So said Mohamed from Yemen after giving a presentation on his beautiful country of Yemen, the country he was forced to leave because of the civil war that has raged there for years. Mohamed lives in the asylum seekers’ centre in Utrecht. He spoke at a special theme night on Yemen in Landhuis in de Stad, which we organized for the fourth time in cooperation with De Voorkamer. Also, the young singer Sam from Yemen gave a sparkling performance together with Loes van Hapert. They received thunderous applause from the nearly 100 attendees who also enjoyed the most delicious dishes from Yemen cooked by Amani, Samira, Ghadir, Safaa and Fatima throughout the evening. The typical rice flavored by steaming charcoal along with it in the oven evoked memories of the homeland, which was nice and also difficult …. the loss of home and the smells and tastes that come with it make happy and sad at the same time. Fortunately, there was spontaneous dancing by all the people and everyone forgot their worries.

Thanks thanks thanks thanks to all the lovely people who helped make this evening such a great success!!! On to the next edition which we will organize in January which will highlight the country of Somalia.