Hooyas Foods and Halima Sarah Sucdi Barre

Habiba Abdulle: Edmonton women make about 12,000 sambusas each month at Hooyas Foods, according to CBC. The awards recognize contributions that improve the lives of newcomers through community leadership, arts and culture, and in the case of Hooyas Foods - a welcoming workplace. "For that to be recognized - it really empowering - to us, as well as to our women." Abdulle, who is also a program director with a family and youth settlement program, launched Hooyas Foods in 2012 with Halima Sarah and Sucdi Barre. But now three Edmonton entrepreneurs producing the triangular meat- or vegetable-stuffed pastries known as sambusas are being recognized for providing employment opportunities to refugee and immigrant women. "We wanted to empower women and wanted to provide skills for women who have difficulty finding jobs," said Habiba Abdulle, 40, co-founder of Hooyas Foods, a recipient of one of the 2015 RISE Awards from the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers. Their food processing company now provides part-time jobs to 10 immigrant and refugee women, as well as the Canadian experience needed to work elsewhere. "When they come here, they have to struggle to settle in, and to get to know the city," said Abdulle, who received 30 job applications last week. Aisha Warsama is happy to put the skills she learned in Somalia to use here in Edmonton. "It was very difficult, because I didn't have the language skills," said employee Aisha Warsama, a former chef in Somalia. For many, language is the biggest obstacle. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.