Cooking is my true passion. My grandpa first taught me cooking to cheer me up! He'd put on music, tell me stories from his past and we'd enjoy spending time together like this. I still cook with music on and it just brings back happy memories. One of my goals is to save up and take my daughter to Paris - the world's food capital!
Like many young girls from Gambia, I am a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM). When I lost my sister due to FGM, I became very upset. I had so many questions, but I never got any answers. I was told that as a girl, I had no right to question the elders’ actions. Following that, I received a lot of ill-treatment from the community and could no longer safely stay there.
I was lucky to have an understanding grandpa, who helped me to leave the country. I arrived in the UK as an asylum seeker and recently acquired my refugee status. My daughter and I have now been placed in emergency accommodation.
We don't have a kitchen there at moment, and my daughter doesn't want to eat takeaways. She’s used to my professionally prepared food! I worked as a sous-chef in a hotel before and really enjoyed it. Through Beam, I want to fulfil my dream of becoming a professional chef.
I’d like to start a new, better life for me and my child. I want to be able to pay for everything that she needs and have a house of our own.
Due to the member's personal history, we've kept this profile anonymous and are using a pseudonym.