{"id":2566,"date":"2013-06-24T09:52:54","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T07:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/?p=2566"},"modified":"2013-06-24T09:52:54","modified_gmt":"2013-06-24T07:52:54","slug":"estonian-world-estonians-popping-up-in-uganda-the-story-of-pop-up-kampala-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/estonian-world-estonians-popping-up-in-uganda-the-story-of-pop-up-kampala-2\/","title":{"rendered":"estonian world: Estonians popping up in Uganda \u2013 the story of Pop Up Kampala"},"content":{"rendered":"

One would not expect to find an Estonian-run caf\u00e9\u00a0in East Africa. Yet, it turns out that there is at least one \u2014\u00a0Pop Up Caf\u00e9\u00a0in Kampala, Uganda. A cafeteria with a small garden in Ntinda area of Kampala, where people can enjoy self-roasted coffee and delicious meals. But what makes this place more unique is the fact that \u00a0it mainly employs people with special needs\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Pop Up Caf\u00e9\u00a0is a social entrepreneurship-based\u00a0cafeteria that empowers Uganda\u2019s disabled youth by offering them their first job opportunity.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The cafeteria<\/a>\u00a0was started by two visionary volunteers from Estonia together with\u00a0NGO Mondo<\/a>\u00a0and the start-up money was gathered from the people of this small North-European nation, donation by donation.<\/p>\n

\"8l5Xc7OIVnx0Nf7lKbmsf2pKB8m4n-HclZVTZ6vAedk\"<\/a>We caught up with Aliine Lotman, one of the co-ordinators of\u00a0the project<\/a>\u00a0and currently running it in Kampala. Aliine is a young Estonian with a background in\u00a0social and cultural anthropology, more narrowly she has been studying the different cultural meanings of food and edibility. Her\u00a0work so far has been with (global) education and development issues with\u00a0NGO Mondo and the Estonian National Commission for UNESCO.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aliine, what prompted you to move to Uganda?<\/b><\/h3>\n

The story begun almost two years ago when I was working for the Global Education Centre at NGO Mondo in Tallinn. Johanna Helin, my boss at the time, told me about a project that back then seemed more than crazy: there was some guy called\u00a0J\u00fcri Saarma<\/a>\u00a0who wanted to open a cafeteria in Uganda that would employ people with special needs. Johanna was asking me if I would be interested to take on the project, to fly to Uganda in a few months\u2019 time\u00a0and\u00a0create this cafeteria from scratch. Of course both she\u00a0and J\u00fcri would support me from Estonia, but everything else I would figure out by myself in Kampala (the capital of Uganda).<\/p>\n

Fortunately at the time I was still busy with my university studies so I passed the\u00a0opportunity. It was fortunate because the person who finally flew to Uganda to start the project was the\u00a0person exactly right for the task\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/b>Siisi Saetalu<\/a>. It took Siisi nine months to start the cafeteria, to find the staff and premises and to train our staff members with regards to cooking, serving, roasting coffee beans etc. During the\u00a0nine months I kept reading Siisi\u2019s blog, following the developments and the\u00a0growth of this idea that at first had seemed insane\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but with time came to seem as one of the most sensible social enterprises I have heard of. So when Siisi returned to Estonia and NGO Mondo started looking for a new volunteer to take over the management of the cafeteria,\u00a0it seemed natural for me to apply for the job. Three months later, here I am, sitting on the porch of Pop Up Caf\u00e9, working through our free WiFi connection and drinking one of the best iced\u00a0coffees in town.<\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

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I<\/h3>\n

So what exactly are you trying to achieve?<\/b><\/h3>\n

The main idea of Pop Up Caf\u00e9 is to be something of a springboard from where young people with special needs could\u00a0acquire their\u00a0first working experience in order to find work elsewhere and become independent citizens who contribute to the society as much as anybody else. Another big aim that we have is to raise awareness in Uganda\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it is important for the society to see that people with special needs are able and willing to be employed and are a contribution to an\u00a0enterprise, not a burden. Unfortunately in many parts of Uganda, people with special needs are treated as a\u00a0punishment\u00a0from God and in the bigger scale of things we aim to change this prejudice.<\/p>\n

What are the challenges that you have come across to so far?<\/b><\/h3>\n

The main challenge is to find our own place in the competition of Kampala city to ensure a revenue that would make the project self-sustainable and enable to become independent of donations made by Estonians. At the moment we are trying to really push our marketing efforts to make Pop Up known all over the city as a place where anyone can come and relax in a cosy atmosphere, drink fantastic Ugandan coffee and support our cause.<\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

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I<\/h3>\n

What is life generally alike in Uganda?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Uganda is a country that is very hard to put into words. I can only say that it is a place that everyone should visit at least once. Of course the country faces many challenges and not everything is as perfect as it could be, but regardless of this, it\u2019s a place that charms\u00a0immediately\u00a0and becomes almost a second home \u2014\u00a0even for cold and reserved Estonians (Aliine laughs).<\/p>\n

Has anyone heard about Estonia over there and is there any idea or experience from Estonia that you could transfer to Uganda?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Most Ugandans have never heard of Estonia\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but at the same time most Estonians would probably have a trouble to pinpoint Uganda on a map as well. However,\u00a0there are still many coincidences: for example,\u00a0the owner of the house where Pop Up Caf\u00e9 is located, has been to Tallinn twice \u2014\u00a0as he was once a university student in the Soviet Union.\u00a0And actually there is also a wonderful Estonian family living in Kampala who have\u00a0been of great help for both me and for the project.<\/p>\n

