Locals Cook with Migrants to Help Them Feel More Connected

Community kitchens have become a source of connection and belonging for Venezuelan migrants in Peru.

“The olla [spanish for community kitchen] allowed me to meet Venezuelans. Mrs. Silvia, a Venezuelan, teaches us how to cook “carotas” or prepares them and brings them to us,” says Tereza, leader of a community kitchen in Lima, Peru.

Over 1.5 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees are currently living in Peru. Many of them, particularly women, experience discrimination, violence, limited opportunities, and an overall lack of support. One significant way these women find belonging is through their community kitchens, which also promote access to fundamental human rights such as the right to food and non-discrimination. Currently, further integration of community kitchens in Peru is being explored, such as the exchange of experiences between community kitchens in different districts, making visible the women’s work and promoting their economic and social empowerment, and communicating the importance of human rights and inclusion of the migrant people by the local community, among others. All in all, these “ollas” are providing necessary resources to a disadvantaged community.