Community Action for Regained Empowerment (CARE) volunteers Roqya Amiri (center) and Grace Davenport (right) help serve beef samosas, naan bread and other food prepared by local refugees and immigrants from two different community groups from Africa (Congo/Tanzania) and Afghanistan, at the weekly AfriGhanistan Lunch Hour at SoKY Marketplace on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Members of the organization and volunteers served fufugali with cassava leaves, Afghan karahi beef stew, African pilau rice, coconut chicken stew naan bread and samosa, “Afrighanistan” spiced chai tea and other traditional dishes from Afghanistan and Africa. (Grace Ramey/grace.ramey@bgdailynews.com)

If your mid-Monday lunch leaves something to be desired, a group of Afghan and African immigrants would love to spice things up.

The nonprofit organization Community Action for Regained Empowerment, or CARE, held its weekly AfriGhanistan Lunch Hour at SoKY Marketplace on Monday, offering a fusion of traditional dishes prepared by local refugees and immigrants.

Dancers from the group’s youth initiative joined the occasion this week to celebrate Black History Month and show off some Afro-beat and Amapiano moves, genres that originated in West and South Africa, respectively.

CARE was founded to facilitate intercultural and sensitive community projects, such as trauma-informed wellness training, a women’s empowerment program and the “AfriGhanistan” Cooking Club. They also support vulnerable populations still living abroad in places like Tanzania.

William Mkanta, founder of CARE, said the cooking club invites immigrants and refugees to learn culinary skills and ways to market themselves in the U.S. workforce. Their meals are brought out each Monday and sold for $10 a plate.

“We found out that we have a big base of Afghan and African women in the group that we serve, and one of the areas that was very good for them was in food,” Mkanta said. “They were learning cooking skills from each culture, and that led to what we call now AfriGhanistan Lunch Hour.”

All proceeds are returned to the program to help support participants.

“The women have different things they are going through. We support them when they’re dealing with immigration issues, we support them if something is going on in the family, whether that be a funeral or anything that needs support,” Mkanta said. “The funds are 100% going back to support the women as part of our organization’s general fund.”

The lunch has slowly picked up community interest since it began in October, Mkanta said, and also offers catering services. Mkanta said they hope to expand the operation further, adding another serving day and potentially opening a food truck within the next few months.

The lunch offers a rotating menu and Monday featured naan bread, beef samosas, West African fufu bread with cassava leaf soup, chicken stew with coconut milk, biriani rice and spiced chai to wash it down. All options are halal.

Lida Noorzai, an Afghan immigrant and AfriGhanistan cook, came to Bowling Green roughly a year and a half ago. She said the program brings a piece of home to her new life in America.

“We enjoy it because we are just showing our culture to people, and they love it because of this,” Noorzai said. “We feel like we are in Afghanistan here.”

Noorzai said she became involved with CARE for its support of women and loves the program. She said opportunities like the cooking club offer a chance for women to connect and pass the time while developing their skills.

She said she wants her fellow Afghan immigrants to stay strong in their new lives – “everything will be OK here.” Programs like those offered by CARE help ensure that.

AfriGhanistan Lunch Hour is held at the SoKY Marketplace Pavillion, 636 Center St., from 11:30 to 2 p.m. Menus are posted regularly on the Community Agenda for Regained Empowerment Facebook page.