One thing we have \u201ctransferred\u201d is our free WiFi service \u2014\u00a0when the cafeteria was started last year, we were one of the very few who offered a free WiFi connection to their customers. Although the trend has spread to other parts of the town as well, we still remain with many customers who appreciate us exactly because of the possibility to just come and sit down with your\u00a0laptop, without any time limit or costs to the internet: just like\u00a0it is in most cafeterias in Tallinn.<\/p>\n

There are many similarities I see between Estonia and Uganda\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which means that the same amount of ideas\u00a0and experiences\u00a0I \u201cimport\u201d from Estonia, I will probably \u201cexport\u201d back to Estonia.<\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

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I<\/h3>\n
\n

What would you say to those people back home who point out that there are many\u00a0unsolved\u00a0social problems in Estonia \u2014\u00a0why would they want to support projects in other countries, such as this one in Kampala?<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
First of all, I would say that I am very happy that people are pointing out and noticing the unsolved social problems that Estonia has. Although for a long time the awareness about these issues was very low and the society had chosen not to notice the marginalised and powerless members of society in Estonia \u2014\u00a0this trend is fortunately changing. The issue most connected to Pop Up \u2014\u00a0empowerment and inclusion of people with special needs \u2014\u00a0is also fortunately gaining more and more importance in Estonia. A very good example of this was the\u00a0\u201cPuude taga on inimene\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cThere\u2019s a person behind the tree\u201d) family day that took place at the beginning of this month. It is good to see that the society has reached the point where it is able and willing to stretch out a helping hand for the ones who need it most. It is also very important to see that this help has to be in the form of cooperation \u2014\u00a0that we as volunteers cannot be the ones who \u201cempower\u201d and \u201cinclude\u201d, but rather that we are just the tools for facilitation that enable the marginalised group of people to become empowered and included.<\/div>\n
What we do at Pop Up is giving people with special needs the skills and\u00a0opportunities\u00a0to gain value in the labor market. To gain the most of it and to make use of the skills learned is up to our staff. It is a process of learning and teaching from both sides \u2013 it\u2019s cooperation. In the wider picture of things, cooperation is also the key for improving the situation in another location\u00a0\u2014\u00a0let\u2019s say Uganda. Pop Up is not only a \u201cEstonians helping Ugandans\u201d project, but it is a cooperation between the two. The Estonians who have donated their time and money for Pop Up, have gained the feeling that they can change somebody\u2019s life for the better, that they are able to help people who live on the other side of the equator. It brings about a personal connection\u00a0\u2014\u00a0someone who has donated a chair to Pop Up and knows that in the capital city of Uganda there is a chair that bears his or her name, feels that they are part of something very positive and awesome that is making a change. And this personal connection is something very important\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that a person and his or her friends will think twice in the future when hearing statements about \u201cOh those Africans\u2026\u201d or \u201cThere in Africa\u2026\u201d because they know that all the countries and societies in Africa are different and there is not one \u201cgeneral Africa\u201d that needs to be \u201csaved\u201d. And they know that well, for example, there\u2019s this group of disabled people in Uganda who are working hard to make a change for the better in their society and that they are doing it with the help of Estonians.<\/div>\n
I grew up in rural Estonia during the 1990\u2032s and I remember how important the outside help was for Estonia back then. I remember making small birds out of clay to be sold to Finnish and Swedish people who wanted to support our primary school. We were small kids in a tiny primary school in rural Eastern-Europe during the 1990\u2032s. To have a keyboard for our music lessons or a TV to watch news from, we had to improvise. So we made clay birds \u2014\u00a0tiny, tiny clay birds that we used as thank-you items for the people who helped us out. Without the help of the outside world, my school and Estonia in general would have not developed to where it is now. I just hope that Estonians don\u2019t forget this and remember the importance of a helping hand during rough times.<\/div>\n
I<\/div>\n

What are your plans for the\u00a0future?<\/b><\/h3>\n

First of all, the main goal is to get the cafeteria to earn a\u00a0profit\u00a0(which we can then invest in the community) and to find a Ugandan manager who would take over the leadership when I return to Estonia. Apart from Pop Up Caf\u00e9 I\u2019m planning to continue with food studies and maybe in the future I could also contribute to a cafeteria with similar aims in Estonia. Otherwise \u2014\u00a0revisiting Uganda is definitely a part of my future plans.<\/p>\n

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You can follow and support Pop Up Kampala here:\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ugandakohvik<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Photos:\u00a0Kullar Viimne<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/estonianworld.com\/life\/estonians-popping-up-in-uganda-the-story-of-pop-up-kampala-video\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One would not expect to find an Estonian-run caf\u00e9\u00a0in East Africa. Yet, it turns out that there is at least one \u2014\u00a0Pop Up Caf\u00e9\u00a0in Kampala, Uganda. A cafeteria with a small garden in Ntinda area of Kampala, where people can enjoy self-roasted coffee and delicious meals. But what makes this place more unique is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-older-news","category-uudised-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mondo.org.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}