Srirupa Dasgupta hopes her new business venture will make a difference for women — particularly refugees.

Dasgupta has started an ethnic cuisine catering business, Upohar, featuring Iraqi, Nepali and Egyptian cuisine. Upohar means "gift" in Bengali.

Upohar's ethnic cuisines will be among the features this weekend at the fourth annual World Refugee Day.

World Refugee Day, spotlighting international arts and culture, will be hosted by Church World Service's Immigration and Refugee Program from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at Lancaster Square.

The event includes free music and dance, crafts, information booths, face painting, henna designs and Haitian hair braiding.

Besides Upohar, ethnic foods will be available for purchase from Addisu Ethiopian Restaurant, International Delicatessen and others.

Handmade jewelry in the style of Bhutan/Nepal and embroidery of Iraq also can be purchased.

Janice Nikoloff, development associate for Church World Service, said she expects more than 700 people to attend.

The event is meant to "raise awareness and to acknowledge the talents of our refugees," Nikoloff said, although not all performers are refugees.

As for Dasgupta, she wants her business to be a gift of opportunity for local refugee women.

"I'm really interested in women, investing in their self-reliance. I volunteer at organizations and give money to charities all over the world, but I thought 'What do I do in my own neighborhood?' " Dasgupta said.

She discovered there was a large number of resettled refugees in Lancaster.

"My son goes to Wharton Elementary with a lot of Nepali kids, and it just clicked," she said.

Dasgupta loves trying food from different countries, and these resettled refugee women can cook their own cuisine, so she thought she could start an ethnic food business, she said.

Dasgupta initiated her plan with the James Street Improvement District, which helped her settle on a catering business.

She found Nepali refugees to help with her business through the School District of Lancaster's translator. She also found women from Egypt, Iraq and Syria through Church World Service, one of two agencies that resettle refugees in Lancaster.

"Our last team meeting was like the U.N.," Dasgupta said. "People speaking in Arabic, Nepali, translating and coming back."

Dasgupta said she understands Hindi and a few words from other languages and can sometimes use gestures to communicate with her employees. But when their communication is difficult, she gets translators to help out.

Working out of the East Side Community Kitchen on North Plum Street, the refugee women prepare their ethnic menus for market stands and catered dinners.

One of the refugees working for Upohar is Tulsha Chauwan, who arrived in the United States from Nepal only nine months ago.

"I wanted a better future for me and my two children. I have a 9-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter," Chauwan said through interpreter Pradash Kharel.

Devi Dhumgana agreed. She and her four children came to the United States two years ago.

"Why stay a refugee when you have better opportunities in another country?" Dhumgana said, through Kharel.

Upohar sells food at Lititz Farmer's Market from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday and at the Eastern Market on the dates listed on its website, www.upoharethniccuisines.com. The next date is June 25.

"What it takes to do market is hard work. I look at the Amish, who are there year after year, and my respect for them goes up," Dasgupta said.