food& drink
From Nigeria with
Love
A
How an immigrant mom connects her American-born children to their African heritage By An n a- Rh esa Ver sol a P h o to g rap hy by Jo h n Mi chael Si m pson
As someone gets to know Ada Umenwaliri, they tend to ask the familiar question: ‘How do you do this?’ The single, working mom of three responds, “I don’t know. I just do.” Ada, who is pursuing her Ph.D. in public policy and strategy at UNC, juggles her time and energy between three active daughters, ages 12-16, the demands of her role as the associate director of UNC’s African Studies Center and the founder of Eké Foods in Chapel Hill. “I didn’t have a partner who was in the same physical space, figuring out how to raise these three kids in a way that they embraced both identities; they [don’t] have to be one or the other,” Ada says about her daughters growing up in America with Nigerian roots. “It was important for me that my kids were exposed to my heritage.” In their home kitchen, Ada brings the aroma, taste and texture of Nigeria’s food and culture to her American daughters. Ada grew up
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chapelhillmagazine.com
September/October 2024