of course.
Every Friday afternoon, meals are delivered anywhere in Montreal. The collective’s clients are varied: families, seniors, people who have more resources and who want to give back.
Because if we support newcomers, by ordering from the Collective, we can also support the most vulnerable. For $50, you buy four meals: two for yourself and two for a Parc-Extension family or a senior in need. These are chosen in concert with various neighborhood organizations, such as La maison bleue, Afrique au feminine or even the CLSC.
The option is popular! Leonora Indira King – who did all the deliveries herself during the first eight months of the initiative! – estimates that half of customers choose the solidarity option.
It’s a whole net of mutual aid that she has managed to deploy.
Moreover, several people are mobilizing for the good of the project. Among them, Christophe Dubois, who works at the café La place commune. Every week, when he collects fresh vegetables for his establishment, he takes the opportunity to take food given to the leaders of the Collective. They therefore have less shopping to do to prepare their respective recipes.
A client of the Collective has also just given them her portion of the community garden! The women have therefore recently made their very first seeds. They’re very excited about gardening with local residents, Leonora tells me.
The Parc-X Curry Collective is nothing less than a bridge between newcomers and their community. A springboard, even.
I spoke with Kamal Cheema, one of the eight leaders of the group. The mother of two children is 38 years old. She arrived in the country in 2018, in search of “a better life”. She has always loved cooking, but thanks to the Collective, she now has a plan: one day she will open her own restaurant.
Leonora Indira King also has a plan: one day, the leaders will manage the Collective. A project for them and by them.
I am blown away by his dedication. How was his passion for the community born?
“I come from there, she replies tit for tat. I saw how my mother handled the transitions as a single woman and an immigrant…She sacrificed a lot to give me a better life. And all this without the support of the organizations that exist today. I feel a responsibility to give back. »
My new idol, as I said.