Ms. Devvie Repala (top photo) teaching Embassy personnel how to prepare Filipino pandesal (bread rolls) and  Ms. Paula Gonzales showing the finished product, ube (purple yam) ice cream  (Embassy Photos)

ANKARA 17 March 2022 - As part of its activities for National Women’s Month Celebration (NWMC), the Philippine Embassy in Ankara held a cooking demonstration for Embassy personnel and family on how to prepare Filipino pandesal (bread rolls), chili garlic oil and ube ice cream using ingredients mostly sourced in Turkey.

The featured volunteer chefs were Mrs. Devvie Repala, wife of Tsg Mark R. Repala of the Office of the Philippine Defense and Armed Forces Attaché, and Ms. Maria Joana Paula A. Gonzales, Attaché.

“Gender equality begins with the family and at the Embassy,” said Ambassador Maria Elena P. Algabre during her opening remarks. She also recognized and commended the active and equal role of women in development.

Ambassador Maria Elena P. Algabre giving her opening remarks (Embassy Photo)

The Embassy team with their family members clad in purple in honor of the 2022 National Women’s Month Celebration (Embassy Photo)

The Embassy will hold a similar culinary demonstration for some members of the Filipino community in Ankara at the end of the month. This cooking demonstration series aims to equip Filipinos with additional knowledge and skills for life and a potential alternative means of livelihood.

The event reflects the Embassy’s mission to promote awareness of the National Women’s Month Celebration held every year in March. The NCMW theme for 2017–2022 is, “We Make Change Work for Women,” which highlights the empowerment of women as active contributors to and claimholders of development. ##