Tucson Meet Yourself

Come Celebrate Cultural Diversity in our very own town - October 12-14th!

Iskashitaa will be well represented at this year's Tucson Meet Yourself Festival - crafters, food demonstrations, retail sales of our locally-gleaned and produced specialty items. Come join us downtown, October 12 -14!
                                         
Ten refugee crafters will serve as tradition bearers, showcasing their talents and cultures both Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 5pm, in the Pima County Courthouse Courtyard. Stop by to learn more about crafts from Bhutan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Iraq. Their items will be sold in the Tucson Meet Yourself Store, located nearby.

The Heritage Kitchen, on Jacome Plaza between the Main Library and low-rider exhibits, will also feature refugee talent. Refugee cooks, including Afghani, Bhutanese, Congolese, Eritrean, Iraqi and Russian women, will demonstrate dishes taught to them by their mothers and grandmothers. Samples and recipes will be shared, allowing everyone a taste of these traditional foods. With a table anchoring a corner of the "Heritage Food Pavilion", Iskashitaa will also be well-positioned to retail our newly expanded line of specialty products, among them hot lime pomegranate marmalade, hot chile mango sauce, mesquite syrup and garlic in olive oil.

People and partnerships are at the center of all these Iskashitaa activities. Priscilla Mendenhall, Iskashitaa board member and principal of Crossings Kitchen with which Iskashitaa is collaborating to create a culinary space for refugee and immigrant women and families, is coordinator of the heritage food demonstrations. Santa Rita high school volunteers from the Culinary Program of the Joint Technical Education District (JTED), a recent partner organization, as well as University of Arizona student volunteers and interns, will be on hand to answer questions.

Volunteers are still needed to assist with Iskashitaa's participation at Tucson Meet Yourself. If you would like to help, please contact Natalie at Natalie@iskashitaa.org.