Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony at IUS

With Kimberly Pelle

A year ago, I met Kimberly Pelle through our common friend Grace Pau. Since she learned about UniKids, Kim has been finding ways to collect school supplies and raise funds to help us reach our goals. 

In the fall of last year, she already rallied her co-workers at Indiana University Southeast (IUS) to collect boxes of school supplies and to raise about $250. She donated these to UniKids on behalf of the Adult Students' Center at IUS.

With Yvonne Bagshaw and Kimberly Pelle

Kim's enthusiasm to help UniKids continued this year. Along with her colleague Yvonne Bagshaw, Kim dedicated a table for UniKids to collect school supplies and raise funds. 

In addition, as part of the University's International week, Kim invited me to present Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony to the Adult Student Center on November 14, 2012.

I brought in with me the traditional coffee display along with the coffee pot, roasted barley and even popcorn just the way it is presented in Ethiopia. We brewed Ethiopian coffee and used the clay pot to serve. The students enjoyed the whole process, which traditionally will take about an hour or so. They experienced coffee drinking from a small cup called Siniy and learned the process of drinking in three steps, namely, Abol, Tona, & Bereka. The adult students had many questions to ask while enjoyed authentic Ethiopian coffee. 

Kim pouring coffee

Kim learned quickly and became a professional at pouring coffee from the pot. 

It was such a great experience to everyone who participated and it was such a pleasure for me to be able to share my culture with such a great crowd. I look forward to next year's event...what could the theme be?

A big thank you to Kim and Yvonne for their continued support. A great thank you also to those who donated school supplies, made monetary donation, and participated at the coffee ceremony. 

Senait Mareligne
Founder/Director
smareligne@unikids.org