Gustamundo opens a multi-ethnic restaurant to give work to migrants and refugees
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Gulalai is 46 years old, she is Afghan, she arrived in Italy in August 2021 after the Taliban came to power. In the chaos of Kabul airport she managed to get on the plane thanks to the P for Pangea drawn on her hand. Even Parisa, 47, comes from Afghanistan, she ran away with her husband and her 5 children. Imam, 37, is originally from Kurdistan. Dilruba, 34, is a widow and has 3 children, she left from Azerbaijan. Anjeza, 27, is Albanian, she is alone, she has a two-year-old daughter and a second daughter in Albania that she hasn’t seen for years.
A new adventure
They are five different women, with different traditions but united by a thin thread: that of hospitality and rebirth. Their story intersects with that of the multi-ethnic Roman restaurant Gustamundo, where some of them are already working while others will start today, March 8th. In fact, El Pueblo with Gustamundo will be inaugurated in the Caffarella park in Rome: 70 square meters, colored walls, a mural by Maupal and a slogan «a dessert that changes life» to kick off a new place managed independently by migrant women, refugees and asylum seekers. The team – once formed – will be made up of Dilruba, who will lead the team, Gulalai, Parisa, Imam and Anjeza. The owner is Pasquale Compagnone, owner of the Mexican il Pueblo for 30 years and who in 2017 started a new business, with a particular idea: one-off evenings entitled «every dinner a story» in which the guests – migrants known through reception centers – they prepared typical dishes of their own tradition and at dessert time they sat down with customers and told their story. There the awareness and the birth of the Gustamundo project. «The boys and girls needed work and residence permits, so I selected the best cooks and assembled a group of 15 people, who over the years have shown that they can work together, despite their cultural differences. They come from Senegal, Sudan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria and so on». The biggest challenge was to get the women to work, many of the Muslim tradition with five or six children each. Some are single mothers who cannot be in the restaurant in the evening, so they prepare the dishes in the morning after dropping off the children at school. In July, the pastry shop started with 12 Muslim women. “It’s wonderful to see them talk and work together,” explains Compagnone. Today the next step: a place managed by them.
The story of Gulalai
Gulalai worked in the Kabul office of the Pangea Foundation. With the arrival of the Taliban she had to flee: she is a widow and her two daughters remained in Afghanistan, they are married. «She is a woman who has crazy energy, but she suffers a lot from the distance of her daughters and grandchildren» says the vice president of Pangea, Simona Lanzoni. Gulalai is studying Italian and has just completed a pastry course. With her Gustamundo she learned oriental cuisine, with other courses to make pizza. Her dream is to open a restaurant, be independent, send money to her daughters. «In Afghanistan the situation is terrible, women cannot go out without being accompanied by men, they cannot study after the age of 11, they cannot work. We have brought to Italy those who have worked for us for years and were at risk of life» explains Lanzoni. Gulalai is the only one to have arrived alone: ”Men leave by themselves, women don’t, this is another big gender difference,” concludes Vice President Pangea.
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