Stories from the diaspora

"I don't often drink nam krachiap as it isn't on of my favourite drinks. But every time I do, it brings me back to a place where I feel true warmth. A calming feeling of, "I am home". My job is all about traveling, I'm often away from home. But when I do get the chance to drink nam krachiap, it takes me back. Brings me back to the time where me and my sisters would help our grandmother make some khanom Kan( pandan layer cake), there with our loved ones doing what we all love doing( cooking and being together). Brings me back to the moment where at every family vacation we were always greeted with this refreshing drink. Brings me back to the time where I would be in the farms lands on a hot day with our cousins out in the rice field and this refreshing drink is there in to help us push through. It's a drink where, every time I close my eyes, I feel a certain serenity. A feeling of "I'm home, I'm with them all", no matter where I am in the world. "

Bobun

Thailand

"In Gambia, we call it “wonjo”, One of the best drinks ever made! It reminds me of the days where we won a match and we went straight to the “aunty” that sold it. It was either in small bottles or in plastic bags. The feeling of drinking it alone, is indescribable! "

Ugo

Gambia

"Drinking Bissap is like opening the door to my late grandmother’s fridge in Pikine, Dakar in Senegal. While my cousins preferred it fresh out of the freezer, iced in a bag, my favourite came in a fancy glass with extra mint. Bissap is reserved for special occasions, when we are all together, as a dessert. It’s a sweet treat, a little gift, at the end of the meal. I felt special with my glass, and yet part of us all. When I drink bissap, I feel hugged, I feel teleported into a room full of laughter, filled stomachs and love. "

A child of the diaspora

Senegal