WOMEN attending PACT’s community project Alana House have produced their very own limited edition coffee as a charitable initiative supporting other women.
Alana House coffee has been produced in collaboration with local coffee company Anonymous Coffee and is now on sale!
Alana House works with women facing multiple disadvantages to support them and empower them to make positive changes to their lives.
The women, many of who have trained as baristas and help to run Alana House Community Café, were involved in selecting the coffee, designing the packaging and roasting and packing the beans.
They chose a single origin organic Ethiopian coffee produced by Mustafa Abba Keno on his small holding in Agaro, Jimma in western Ethiopia. The varieties grown are 74110, 74112 and Heirloom and they were naturally processed in Mustafas’s Kabira drying station. The coffee stood out as being the most smooth and balanced of those tested with a good body and a pleasant milk chocolate and sweet fruit flavour.
Proceeds from sales of the Alana House coffee will be shared between Alana House and the Girls Gotta Run Foundation, a charity supporting girls in Ethiopia to help them stay in education.
The coffee isn’t the first creative project the Alana House women have been involved with. Earlier this year, the women produced their own book of recipes, poetry and artwork, Love, Trust, Hope – Cooking to build and strengthen a community, which is available to purchase in our online shop.
Alana House manager Jeanie Herbert said: “The idea of having our own coffee came from Anonymous Coffee who have volunteered to train women supported through Alana House in barista skills. Their coffee is imported by Falcon Coffees who already support the Girls Gotta Run Foundation and they saw the obvious link between our work and theirs.
“The project has provided a great opportunity for women to be introduced to new skills and to be involved in the various stages of the coffee making process, something they have found very enjoyable.
“Those involved have embraced the coffee production process as well as the vision to support other women, in Ethiopia, who are also facing challenges.
“I believe that being able to have a voice into the development and shape of a product like this, in the way women at Alana House have been able to do, significantly helps to boost sense of self-esteem.”
Natausha van Vliet, chief executive of PACT said: “There is such a wonderful synergy between our work at Alana House and Girls Gotta Run.
“At Alana House we support women with multiple or complex needs and help them to make positive life changes. This project has not only given our women an exciting project to be involved with but will also benefit young women living in Ethiopia and help them make a better future for themselves.”
Phil Carter from Anomymous Coffee said: “We have really enjoyed being able to share our expertise and knowledge with the women at Alana House. They have really taken to the barista training and we are seeing some real talent emerging.
“This project just seemed to make sense not only as a natural extension to the barista training that we have been delivering but also to enable the women to do something meaningful that will allow them to have a positive impact on the lives of other women who are facing challenges in their lives.”
Alana House Coffee can be purchased via the PACT website and is priced at £10.90 for 250g.
