July 2, 2008
Sudanese restaurant brings a unique flavor
Tyler O'Neil
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Nile Valley restaurant owner Ilham Mohamed has a knack for finding opportunities.
Mohamed opened her restaurant Nov. 3, 2007, and in doing so, she not only created three full-time job opportunities in Iowa City but also created a livelihood for herself that uses her unique culture and talents.
"We wanted to stay in Iowa City and needed something to pay the bills," Mohamed said. "This (restaurant) is something I know, and it is unique."
The Iowa City resident came up with the idea to start the restaurant, 335 S. Gilbert St., with her husband, Bederlddin. She and her husband immigrated to the United States from Sudan in 1993, and she says Nile Valley is different from other area Mediterranean restaurants because her food is based on the Sudanese culture, a mix of Mediterranean and Arab flavors.
"You can have American anywhere, but you can't have falafel in a buffet anywhere except here," Mohamed said.
On Oct. 2, 2007, the Iowa City Council approved Mohamed's request for a Community Development Block Grant. The terms of the $25,000 agreement, however, stipulated Mohamed's business create three full-time employment positions paying $10.50 an hour.
Mohamed has created the full-time positions, and she also has hired two part-time employees. Mohamed said most of her savings were used to do the renovations to her restaurant, and the block grant has been essential to her restaurant's continued operation because business was slow during the winter.
"It is starting to pick up again," Mohamed said. "People are discovering we are here."
Although the city grant has given Nile Valley an opportunity to survive, Mohamed said her restaurant also has provided opportunities for others. The business's unique, culture-based skill requirements have given Nile Valley's full-time employees, who also are recent immigrants to the United States, an opportunity to earn a living.
"There are few other places they could earn $10.50 an hour," Mohamed said.
Sue Freeman, Child Care Development Director for the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, says Mohamed has a history of lending a hand to others.
"Ilham is a very quiet leader," Freeman said. "She has a way of earning trust, showing respect and helping others."
Freeman first met Mohamed when she and her family moved to Iowa City in 1998. Since then, the family has played an important part in the neighborhood center, and Freeman says they have left a distinct "mark on the community."
Mohamed said, however, that the last few months have not been easy. She has renovated her restaurant, and now works an occasional 18- or 20-hour day at Nile Valley doing a majority of the cooking and other restaurant tasks.
Besides being a small business owner, Mohamed also is a mother. Her oldest child, Mathany, 15, works at the restaurant on weekends, but younger daughters, Ma'any, 13, and Susu, 11, are not old enough to help. Mohamed then is responsible for getting her daughters to activities like soccer practice.
And she does it alone because her husband is working as a translator in Iraq.
Despite her current struggles, Mohamed said she is happy to be where she is. There are many more opportunities here in the U.S. than in Sudan for her daughters, Mohamed said, and once the restaurant is stable she hopes to travel more.
"We are in America, and we haven't really seen it," Mohamed said.
