(serene instrumental music) - I think with every culture, food plays an important aspect.

You know, in the Vietnamese culture we always ask, you know " c!m ch0a", right?

"Have you had a meal?"

That's the "Hello, how are you," kind of greeting.

I think food is also an easier pathway because people are curious about food.

People are willing to try it, right?

They might try something that they know nothing about and then they get curious about that and they wanna learn more about the stories behind the food.

I think it is such an accessible pathway and for newly resettled refugees, that's a little piece of home that they can bring here.

We are in Kent, Washington.

Project Feast is a nonprofit social venture.

So we operate a commercial kitchen.

We train low-income immigrants and refugees in the culinary arts.

We prepare them for jobs in the food industry or we also prepare them for opening up their own small business.

And so part of the training is receiving hands-on experience cooking alongside our staff.

We're not here making burgers and fries, right?

Some people come to us thinking that that's what they need to learn to get into the food industry.

And so part of the training has always been the apprentices would create a menu, their food, their dishes.

We want them to know that their food is valuable and their story is valuable and we will make their food.

- Van Nguyen sees a lot of her own family in the people she trains.

After the fall of Saigon, her family fled to America.

She was only three years old and her memories of their harrowing journey have diminished over time.

But her love of food has not.

When Kabul fell, Van saw the opportunity to pay it forward, just as her family had been given assistance in rebuilding their lives, she stepped up and volunteered with her friends to sponsor an Afghan family.

That experience gave her visibility into how the evacuees were adjusting and what would be needed to bring an all Afghan cohort into Project Feast.

(women faintly chattering) - I'm just excited to help the newly resettled Afghans because there's so many coming into our community right now that don't have the resources and they don't have an idea of what they can do to support their family.

And so we're just happy to be able to provide them this opportunity to pursue something they enjoy.

- [Thanh] Chef Instructor Kausar Ahmed is herself an immigrant from Pakistan.

She has made a career of empowering women through food.

- So when you are making these in Afghanistan.

- Yes.

- A lot of people do it together.

- Yeah.

- Yeah?

- So this particular cohort was very special.

They come from a completely different culture.

So coming here hits them really hard.

Everything is different.

The culture is different.

You know, upbringing for their children is different.

(light instrumental music) - Wida and Mursal are two recently resettled refugees in the Project Feast program.

Even though their husbands worked together in Afghanistan they had never met until they were both at the Kabul Airport fleeing the country.

- We are lucky that we came to Seattle also together and now I'm thinking like she's my best friend.

I don't know anyone.

I don't have any relative in all of the US and she is my whole family.

(woman speaks in a foreign language) - When we are cooking Afghani dishes, so we again, more miss our families because I always cook for my whole family.

- [Thanh] For each of you, can you think about like who taught you how to cook and what do you wanna say?

If you could talk to them, you know, what would you say?

(woman speaks in a foreign language) Oh, I don't think she's doing well.

(woman speaks in a foreign language) - It's a sensitive topic.

- Ah, okay, okay, okay.

- It's okay.

It's okay.

Do you want some water?

Anyone can have an anxiety attack and that happened many, many times.

All of them were from the same background coming from the same culture, coming from the same trauma.

For me, it's not only teaching them about cooking skills, it's much more than that because they come here with so much trauma there has to be somebody there to support them.

- I think that's really nice to be able to partner with-- - [Thanh] Frishta Attayee, a peer support specialist.

And Laurie Reyman, a mental health coordinator work for the Seattle office of the International Rescue Committee.

They have been working to provide mental health services to the newly resettled Afghan refugees.

- To do a type of breathing, at morning and evening.

- Okay.

- And she said it's very helpful for me, breathing.

Yeah, she like the breathing exercise.

- People often experience what's called a honeymoon period initially where they finally arrived.

This is what they've been waiting for.

There's kind of a sense of relief initially that they've arrived.

They're in this new community where they're safe, but that resettling period is another traumatic period where they've arrived with nothing until they can get to the point where they can can become self-sufficient.

They have to learn the language, learn the schooling system, learn the healthcare system, get a job.

They're given 90 days to do that which I mean really?

Is that really what we can expect?

So processing all of this, dealing with all of this, getting all of the support that you need in a new community is a real challenge.

And so the mental health support is crucial for clients to be able to rebuild and find their way in their new lives.

- [Van] So we had six women start the program and five graduated today.

- [Kausar] Wida has graduated with flying colors and got an amazing job.

- Thank you.

- Do you like this one?

- Yeah.

- [Van] Seeing that Wida got this job so quickly after leaving our program is a good sign to the others that there are jobs in their future.

- She's setting an example and she's the first game changer of this generation.

- I always have the dream to complete my higher education having a job now I'm thinking like I can complete my dreams.

My children, can have a good, a better future, good education so they can help their people in Afghanistan.

- Even though we are only helping a little part of this community, we're hoping that we are providing them with life skills that will support them for the long run.

And we just wanna spread the word, right?

To help as many immigrants and refugees as we can.

You know, being a Vietnamese refugee, it's been 40 years and, you know, you see the successes we've had, you see the difficulties we've had, and 40 years is a long time.

I hope that this group of Afghans who are coming over now I hope it doesn't take them 40 years to settle into US life.

To find, you know, economic success, to create a whole community.

I hope it comes faster for them.

I don't think it was anyone's choice to come here.

I don't think anyone wanted to leave their country but they are here and they are trying to build a life.

(somber instrumental music) - [Thanh] Coming up in the fifth and final episode of this series, concluding thoughts on the Vietnamese refugee experience and ensuring those lessons are carried forward.

- [Narrator] Refuge After War is the first season of Crosscut Origins.

Submissions are open for season two.

Learn more and apply at Crosscut.com/Origins.

- [Narrator] Refuge After War is made possible by the generous support of CAIR-WA.