Iskashitaa Refugee Network is a 22-year old gleaning organization that uses food as a medium to build community between refugees and established residents in Tucson, Arizona. Our Harvest program was shaped by refugees’ stories about food, belonging, and regaining their confidence when they were empowered to give back to their new home through gleaning.
Amelia Natoli is Iskashitaa’s grant writer and development director. Laura Porfirio is a storytelling coach with a background in adult education. Dr. Barbara Eiswerth is the founder of Iskashitaa, who has worked in international development and refugee resettlement for over 30 years. After returning from work in Malawi, she witnessed both extreme food insecurity and rampant food waste in her hometown of Tucson. In response she founded Iskashitaa Refugee Network with Somali refugee teenagers, and began mapping and harvesting backyard fruit trees. They named it Iskashitaa meaning “working together cooperatively” in Somali Maay.