A baker and his 13-year-old son preserve their Syrian culture through baking bread at a refugee camp

Adam Liaw's visit to Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan shows that connecting to people through their food helps better understand the realities of the Syrian conflict.

I travelled to Zaatari and Azraq Refugee Camps on the border of Jordan and Syria as part of my work with UNICEF. I got to meet Syrian children and their families living in those camps. About 80,000 people live in the Zaatari camp – over half of them children – and is now Jordan’s fourth biggest city.

Zaatari Refugee Camp is home to over 80,000 displaced people. Source: UNICEF

Zaatari camp has been operating for over seven years and you can see how developed the culture has become in the camps. Through the centre of Zaatari camp is a long market street known colloquially as the Champs-Élysées, named after a French field hospital that was on the street many years ago [and the Paris avenue]. It bustles with activity, crowded with shoppers and people who just come to meet friends and chat. It's a vibrant market street where you can do everything, from getting your mobile phone repaired to buying your daily bread.

One of the most interesting things I found about the camps is that many of the people operating the stores have learnt new skills. Many people who leave their homes, or in this case are forced to leave their homes, develop these news skills to find a connection to their culture that they've left behind and to make ends meet for their family.

Abu Muhanned's breads are legendary in the camp. Source: UNICEF

I met Abu Muhanned. He’s been at Zaatari since the beginning, seven years ago. In Syria, he worked at a poultry distribution company, but in Zaatari, he became a baker. His bread is legendary in the camp. 

Every day, he and his son, who is only 13 years old, make different kinds of bread, a flatbread for shawarma and a yeast-leavened bread, too, and sells them for just a few Jordanian pastries or cents to the residents of the camp.

Mohammed, who is 13 years old, makes bread alongside his dad every day. Source: UNICEF

If you want to get involved, #CookForSYRIA is easier than ever in 2021 – all you need to do is invite some friends over, cook a Syrian inspired recipe, and encourage your guests to donate to UNICEF’s Syria Appeal. Find out more via cookforsyria.unicef.org.au.