IN Morocco, they drink tea with mint. In Tibet, they add yak butter and in Malaysia, it is served frothy with condensed milk.
Having a cuppa is a ritual shared by the world and has inspired a new initiative to build bridges by encouraging Scots to share a cup of tea with a refugee.
Cup of Tea with a Refugee is a campaign created by the charity Scottish Refugee Council to create opportunities for people to integrate and through informal chat, find their common ground.
A spokesman said: “It’s time for a positive conversation where we listen to each other and find out what we have in common.
“The words we use to talk about tea are the same wherever we come from – ‘welcoming’,
‘home’, ‘relaxing’, ‘comforting’ and ‘warm’.
“We found out that people can talk about tea for ages. We’ve all got a special way that we take our tea, or a favourite flavour.
“We’ve all got memories that involve tea.”
For Iranian Khosrow Zanganeh, 20, no Saturday would be the same without sharing some tea with his friends from the Western Isles and Edinburgh.
It is something of a ritual and they go to Tchai-Ovna House of Tea in the west end of Glasgow.
It has 100 blends and offers an escape from “dreich Glasgow weather into a Turkish Chaikhana, or a Bedouin cave, or even a Japanese tea house”.
On Khosrow’s first date with his girlfriend. they spent hours drinking tea in a bookshop
cafe.
Before Khosrow, an interpreter and community worker, came to the UK as an asylum seeker seven years ago, his family always shared tea together, using a tea glass and sucking the strong brew through a sugar cube in their mouth.
Khosrow said: “It can be difficult for refugees and asylum seekers to mix with local people, especially if they struggle with the language.
“There is an element of not knowing what you are doing. There is a barrier of culture and understanding but it can be done.”
He believes it is easier for youngsters arriving in the country because they have a chance to mix at school.
He added: “When people are older they tend to be quite isolated and it is hard to get out and get to know new people.
“And there is a lack of understanding of what refugees and asylum seekers are. But once people are informed they are more welcoming.”
In Iran, people tend not to drink coffee so tea is the key to all social events and Khosrow remembers neighbours taking out tea to construction workers labouring in the heat when he was young.
He believes Cup of Tea with a Refugee will help people mix and overcome differences, saying: “People chat about everything when they are sitting having tea.”
TV presenter and hairdresser Nkechi First, 41, from Nigeria, didn’t drink tea when she came to Glasgow as an asylum-seeker six years ago. In Africa, she drank a thick chocolate drink. But now she is a tea convert.
She said:“When I first tried it, I didn’t like it but now I do.”
Nkechi has been able to socialise with relative ease thanks to her vivacious personality but it has been tricky, even for her.
She said: “I do have Scottish friends but not a lot. People do stick together with their own communities so we have to make an effort.
“We are all guilty of not mixing. Not everyone finds it easy to mix and some local people don’t understand why refugees and asylum-seekers are here. They think we are here to take benefits or steal jobs which is completely untrue.”
Nkechi loves the idea of Cup of Tea with a Refugee. She said: “It is a beautiful idea. Tea is such a common theme, especially here in Scotland.”
Drinking tea with Nkechi at a Cup of Tea with a Refugee event at the Project Cafe in Glasgow city centre was Scot Selina Hales, founder of Refuweegee.
Refuweegee is a community-led project set up to ensure all refugees arriving in Glasgow are welcomed to the city in true Scottish style.
Selina set it up after feeling outraged and overwhelmed by the horrors of the refugee crisis.
She said: “I felt I couldn’t sit back any more.
“I wanted to do something that would make people feel welcome and safe and let them know that there was a community who wanted to connect with them.”
Cup of Tea with a Refugee ties in perfectly with the project’s aims and Refuweegee are holding an event on November 11 with the International Welcome Club at the Wellington Church in Glasgow.
Selina said: “I just love the informal nature of it. It is the epitome of what we are trying to do, to bring people together in a way that is not forced.”
Consultant cardiologist Omar Hasan, from Iraq, came to Glasgow in 2003 and he remembers being given tea at the Scottish Refugee Council offices, which immediately placed him at ease.
He used to love drinking tea like his gran did – through a sugar cube – but now he drinks it like a Scot and without sugar.
The 40-year-old is now married and settled here with two young children but he remembers feeling uncertain of the future when he arrived.
For the first two years he couldn’t work but would often have a cup of tea with a consultant gynaecologist who would mentor him.
He said: “It helped me a lot but integration is a mutual thing and we all have to try. I still believe Scotland is one of the most friendly places in the world.”
If you want to get involved in the campaign, you can download an event pack, with tea recipes, activity ideas, topics for discussion and practical tips.
Tea bags will also be handed out in locations around Scotland, so watch out for a Cup of Tea with a Refugee in your area.
For more details and stories, go to cupofteawitharefugee.com.
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