Sabeeha was born deaf and never went to school – instead, she worked all her life on her Dad’s farm in Iraq and cooked for the family. They grew olives, almonds, veges and farmed lamb. Sabeeha arrived in Australia as a refugee with 4 of her sisters – 3 who are also hearing impaired. It wasn’t until arriving here that Sabeeha began to learn Australian Sign Language (Auslan) – which has given her the ability to communicate with people outside of just her family. Sabeeha came to Ignite because she is passionate about cooking and wished to share her culture with people of the Coffs Coast. With the support of her family and friends she has just launched Sabeeha’s Kitchen which hosts pop-up cooking lessons in private homes. These pictures were taken on her first ‘experimental’ evening as she refines her concept. We cooked a traditional Iraqi dish called Maqluba which means upside-down. Sabeeha chose to use the feathers of a Peacock in her logo as the Peacock is a very important symbol to Yazidi people. It has been designed to resemble her customers gathering around to share in food, culture and storytelling