Break Bread, Break Borders empowers refugee women

Break Bread, Break Borders is a Dallas culinary training program for refugee women from war-torn countries.

DALLAS – In the communal kitchen of the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, Jamileh worked hard to cook for 150 people. She prepared the night before and started cooking for dinner at 6 a.m.

“This is for refugees from Afghanistan,” said Jamileh. She made a homemade Afghan meal to welcome families who are going through a situation similar to that of her family three years ago.

In 2019, Jamileh fled the Taliban and fled to the United States with her children. “It’s so hard to come here. But we’re happy here right now. It’s so good,” she said.

What she is doing now to support her family was not allowed in Afghanistan.

For the past three years she has learned how to run a catering business through Break Bread, Break Borders, a culinary workforce training program for refugee women from war-torn countries.

Jamileh has always loved to cook and has had incredible family recipes. Break Bread, Break Borders gave her the opportunity to use her skills to make money for her family while sharing their culture and history.

The company was founded by Jin-Ya Huang.

She was inspired by her late mother Margaret Mei-Ying Huang, who was a Chinese refugee. Margaret fled communism from China to seek refuge in Taiwan. She later moved with her family to Dallas, where she owned a restaurant.

Jin-Ya said, “She was very careful to train other immigrants, refugees, and migrants to come into our kitchen and work in our kitchen at an age where she changed lives every day.”

Despite the death of her mother, Jin-Ya continues her lifelong work with Break Bread, Break Borders. She said: “Food is a wonderful, universal language and an incredible balance.”

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