São Paulo – Syrian refugee Talal Al-Tinawi plans on continuing donating Arab lunches to quarantined elderly and people with special needs to prevent them from catching the new coronavirus in São Paulo.
Talal and his wife donated 300 lunches to the elderly in late March. They pay for it all, bought the ingredients, cooked and delivered for twelve days. The action was their way to thank for the welcome they received from the Brazilians when arriving here in 2013 with three kids.
“I wanted to thank Brazilians for welcoming me when I arrived here, and in Syria I had to stay home because of the war. I know how this moment is like, and I know that is especially hard for an elderly person to stay home – they need extra help to cooking, buying things, so this is a way of helping them stay home and thank Brazilians,” Talal told ANBA.
He said he plans on repeating the donation in late April in a 10-km radius from his house in Campo Belo in the South Zone of São Paulo, as governor João Doria has extended the quarantine following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and, since the action has gotten attention, Talal has received several messages and financial support from Brazilians to keep on the donations.
“I gave 300 free lunches, and then I couldn’t give anymore, but now Brazilians are helping and I will keep delivering them for free. Now that the governor has extended the quarantine until April 22, I will continue donating,” Talal said.
In the next couple of days, he will post the information on the next donations on his restaurant’s Facebook page, Talal Culinária Síria.
In a post from April 3, Talal thanks for the Brazilians’ help and says he’ll make new deliveries for the elderly over 65 years of age and people with special conditions or that are sick and can’t leave their homes. Each person can receive up to two free lunches. Just contact him in the social media or by WhatsApp. “Together we can overcome this crisis,” he said.
There are different available lunches: Arab rice with dolma, which may be accompanied by kibbeh, kofta or chicken, as well as the vegetarian version with rice, dolma without meat, and falafel. Talal reported that he takes all health measures in the food preparation and uses gloves and mask.
Besides the donations, Talal keeps delivering in Ifood and Uber Eats, as well as by WhatsApp with a larger menu. “In the app they don’t let you put all your dishes.” Send him a message, ask for the full menu and make your order.
Contact
Talal Culinária Síria
Facebook
WhatsApp 11 966221305
Translated by Guilherme Miranda