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Health & Fitness

Patch Blogger: "Evening For Africa" was a Food Adventure for a Good Cause

Food adventurer Dave Seel visits Pentimento Restaurant for their annual "Evening For Africa" benefiting The East Africa Center in Takaungu, Kenya, and discovers Africa is closer than he thought.

A while back I watched a twitter conversation flit across my computer screen. Moderated by Danielle Gould, the editor for Food Tech Connect, famous chefs, like Marcus Samuelsson, weighed in on chefs' and restaurants' role in social change and philanthropy.

Samuelsson himself has been an ambassador for UNICEF since 2000 and reaches out often to his native country of Ethiopia. Some chefs in the conversation spoke about the need for more awareness of food system issues, a common cause many chefs often get behind since it translates so well into their cooking. Others spoke about the need for feeding those in and around their community, when so many go hungry. Through the myriad of causes discussed, one theme was clear: food brings people together and through that common community support, discussion, and change can happen. 

Last Sunday, I was fortunate to attend the annual "An Evening For Africa" dinner at Stony Brook's to benefit The East Africa Center in Takaungu, Kenya. Amidst world beat music and African drumming, we were transported to East Africa for a moment, feasting on traditional Lamb Samosas, Chapati, Beef Stew, and Curries. In support of the cause, Dennis Young, chef/owner of Pentimento, has become quite the African culinary expert and according to those that live in Kenya, the dishes were spot on. Slightly spicy with hints of cinnamon, tumeric, and coconut, traditional Kenyan food is a confluence of African, Indian, and Middle Eastern flavors. 

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After traveling back and forth from the beautiful buffet of dishes, I took a pause to speak with Kenya Program Director, Kate Crowley, who was visiting the States briefly from her home in Takaungu. She shed some light into the reality of the programs we were supporting that evening.

"The coast of Kenya is an interesting place. There's a big NGO presence in Nairobi, but not as much on the coast," Crowley said. "Our founder, Suzanne Wilson, really wanted to help those there. She was able to get land and connect to the local communities to really determine what they needed, and from there it's really grown. It's a unique place because there is a diverse combination of Muslim and Christian communities. They're all very appreciative of our help."

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The East Africa Center itself is a unique place and is distinctly deliberate in its empowerment of the families, especially the women and children, that it serves. From the beginning and still today, the EAC has taken a participatory approach to their work with the communities. They simply want to provide access, resources, and assistance for the community to empower themselves. As they describe on their website, "While many resources are present in urban centers and towns like Mombasa, and even nearby Kilifi, the distance and expense of travel is often prohibitive to acquiring these tools. In addition, health information and other educational resources are most often delivered as print media, which is inaccessible to those with low literacy or no literacy skills. Therefore, many material resources are economically beyond the reach of Takaungu residents. The East African Center addresses these facets of access at our community center in Takaungu."

As the night wore on, those dining perused the many crafts and clothing created by the women of Takaungu. Beautiful bags, shirts, and crafts gave us a sense of what creativity existed in the small community far from us. Taking my last serving of beans, rice, and corn, I thought about the african families gathered around a similar dish, speaking of their day, discussing their lives. Through food, we are not far from each other. We all eat and in that moment are thankful for all that's provided for us. Dennis Young and Lisa Cusamano have created a special, intentional place at Pentimento. On that night, it was a gathering place integrating one community into the other, sharing and supporting each other through stories, music, and food.

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