TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Visually impaired baristas serve coffee aficionados

A cup full of hope: Nur Fatimah (left), 22, and Pujianti, 40, prepare coffee at Cafe More in Bandung, West Java, on Friday

Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post)
Bandung
Tue, January 14, 2020

Share This Article

Change Size

Visually impaired baristas serve coffee aficionados

A

cup full of hope: Nur Fatimah (left), 22, and Pujianti, 40, prepare coffee at Cafe More in Bandung, West Java, on Friday. All baristas at the café are visually impaired. (JP/Arya Dipa)

“Each cup you drink creates jobs for the disabled.”

This message is written on a 100-centimeter by 80-cm sign displayed at Cafe More Wyata Guna at the Social Rehabilitation Center for Eye Sensory Disability in Bandung, West Java.

“We have only been open for about three weeks,” said Siti Fatimah Iskandar, 30, a barista at the café. She works there together with two other baristas, both of whom also suffer from low vision like her.

The three work in two shifts from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m.. The first shift is from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. and the second is from 1 p.m. until 9 p.m.

They are also allowed to have other jobs outside the café as long as they do not interfere with their schedules at the café. Siti, for example, also works helping a blind university student.

“I sometimes help editing or reading,” said Siti, who graduated as part of the first batch of baristas and helps support training for visually impaired people in Indonesia.

Siti said there were six participants in the first batch of training and seven in the second. All have low vision, as required by the training organizer.

Their low vision, however, does not prevent them from performing their job well. Nur Fatimah, 22, for example, was confident as she prepared an ice hazelnut mochaccino.

She walked steadily to the espresso machine on her left, then took an electronic scale to make sure the composition of coffee and hazelnut syrup was correct. She moved her face closer to the scale as she measured.

“This is actually not the most difficult part. Steaming the milk with the machine is,” Nur said.

Nur Fatimah, who is also a judo athlete in the 45-kilogram class, said she was happy to have passed the selection process for the barista position. Each barista is required to attend a four-month training program supported by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Siloam Center for The Blind of Korea.

Pujianti, 40, who also works as a massage therapist, said she had also learned a lot and gained new skills through the training.

During the training, participants not only learned in the classroom but also went to the café and garden. They were also taught how to serve coffee in the café.

Pujianti said the training had changed her perception of the taste of coffee, which she previously thought of as bitter.

“It turns out that some coffee tastes sour and others are sweet or slightly bitter. Now I drink coffee without sugar,” said the most senior barista in the café, adding that she planned to save money so she would be able to run her own coffee shop one day.

Head of the Wyata Guna rehabilitation center’s production installation, Rosmawati, said her office was given the responsibility of looking for beneficiaries of the new capacity building program and preparing the venue for cooperation between the Social Affairs Ministry and the Siloam Center for The Blind of Korea.

“The goal is to help the visually impaired attain independence, especially women,” said Rosmawati, adding that having a café staffed with visually impaired baristas was new in Indonesia but was more common in South Korea.

She also said her team planned to open cafés outside the Wyata Guna complex.

During the cooperation period until 2021, she added, the Siloam Center for The Blind of Korea would support the training, supply the raw ingredients and support the operation of the cafés.

“We consider this very positive,” she said, adding that her team had also prepared a training venue for eight participants for the next class.

The Wyata Guna rehabilitation center is welcoming those with low vision to enroll as part of the third batch of baristas with classes to begin next month.

Rosmawati encouraged people to join the class as it opened up job opportunities for the visually impaired. “Some work as bank telemarketers, radio broadcasters, entertainers, therapists, teachers, lecturers and civil servants,” she said.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.