Blooming Where We're Planted

Whether you have experience in the field or it's totally new to you, join us to talk about all things food growing and land justice.  We will explore an introduction to the embodied knowledge and traditions in our communities to be shared, engaged with, celebrated and preserved, and how this all connects with public health and faith.  We’ll also be considering our relationship with our environments, access to health care and how this links to broader social inequalities, and how to start your growing journey.

Speakers: 

Rabiah Mali

Rabiah is a qualified Medical Herbalist, Creative and Community Healer. She set up The Herbal Blessing clinic in 2015, a sliding scale community clinic with the intentions of 'reconnecting' the community with their inner herbalist. Offering consultations, workshops, retreats and walks and holistic therapy that is rooted in a traditional and spiritual plant-based healing. Her work involves the use of nature and local plant-based knowledge to nourish a feeling of home in communities where poverty, poor health access and gentrification has fractured the sense of belonging.

She is also  co-founder of the Green Deen Tribe in 2015 which responded to the need to heal the wounds of separation and lack of access to nature by Muslim Women, which is all too often rooted in colonisation, racism, other socioeconomic factors and racialised Islamophobia.

The tribe started with two yearly weekend nature retreats to explore and reconnect to the essence of nature and spirituality. Using the traditional spiritual teachings and text as a resource to develop a deeper connection to nature and that harnesses a deeper responsibility and better Earth stewardship. The tribe has since grown into a community of intergenerational women who advocate for change in their homes and wider community, for example addressing fast fashion through monthly ethical swaps, tree planting, the impact of climate change through monthly film screenings and a yearly ethical Ramadan campaign to call the community to reconnect to the Islamic prophetic tradition of reducing plastic waste, meat consumption and food waste in honour of the holy month. Recently a deeper exploration of the relationship between racial and environmental injustice has planted new seeds of action in the group, who are primarily women of colour.

The tribe ,clinic and collective continue to evolve and adjust to the needs of the community and will continue to respond to the environmental crisis and injustice through the grassroots approach.

Josina Calliste

Josina Calliste is a health professional and community organiser. After burning out of academia, she began thinking more deeply about food growing and land justice. Under an apple tree in June 2019, she co-founded Land in Our Names (LION); a black-led collective addressing land inequalities affecting black people and people of colour's ability to farm and grow food in Britain. She loves forest walks & hopes to one day set up an eco-village.

Imran Mohammed 

Imran Mohammed has over 20 years experience as Clinician, Teacher and Mentor in the medical field specialising in chronic diseases, especially those of an autoimmune nature. He has lectured in biomedical research, as well as teaching Classical Chinese Medicine, which informs his teaching and clinical practice Imran is passionate about improving public health awareness to empower people to make informed decisions regarding their health   One example of Imran's community work has been a research project in one of London's most deprived areas.  This work won the 'Integrated Health Futures Award ' from the Prince of Wales Foundation of Integrated Health.

Hudda Khaireh 

Hudda Khaireh is an independent researcher and artist with a background in Public International Law. Her practice focuses on the position of Black people globally and has shared work at Tate Exchange, Tate Modern and Uncommon Space at Tate Britain, Printroom Rotterdam, Chisenhale Gallery and DIY Cultures. Hudda is a part of the Black Feminist artist- collective, Thick/er Black Lines as well as an associate of Numbi Arts and OOMK Zine. Hudda is a trustee of the Somali Museum UK.

Heiba Lamara

Heiba Lamara is about to celebrate her first year as an organic food grower and gardener, following a path-switch during the pandemic.

Prior to this she worked as the Assistant Editor of OOMK Zine, a biannual publication that champions the art and activism of women from marginalised communities and as the co-founder of Rabbits Road Press a small-scale printing press that provides Risograph printing services for artists and community groups in Newham and beyond.

She talks about demystifying routes into food growing, beginning again from the ground up and the healing benefits of working with the land.