The Burnt Rice Saga

Post by Alejandra:

My lack of organisation made my first couple of days unbearable; I was starving, cranky and really close to giving up. So on Sunday after a big bowl of delicious spaghetti, some plum tomatoes as sauce and a glass of orange juice I decided to organise my meal schedule and give it a try. Monday unfortunately didn’t start as planned, I nearly set the kitchen on fire but the worst part was I burned the portion of rice I had set for my lunch, and guess what?...That was my lunch, slightly burnt rice with a couple of hot dogs, yeah! I was living the dream! The night came and it got much better, a new attempt to cook rice with some chick peas (a favourite of mine) did the trick. I’ve got to say the worst part has been (putting my organisations skills aside) going to sleep on an empty stomach. The portions of dinner have been so limited that by midnight I was starving again. However, I think I have got much better at this, and now I just save some of my dinner for later. I’m counting the days for this to be over because fortunately for me, this has an expiry date!

Today’s Fun Fact: According to the Home Office, the main motivations for people choosing to claim asylum in the UK (when a choice could be made about their destination) are the existence of family and friends, an ability to speak English and previous links to the UK. According to Refugee Action, only 12.5% of destitute asylum seekers have made a positive choice to come to the UK.

Source: The Campaign to End the Destitution of Refused Asylum Seekers Briefing (Still Human, Still Here)

14 Meals Down, 7 To Go...

Breakfast: Half a banana
Lunch: Chickpea stew
Dinner: Tuna pasta AGAIN

We’re back in the Community Arts North West office today…luckily no sight of donuts or mint tea to tempt us! Still feeling hungry/bored of tinned food but it really puts things into perspective when you consider the fact that we are in a very good position to go “destitute.” Because we’re not really going destitute at all, we live in nice and warm accommodation with central heating. We have access to decent cooking equipment. Some destitute asylum seekers will struggle to find the means to cook half of this food. Not forgetting that asylum seekers are completely new to the country and the culture and they will have to adapt to cooking with some British foods that they have never come across before.

Today’s Fun Fact: Numbers of asylum seekers fleeing countries grow drastically during war and conflict, for example, in 2011 there was a sharp increase in the number of Lybians and Syrians seeking asylum due to intensifying internal conflicts.

Source: Asylum Statistics (Refugee Council)

The God Damn Pies

Post by Aisling:

Four days in and I want to throw in the towel. Why? Because my ever so thoughtful landlord brought around some mouth-watering pies, crispy bacon and lovely looking plump sausages! My head is telling me, ‘Hey you didn’t ask for the pies, a destitute asylum seeker certainly wouldn’t turn them away’ but for some unknown reason it feels like cheating…as would sneaking out a quality street toffee from the open tin on the coffee table (mmm coffee!) or sneaking into Dominoes on what happens to be their free personal pizza’s for students week.
It’s not all doom and gloom though, today I tried out the hotdog, fried onion and homemade chips meal. It was delicious! I was genuinely pleasantly surprised, add a little bit of ketchup and it would be a meal I’d consider on a regular basis despite the health risks attached! This is opposed to the meal I made on Sunday. Whilst sitting in the library eating my 'lunch' of an orange, I got the brainwave to keep the orange peel for some orange rice? I googled it and it turns out it's a real meal! However I didn’t have a lot of the required ingredients such as soy sauce, butter etc. etc.
Result: Major fail!!!

All in all this experience is teaching me to respect our access to food, especially considering the millions of people in East Africa who continue to face food shortages every day.
3 days to go eeeekkk…