This week saw our Swansea ESOL tutors and learners get involved with Refugee Week. As part of the ‘Simple Acts’ theme, the ESOL team, located in Princess House, took part in ‘Share a dish’ which provided the learners to share dishes from different cultures, share recipes and hear about dishes from all around the world.

As well as ‘Share a dish’, learners took this opportunity to speak about the meaning of 'refugee' and why people move countries as well as read refugees' own stories. The students looked at the differences and similarities between the experiences of different refugees’ stories.

ESOL tutor Kate said, “The learners were willing and enthusiastic about making a national dish. There was a lot of discussion between the learners about recipes and how similar some national dishes are to others. I arranged a session in our class where we looked at famous refugees from the learners' countries and we were then able to have a discussion around being a refugee and how moving to another country changes people's lives.”

ESOL tutor Jasmine said, “It was lovely, a great opportunity for learners to interact. It is good for the learners to hear others talk about their dishes. A great experience.”

Our Entry 3 ESOL learner Nagila said, “It was really good to meet new friends outside of my online class. I remember past days, some are hard but it has been good sharing experiences with others.”

Our Curriculum Development Coordinator Sam said, “We have to be mindful that for many of our learners, speaking of their experiences is not an easy task. By taking part in ‘Share a dish’, we were able to get involved in Refugee Week in a positive way. It has been fantastic to see so many of the learners get involved as well as all of the delicious food”.

Anyone can get involved by organising or taking part in an event or activity. It is a UK-wide programme of arts, cultural and educational activities to celebrate the contribution of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and nourish connections between communities.

For more information about Refugee Week, please visit www.refugeeweek.org 

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