A Palestinian chef living and working in Malta has dedicated his free time to giving back to the community of child refugees living in open centres.In just over a month, Emad Shahin has fed over 200 children living in Ħal Far and Raħal Ġdid adjusting to a new life away from their often war-torn homes – around 15 of these children came from Gaza after 7th October 2023.Emad is a personal chef who has embarked on a mission to help as many displaced children as he possibly can. Having left the occupied West Bank at just five years old, he knows the pain and uncertainty of being forced out of one’s home.He grew up in Jordan but was never fully connected to the culture, Palestine is deeply engrained in his memory and he has longed to go back since the day he left. 34 years later, he’s still waiting. “I would go back today if I could,” Emad told Lovin Malta.Emad has built a successful life for himself in Malta where he’s lived for the past 19 years.However, there will always be a void that only his family in the occupied West Bank can fillIn the meantime, Emad is doing what he can to help these children who remind him of his younger self. Through food, music, and simple moments of joy, he’s helping them reclaim pieces of childhood lost to war and displacement while letting them know they are safe here.Emad’s storyEmad moved to Jordan with his family at just five years old and he and his family were granted citizenship.Eventually, the connection to their homeland pulled a lot of his family back to Palestine despite the hardships they knew they’d face. Emad came to Malta in 2008 with his Maltese (now) ex-wife whom he met in Jordan. He’s lived here ever since and due to Israel’s border control, he has never been able to revisit: “they just want us out”. Emad has seven siblings – four sisters and three brothers whom he hasn’t seen for several years.His eldest brother, whom he likens to a second father – is finally set to visit Emad after 15 years of not seeing each other. They last met in 2009 when their mother passed away.“My son is over the moon, he asks me almost every day about it,” Emad said, explaining this would be the first time his son would meet his uncle.This is the case for most of his family members; he has nieces and nephews he’s never met, cousins too. The last time he saw any of his family members – his sisters and two of his brothers – was three years ago.“In our culture families are big and close. We are close with our aunties, uncles and cousins so not seeing them, and having some I’ve never even met is very painful. But I still speak with my family every day and every night.”Emad soon began telling me about his father and grandfather – two of his heroes whom he models his life upon a lot of what they’ve taught him. His grandfather lived to be 100 – he was born in a free Palestine and died under occupation.“He saw it all happen,” Emad said. “He lived when there was no one but Palestinian people, watched when Jewish people came and sought refuge on our land, and was eventually displaced from his village when illegal settlers took over. He taught us everything about our history.”Their village was called Annaba, “it doesn’t exist anymore”. Emad and his family left in 1990 and when his father and grandfather visited it in 2015, they almost got shot just for being there.As the youngest boy, Emad had a very special bond with his father from whom he gets his charitable nature. Just a year ago, all the siblings discovered that their father was helping three families survive. He paid their rent and gave them food, water and clothes for years on end.“We never knew, and we were shocked when we found out; shocked with joy.”Despite the warm memories, Emad admitted that he’s carried deep and lasting trauma since leaving Palestine as a toddler. The sound of a balloon popping triggers immediate fear, and he cannot be touched while swimming without panicking, convinced someone is trying to drown him.Maltreatment is a daily occurrence for millions of Palestinians. Israel has long been accused of committing apartheid through segregation, exclusion and restriction of vital human rights.As Emad’s nephew was leaving for Dubai to start a new life, he was stopped at the airport by Israeli officials. They threw out the spices he intended on carrying from his home and questioned him at length.“When you travel through an Israeli airport with an Arabic name, they will automatically take you in for a deep interrogation,” Emad explained.The eventEmad only started cooking for young refugees about a month ago and he’s planning to hold these events regularly and possibly even expand them beyond Malta’s shores.It all started with a call from an official within one of the migrant centres looking Palestinian scarves. Emad had 85 of them and happily donated them, while he was donating, he offered his services as a chef for any event they may have on a voluntary basis.That’s when the worker had the idea to have him cook for children within Ħal Far – Emad loved the sound of this and planning quickly commenced.Most of the Palestinian children hadn’t eaten meat for almost two years. Israel controls all of Gaza’s borders and since the outbreak of the war, citizens have had to rely on humanitarian aid. So, at the first event, Emad decided to grill over 50 kilograms of meat and he fed 50 children. At the second event, which took place two weeks later, there were double the amount of children and he upped the amount of meat by 100 kilograms.“There weren’t just Palestinian children from Gaza, but there were youngsters from Iraq, Egypt, Syria, China, South America and so many other places. Every child has a story and I want to try help them all.” He’s currently planning his next event but is low on donations and while this won’t stop him from organising events, it will mean that he’d need to host substantially fewer children.Emad stressed that these donations go strictly to food for these children and urged people to help this incredibly important cause.Eventually, Emad would love to buy a mobile kitchen and go to any regions with instability or displaced children and provide his services while representing Malta. He’d also love to have a kitchen in Ħal Far so that he could cook for the children more regularly.“When I go to Ħal Far, I feel at peace and like I don’t want to leave. I want to be there helping these children as much as I possible can.”These events aren’t just about food; they create an atmosphere where children can socialise, dance, play and even exchange stories. Emad wants to take these children to different places across Malta so they can learn more intimately about the culture and “kindness of the Maltese”.If you’re interested in donating to this noble cause, you can send him money via Revolut on +356 77336899.•