Share Kai and Korero hui - Unity Week at Your Workplace is a programme designed to bring people together and celebrate the diversity of cultures through shared food. Unity Week is "an initiative driven by The Sakinah Community Trust, a women-led organisation comprising widows, mothers, and daughters of those lost in the mosque attack tragedy. The programme, created by InCommon in collaboration with Mahia te Aroha, aims to showcase the richness of cultures in Christchurch and foster connections between individuals of different backgrounds. By incorporating the programme into workplaces, employees can engage in cultural conversations and share memories and stories of food. In an interview with Holly Griffin from InCommon, Indian Weekender learned about the impact of the programme and the importance of celebrating diversity in the workplace. Excerpts:
What is Share Kai?
Share Kai is a collaboration between InCommon and Mahia te Aroha as a simple method of enabling people of all cultures to connect over food. Using our simple conversation starters, we intend to explore the richness of cultures that call Otautahi home. InCommon and Mahia te Aroha were formed in response to the mosque shootings. InCommon nudges people to reach out across cultures and faiths, and communities to explore the similarities we all have with each other, regardless of our backgrounds or how we might look. Mahia te Aroha seeks to continue that compassionate response by encouraging small acts of compassion so that we can all live in a society where people of all cultures have a sense of belonging.
Share some details about the Share Kai and Korero hui – Unity Week at Your Workplace.
At the Share Kai and Korero hui – Unity Week at Your Workplace on February 2, 25 people came together from 15 organisations and local businesses to korero about how they might observe Unity Week with their teams and staff. Using our specially designed Connection Cards, participants are nudged to go beyond the usual small talk and get to know others: Do you say a karakia or prayer before you eat? What is your go-to comfort food? What is your most memorable meal? Plates loaded high, people were encouraged to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of our city and the communities that call Otautahi home. These cooks are one of four groups from different ethnic backgrounds – Eritrea, Nepal, Afghanistan and Iran – who have come together for our Share Kai programme.
How do you see the programme promoting diversity and inclusivity in the workplace?
Research has shown that workplaces often lack tools and methods to encourage social cohesion. Due to many conflicting priorities, it’s often easy for businesses and workplaces to overlook well-being practices. Both InCommon’s toolkits and the Share Kai and Korero toolkit provide simple yet effective methods for people to use to enable their staff to connect with one another on a deeper level. Sharing memories of food draws out cultural conversations and enables us to see each other beyond labels.
Share Kai is in the pilot phase. We are currently testing the waters with this new way of bringing people together, we are learning and adapting our approach and tools in response to every Share Kai event so that the final product will be as effective as possible.
How do you collaborate with other organisations or initiatives to enhance the reach and impact of the Share Kai programme?
Mahia te Aroha and InCommon are sharing resources to develop and deliver these programmes, but we can’t do it alone. We’re not looking to replicate or duplicate. If you have an existing event that you feel would lend itself to a Share Kai approach, then we would love to hear from you. Equally, if you are passionate about this, we would love to hear from you.
We are part of a group that is supporting Unity Week, this is an initiative driven by The Sakinah Community Trust, a women-led organisation comprising widows, mothers, and daughters of those lost in the mosque attack tragedy, and we are proud to include our Share Kai activities in Unity Week and beyond. We are collaborating with a local emerging community project, the Stanmore Corner Project, for our first public Share Kai and Korero public events, February 10 – March 3.
We provide online toolkits to download, we ask that you take a couple of photos and a quote maybe, so that we can use that for our storytelling. You can also get in touch to book our Share Kai cooks to cater for your workplace event or hui and share kai from other cultures.
Tell us more about InCommon
Two crucial research pieces form the basis of InCommon. The Contact Hypothesis shows that prejudice and conflict between groups of people can be reduced if members interact meaningfully with each other. This powerful idea is backed up by decades of evidence showing that our views of people different from us become more positive as we spend more time together – leading to more social inclusion and less racism.
Secondly, the phenomenon of ‘homophily’ – that when most people encounter new people, especially in new or large environments like workplaces, schools or events, they tend to gravitate towards others they perceive to be ‘like them’ and are more likely to interact with people with whom they assume they have common ground. Without realising it, this approach limits our interactions through the assumption: this person looks different to me, or sounds foreign to me, so we won’t have much in common. And it sends a message to those we don’t interact with that they do not belong.
InCommon seeks to utilise the Contact Hypothesis and encourage people to connect with someone new at our events and through our work in schools and workplaces. Our approach is consciously playful and light-hearted, a gentle nudge towards a broader awareness and appreciation of the diversity that makes up Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to bring everyone along on this journey, not only those who are already engaged in this kaupapa but also those unfamiliar with interacting with people from outside of their communities, who might feel wary, unsure or even afraid.
What other initiatives or plans are in the pipeline in the coming months?
The first Share Kai and Korero public events will be held in partnership with The Stanmore Corner Project at The Stanmore Common and Yard, 97 Stanmore Road, Friday evenings 6 – 8 pm during February and March 2023.
- February 10 – Eritrean kai and culture
- February 17 – Afghani kai and culture
- February 24 – Nepali kai and culture
- March 3 – Persian kai and culture
All meals $15 per plate, snacks under $10, drinks $5. Halal meat and vegetarian options. Come along, bring the whanau and your appetite! See https://events.humanitix.com/share-kai-and-k-rero and https://www.facebook.com/events/892054918594418/905793460553897/?ref=newsfeed.
We’ll be at Riverside on March 16 12 - 1.30pm for Meet and Eat for Unity Week. Come along and get to know others working near you.
Get in touch to be part of our newest Share Kai initiative, Share Cooking, Share Kai,
This monthly cooking group aims to bring people together from different cultures, faiths and communities to form deeper connections, share and learn while cooking favourite recipes together.
Other projects Mahia te Aroha and InCommon are developing include activities around the Peace Train, which runs in the Botanic Gardens on 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month. Get in touch if you want to explore using the Peace Train for an event.
And we’re looking at working with students in schools, creating the space for them to have gritty conversations on what it means to belong, and with workplaces to support them to become places where all staff feel included.
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