The courtyard breeze carried the smell of falafel, Mast-o-Khiar and lavashak Wednesday, April 9, during the Middle Eastern North African club‘s first potluck of the year. Co-founder Sophie Salehi (‘28) said the food MENA brought not only provided a free, delicious meal for the rest of the community, but it also served as outlet for members of the affinity space to share their culture.
MENA, created Nov. 21, has three founders: Sophie Salehi, Farah Sandoval (’28) and Sara Salehi (‘26). Sophie Salehi said she wanted to start this club because Archer had lacked a space specifically dedicated to Middle Eastern and North African students for several years.
“What inspired me was that I just felt underrepresented at Archer because there wasn’t really a club that I could go to and where I felt my culture was being represented,” Sophie Salehi said. “So I made my own, and I had the support of my sister and Farah, so we all made it together.”
At the potluck, MENA members served rice dishes, hummus and pita, a yogurt dish, falafel and sweets items. Through the variety of dishes and their origins, Sophie Salehi said the event highlighted the cultural diversity that exists within the club.
“We had dishes from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, which is where hummus and pita bread are from,” Sophie Salehi said. “Then the rice dish we had was from Iran, and the falafel was from Egypt.”
Salehi shared an ingredient used in numerous dishes that made color and flavor pop: saffron. According to JSTOR Daily, saffron is the most expensive spice, with just ten tablespoons selling for $120.
“Saffron is really important in Persian food since it represents purity and light,” Sophie Salehi said. “We use it in the rice and really just add color to it, which is what makes the rice yellow.”
According to an article by The University of British Columbia, food is a meaningful part when learning about other cultures. For Sandoval, it acts as a way to both share her culture and learn about other cultures within MENA’s community.
“The Middle Eastern, North African region geographically is very large, so there’s a lot of diversity within the culture,” Sandoval said. “I’ve learned a lot from the other people in this club, learning about cultures that I didn’t know about before.”
Since MENA is relatively new, Sophie Salehi said that they have not yet branched out to the community and shared their culture as much as they would like, but sharing Middle Eastern and North African food was progress. She hoped the potluck enriched the Archer community’s knowledge about the diverse group of cultures that exist within MENA.
“I think because [MENA] is just starting right now, it hasn’t really had the opportunity to bring that much and help to people, but it’s still growing,” Sophie Salehi said. “So we hope to share our culture today and that it will help.”
Sophie Salehi said she feels that MENA is already achieving their goal of providing other Middle Eastern and South African students with a safe space to share experiences. Shayda Johnson (‘28), a member of MENA, emphasized the importance of having an understanding of cultures within a school in order to help inform others. Johnson also said she values having this club as a safe place.
“Because I am Persian myself, when I heard that Farah, Sophie and Sara had created a club, I was like, ‘Wait, these are my people,'” Johnson said. “Letting people be able to try and experience parts of our culture is a great way for people to become more aware and also get to experience and feel maybe even more informed.”
Sophie Salehi said the Archer community was delighted to have been a part of this celebration.
“Someone said, ‘I hope you do this next year,’ which made me happy,” Sophie Salehi said. “I hope that next year even more people will come and that we get to do this again.”
As a founder of MENA, Sandoval said she always seeks to learn about different cultures. She hoped that she encouraged other students to connect with different identities through the potluck. She encouraged her peers to share their own cultures and hopes MENA provides a safe place for Middle Eastern and North African students.
“I think it really helps people be more open and willing to share about their culture,” Sandoval said. “It just makes them feel safer and represented at school.”
