Women's Stories

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WE Center for STAR Women

WE provides technical support, business training, and access to microcredit loans to refugee women in San Diego.

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Amina Essa, the breadwinner in her family, serves up sambusas, eggplant and lentils at the City Heights Farmers Market.

Making Vegans Happy in City Heights

Amina Essa was in the right place at the right time to launch a sambusa concession. Her Somali pastries are popular with vegans and vegetarians, and there are plenty of both living in the neighborhood near the City Heights Farmers Market.

But she didn't have the infrastructure until a WE Star Center grant helped her set up shop. Now she spends Saturdays in the shade of her own comfortable stall, serving up brunch and building a loyal clientele.

"The Star Center helped me so much," she said. "They helped me buy the canopy, the tables, the cooking equipment, everything."

Every Saturday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., Amina joins a group of other WE Star Center clients at the City Heights Farmers Market where they sell crafts, jewelry, and other wares. On a recent Saturday, Amina's business was steady, and customers greeted her warmly. Her most popular sambusas were spinach and potato, and to round out the meal, nearly everyone ordered a bowl of basmati rice covered by stewed eggplant or lentils.

Amina and her family have been in San Diego since they fled Somalia as refugees in 1993. Within minutes of their arrival at Lindbergh Field, her husband, a former Somali diplomat, had a stroke. "We went directly to a hospital," she recalled. "We didn't know anybody here, but the IRC helped us out."

Amina's husband was disabled by the stroke and a subsequent stroke. "He has lost a lot of his memory, both short-term and long-term," she said. "Sometimes he asks, 'What day is it?' and other times, he asks, 'When are we going back to Somalia?'"

Every Friday night, Amina cooks the eggplant and lentil dishes from scratch. She arises early Saturday morning to cook the rice and the filled pastries, and by 9 a.m., she is at her Farmers Market stall, ready for a day of feeding customers and holding court.

Fifteen years after arriving as refugees, Amina's family has embraced life in America. Her son has started his own family. Her two daughters are in college. And she and her husband have settled into the local community.

"San Diego has been very good for us," she said. "I've met a lot of nice people through the IRC. Here at the market, the sellers exchange products - I give them sambusas, they give me what they sell - so we are all friends, and we look out for each other."