We Come From a poem by Sahara Saheli Sahara Saheli means supportive friends. We are a community group and welcome all women with a connection to Cheltenham.
Cheltenham Festivals: Connecting Communities
We come from earth ovens and feasts that begin before the first flame is lit, from the anticipation of food at the end of every journey. We come from turkey at Christmas and dates at Ramadan, from Eid and Diwali, from Chinese New Year and lanterns glowing red, from fish and chips wrapped in paper and fish simmered in coconut milk, from samosas, biriyani, bhajis, from sadza and tagine, from steamed buns, dumplings, sticky rice, from cous cous, baklava, sushi, ceviche, from pumpkin leaves in peanut butter, from biltong, from street food eaten standing, from homegrown herbs pressed between fingers to release their truth.
We come from pulses and spices packed into suitcases because the shops here did not yet know our kitchens. We come from accents that stretch and bend, from tongues that carry more than one home, from songs sung in languages some of us left behind, from children and grandchildren who speak in languages we never learned, some held, some lost, some carried only in memory. We come from close-knit families, from homes where generations lived beneath one roof, and from learning the quiet strangeness of doors that stay shut. We come from a kaleidoscope of colours.
Sahara Saheli: a circle of women who hold each other up when the ground is not steady, who look through the lens of each other’s eyes, cultures without boundaries, beliefs held side by side. We come from Algeria, Bangladesh, Turkiye, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India, China, Spain, from Gujarat and Fiji, from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, from North and South, East and West, from cities that never sleep and countrysides that whisper, from monsoons that flood the streets and drizzle that settles into the bones, from blazing suns and the shock of English cold. We come from snow falling for the first time like something from a dream.
We come from airports, security trays and confiscated scissors, from tunnels under water, from departures that felt like endings and arrivals that did not feel like home. We come from letters that took too long, from waiting by telephones, from the ache of distance before home could fit in your pocket. We come from prayer and from silence, from the Quran and the Gita, from high faith and no faith, from worship in congregation and embracing solitude, from believing in God, in Allah and believing in each other.
We come from saris and sarongs, from head coverings and uncovered hair, from funeral white and wedding red, from the bindi and mangalsutra, from dances that stamp the ground five hundred warriors strong, from totems, clapping, spirits invited home, from stories passed from voice to voice and carried across continents. We come from change. From countless years and counting homes, from marriages that carried us across oceans, from learning how to blend in and choosing when to stand out, from wearing many hats and knowing which one is ours.
We come from fathers who fought for freedom, from mothers who carried whole worlds forward. From sacrifices made so opportunities could bloom in our hands. We come from colonisation, resistance, independence, from the strange ache of finding freedom in the country that once held the power. We come from being caught between two worlds, and building a third. We come from firsts: from first shops, first salons, mosques rising from gardens, fusion foods, blended cultures, the first time someone said: you belong here.
We come from strangers who became family. From neighbours who taught us the bus routes. From women who sat with us in the daytime when a new country felt frightening. From kindness with ordinary names: Claire, Mrs Hughes. We come from losing ourselves in transition and finding ourselves again in unexpected places. We come from Cheltenham – not where all our stories began, but where many of them meet. We come from everywhere, and we gather here Sahara Saheli, a circle of stories held in many hands. We come from here.