In July 2019, we launched the Lotus Flower Café with the support of Asma Khan, founder of Darjeeling Express, in Essyan Camp, which is home to almost 15,000 displaced individuals. With a shortage of culturally accepted public spaces for women and girls to gather, as well as a lack of employment opportunities, it is difficult for them to rebuild their lives or communities.
The Lotus Café means women and girls can eat healthy, high-quality food in a safe space that has previously not existed in camps. We provide the space, equipment, and supplies, and the women build their cooking skills, teamwork and economic independence. After training in small business management, the female chefs are responsible for managing and operating the café daily. Crucially, the women are able to keep any profits they make, meaning they can support their families and reinvest the money however they see fit.
CASE STUDY
Alya is an ISIS survivor and mum-of-three, who has been a key part of the Lotus Café project. During the atrocities of 2014, she saw many of her friends and relatives taken as sex slaves, and ended up with her family at Essyan camp. Having no income at all before she got involved with the Lotus Flower, she is now able to provide for her family, and says: “Working in the Lotus Café means I’m able to help my parents and feed my three kids. It makes me happy, and it feels good to be self-empowered.”