Ever heard the saying: 'Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime'...? The key to this is the significance of empowerment. Providing sustainable livelihoods is vital to contributing to the health and wellbeing of an individual, and for a community.
To me, this proverb speaks of training, and this post is about exactly that.
After a variety of job changes, my husband decided what he really wanted to do was make coffees. (Make coffees?! Alright, I thought, not what I expected but go for it!) With minimal experience in hospitality, we thought it would be hard for him to get a job, but pretty soon there was a wise cafe manager who was prepared to give him a chance. He started off as the kitchen hand and has now been trained in food prep, cold drinks, hot drinks and waitering. He's even started a certificate in hospitality!
A few weeks ago he got a very generous tip from some happy customers. He went to lifeline and bought a second hand coffee machine to practice his barista skills at home. He's getting pretty good at free pouring, see picture below. Now what those customers didn't know is that Matt and I have been looking for opportunities to go back to India. Our passion is working towards empowering the disadvantaged to provide sustainable livelihoods. I'm very keen to work with artisans to collaborate on Fair Trade textiles but Matt wasn't sure what he would do. Now we're looking for an opportunity for Matt to use his new found cafe skills to improve livelihoods for the disadvantaged in India. We're 'keeping our eyes peeled' as his journey continues.
teach a man to fish... or in this century, make coffees?!
To me, this proverb speaks of training, and this post is about exactly that.
After a variety of job changes, my husband decided what he really wanted to do was make coffees. (Make coffees?! Alright, I thought, not what I expected but go for it!) With minimal experience in hospitality, we thought it would be hard for him to get a job, but pretty soon there was a wise cafe manager who was prepared to give him a chance. He started off as the kitchen hand and has now been trained in food prep, cold drinks, hot drinks and waitering. He's even started a certificate in hospitality!
A few weeks ago he got a very generous tip from some happy customers. He went to lifeline and bought a second hand coffee machine to practice his barista skills at home. He's getting pretty good at free pouring, see picture below. Now what those customers didn't know is that Matt and I have been looking for opportunities to go back to India. Our passion is working towards empowering the disadvantaged to provide sustainable livelihoods. I'm very keen to work with artisans to collaborate on Fair Trade textiles but Matt wasn't sure what he would do. Now we're looking for an opportunity for Matt to use his new found cafe skills to improve livelihoods for the disadvantaged in India. We're 'keeping our eyes peeled' as his journey continues.
teach a man to fish... or in this century, make coffees?!
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