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Chance to meet our neighbours
TURNING up at an unfamiliar neighbour's home and sitting down for a meal and a chat would be outside many people's comfort zones.
But a Leeds-based charity is helping redefine the concept of neighbourliness and encouraging people to go beyond the polite nod and cursory "hello".
Together for Peace, a small charity with an office off Burley Road in the city, launched Eat for Peace with the intention of making Leeds a more welcoming place for refugees and asylum seekers – and to give British-born people a chance to meet their new neighbours.
The Eat for Peace get-togethers have captured the imagination of 70 people in Beeston, Armley, East End Park, Burley, Meanwood and further meals are planned for other districts in July and October.
Host of the Beeston event, Ed Carlisle, a Leeds University graduate, believes passionately in the power of words and the importance of "knowing thy neighbour".
"Lots of people don't really know their neighbours, although in my particular street (in Beeston) it's really friendly," he says.
"We hope people who come to the meals decide to host their own and the idea grows."
After arriving in Leeds to study 10 years ago, he decided to stay and has worked at Together for Peace since 2004.
The immigration influx in the past decade is reflected in the stories told at Mr Carlisle's dinner table during his own Eat for Peace event which attracted 13 people.
Amna Idris, from Eritrea, now works with refugees in Leeds and is at the meal to meet people, have fun and improve her English.
She finds the reserved British culture a little different to Ethiopia and Mr Carlisle agrees that Eat for Peace is a challenge to classic English reticence.
"I think it's sad but we are quite cautious in our culture and cautious about taking risks," he says. "We are trying to chip away at the individualism of our society.
"I was not at all convinced that Eat for Peace would work but people have been raving about it.
"A woman I spoke to from the Jewish community had never really met an asylum seeker and said 'it changed my world'. People have been forming friendships with good people who live just a few yards away from their home."
Though the format is generally informal, Mr Carlisle often asks each dinner guest to say a few words about themselves. For those who have fled persecution in Africa or elsewhere, the stories are often harrowing.
Patrick, an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo, broke down in tears as he recounted avoiding deportation from the UK at the 11th hour.
Fellow Congolese Germain Naruhana, 32, spoke about his own treatment in his homeland and urged people to listen without prejudice to what asylum seekers were saying.
"A culture of disbelief has grown up in the minds of those working in the Home Office," he told the Yorkshire Post. "When you tell your story and you are not believed it creates bitterness. People commit suicide or turn into criminals."
Mr Naruhana is seeking asylum in the UK and spends his time as a volunteer for various projects, including recounting his story in schools and churches.
"When I tell children my story they say 'we did not realise you suffered like this'. They thought I was coming here to take their benefits or jobs, which they might have heard from their parents.
"When I go into churches in majority white areas there are right wing people. I speak about my experience and they change their mind."
Details of Eat for Peace at www.t4p.org.uk
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