Paris Chefs Organize Feast in Solidarity with Afghan Women

Ground Control in Paris.
Ground Control in Paris.
TT

Paris Chefs Organize Feast in Solidarity with Afghan Women

Ground Control in Paris.
Ground Control in Paris.

Several renowned chefs, including Baptiste Trudel, Giovanni Passerini, and Amandine Chaignot, have taken part in a feast aimed at supporting Afghan women.

The event was hosted by the Ground Control located at Paris' 12th arrondissement on September 27.

The area, surrounded by gardens and pedestrian lanes, usually prepares meals for refugees in collaboration with humanitarian charities. Each diner paid 50 euros for a five-course meal.

The event was sponsored by journalists who are experts on Afghanistan. They included Aïtor Alfonso and Alexandra Michot, in addition to deputy mayor of the 20th arrondissement Lila Djellali.

The initiative was organized in collaboration with the associations "Refugee Food" and "Enfants d'Afghanistan et d'ailleurs" founded by Reza Jafari.

Since mid-July, Jafari’s association, which gathers French and Afghan writers and artists, has helped 200 Afghan women flee their country and settle their new life in exile, although its main goal is to support women living in Afghanistan and to collect donations for the unemployed ones.

The poster of the event was designed by Artist Anna Wanda. It features a group of Afghan women raising their fist to express courage in face of the Taliban after it retook control in Afghanistan.



Prince William Says Visit With Diana to Homeless Shelter Was Eye-Opener

This handout photograph released by Kensington Palace on October 25, 2024, shows Britain's Princess Diana (2R) with her 11-year-old son William (L), now Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales in the kitchens during one of his first visits to homelessness charity, The Passage in London, taken on December 14, 1993.. (Photo by THE PASSAGE / AFP)
This handout photograph released by Kensington Palace on October 25, 2024, shows Britain's Princess Diana (2R) with her 11-year-old son William (L), now Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales in the kitchens during one of his first visits to homelessness charity, The Passage in London, taken on December 14, 1993.. (Photo by THE PASSAGE / AFP)
TT

Prince William Says Visit With Diana to Homeless Shelter Was Eye-Opener

This handout photograph released by Kensington Palace on October 25, 2024, shows Britain's Princess Diana (2R) with her 11-year-old son William (L), now Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales in the kitchens during one of his first visits to homelessness charity, The Passage in London, taken on December 14, 1993.. (Photo by THE PASSAGE / AFP)
This handout photograph released by Kensington Palace on October 25, 2024, shows Britain's Princess Diana (2R) with her 11-year-old son William (L), now Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales in the kitchens during one of his first visits to homelessness charity, The Passage in London, taken on December 14, 1993.. (Photo by THE PASSAGE / AFP)

Prince William has recalled how his late mother Princess Diana took him to a shelter for homeless people when he was just 11 years old, saying how the visit opened his eyes to how others lived a different life to him.
In an extract from a documentary about his efforts to end homelessness to be broadcast this week, the heir to the British throne said how Diana introduced him and his younger brother Prince Harry to the cause as part of her determination to raise wider awareness of social issues from AIDS to mental health, Reuters said.
"I'd never been to anything like that before, and I was a bit anxious as to what to expect. My mother went about her usual part of making everyone feel relaxed and having a laugh and joking with everyone," William said of the 1993 visit to The Passage charity in London.
Last June, the elder son of King Charles launched a five-year project "Homewards" which he said was inspired by Diana.
Homeless charities say it is hard to know exactly how many people are living on the streets but statistics released this month said 178,560 households were assessed as homeless in England in 2023-24, up 12.3% on the year before.
In focusing on homelessness, William said he was "desperately trying to help people who are in need, and I see that as part of my role".
He recalled during his visit to The Passage playing chess and chatting with those there.
"That's when it informed me that there are other people out there who don't have the same life as you do," he says in the documentary. "When you're quite small ... you just think life is what you see in front of you. You don't really have concept to look elsewhere.
"And it's when you meet people that I did then who put a different perspective in your head and say ... I was living on the street last night."
The full ITV documentary, "Prince William: We Can End Homelessness", will be shown on Oct. 30 and 31.