Bruno Cravo - The queue outside Lisbon’s first Syrian restaurant on its opening day showed an appetite not just for Syrian food but for integration in one of the few European countries trying to welcome more refugees. nike air max 1 argent Syrian refugees run Mezze restaurant after money was raised to renovate a former butcher’s shop on a market in the Portuguese capital’s popular Arroios neighbourhood. adidas pas cher Leonor Rodrigues was one of the customers immediately won over when Mezze opened in September. “The chicken kebabs, the hummus, everything was exquisite. air jordan 15 Next week I will be back, that’s for sure,” the translator said. “The place is really good and it’s great to integrate the refugees this way.” The restaurant is the result of a fundraising drive, which raised 23,000 euros, initiated by former journalist Francisca Gorjao Henriques, who founded the association ‘Pao a Pao’ (‘Bread to Bread’) in 2016 to help refugees. “As soon as I announced the restaurant project and said it was intended for Syrian families, people immediately joined” the campaign to collect money to renovate and equip the building, the 45-year-old said. chaussure adidas zx flux Inside it is impossible to ignore the delicious aromas coming from the kitchen, where a dozen Syrians work, with some of their stories told on the menus. One of the staff, Rafat, admits that Lisbon was not his dream destination when he fled Syria nearly three years ago, living first in Egypt before moving to Portugal a year ago. The 21-year-old now lives in Lisbon’s northern suburbs with his mother, Fatima, and two sisters, Rana and Reem, who also work at Mezze. nike air homme solde Rafat’s father, who ran a traditional restaurant in Damascus, died in the civil war that has killed more than 330,000 people since 2011. nike pas cher 2017 “All I knew about Portugal was the footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. adidas pure boost I thought it was a rather poor country. adidas yeezy boost My priority was Germany,” Rafat said. But he said he is “very happy” to have finished his journey in Portugal, where he hopes to be joined by his older brother, who lives in Turkey with his wife and their small boy. Rafat says Pao a Pao, which helps refugees find jobs and integrate, has helped his mother and sister feel at home. “For my part, I was already working in a kebab restaurant. But for the women, who often stay at home, it was more difficult,” he said.
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