Jumagul is a volunteer from Afghanistan who consistently participates in the soup kitchens every Sunday and every other Saturday in which Serve the City Paris offers volunteers to help L’Assiette Migrante. He has lived in Paris for almost 3 years now, and has been volunteering 2 years and 4 months. Before heading out to help with the preparation for the soup kitchen, we decided to meet up in La Chappelle and go to an Afghan restaurant.
Jumagul
“I prefer speaking Hindi and English because they’re the easiest.”
Jumagul regularly participates in food distributions and both French and English language exchanges whenever he can. He speaks Pashto, Dari, Hindi, Urdu, English, French and a bit of Turkish. I think he’s got us all beat! He mentions that the language exchanges helped him a lot, especially in the beginning. Jumagul gets to practice his English at most Serve the City activities. He also gets to speak in Pashto and Dari with other Afghan volunteers in the organization or even at restaurants and mini-markets. Now, after being in France for a while and diligently getting better at the language, he takes additional French classes during the week.
“Talking with others from around the world is good for my mind.”
Volunteering and living in the city has allowed him to meet people from different countries. “From America, Spain, Slovenia, Turkey, Germany, Norway… From everywhere.” When he has some free time, he likes to go to the 15th, 16th and 19th arrondissements. His favorite things to do are listen to Hindi music and walk around parks, such as the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and the Jardin de Luxembourg, during a nice sunny day. However, this day was particularly cold and rainy, so we quickly went to the restaurant. In La Chapelle, we can find a lot of Afghan restaurants and stores, or even fusions like the one we went to.
Jumagul often cooks yet enjoys going to restaurants with friends and spending time talking with them. Maintaining celebrations such as Eid al-Fitr and watching Cricket matches are also important for him and his culture. He swiftly ordered in Pashto some tea, mantoo and qabuli palau for us. The food was incredible! As we kept talking a bit more, Jumagul pointed out how it is common for non-Western countries to share food during meals, while in western countries they never do. And it’s true! I have grown up to only eat what I ordered or served myself, yet during the outings with Jumagul, Ismail and Noyon, we have shared all the food we have ordered together.
“I like helping others, giving food and cooking in the soup kitchen.”
Jumagul wants people to know that, “The Afghan person is very kind.” It is not uncommon for Afghan families to offer food and a place to stay to people from other countries who are visiting. As he says this, I easily see these same considerate and cooperative qualities in him. Between heavy weeks with work and language classes, he never fails to make the time to volunteer. It is no surprise to learn that he was awarded the Peace Builder Award by Peace Museum Paris.
Sitting down and getting to speak with Jumagul about Afghanistan and his time in Paris so far was an enlightening and inspiring experience!
“A Day in the Life of _” is a project by Kasey Polo-Londoño where she interviews beneficiaries who are also volunteers, with the intent to get to know their efforts within the organization, the city and the sense of community they’ve created while connecting to their countries and cultures.