Ugandan coffee a hit at new op-shop in Hamilton

There’s no shortage of op-shops in Hamilton’s Frankton suburb, but as its name would suggest, Orphans Aid International Op-shop is a little bit different.

Plenty of Hamiltonians showed up at the store on Wednesday to taste test the charity’s Imuka organic coffee, which is shipped to New Zealand from Uganda.

Hamilton teacher Andrea Duthie saw a post promoting the coffee tasting on the Orphans Aid Opshop Waikato Facebook page and decided a first visit to the store was in order.

“I’ll probably buy it, it’s quite a smooth, drinkable coffee,” Duthie said.

“I’m particularly interested that it’s fair trade. I tend to, if possible, only drink fair trade coffee.”

Duthie enjoys pottering around op-shops during the school holidays and her first impressions of the store, which has been operating for about a month, were very positive.

“A lot of op-shops are not like this and I love the fact that it’s nice, clean and bright – there’s lots to choose from too, clothing, books and art,” she said.

Duthie and her husband Glenn have sponsored children for some time and she planned on reading some pamphlets and talking to staff before leaving.

“I’ve only heard a little bit about Orphans Aid, so I’m interested in finding out a little bit more about what they actually do,” she said.

Orphans Aid International is a charitable trust that was created in Invercargill by couple Carl and Sue van Schreven who wanted to help neglected orphans in Romania.

They are currently visiting Romania which coincides with the 13 year anniversary of the charity’s orphanage called Casa Kiwi.

Orphans Aid Waikato Op-shop manager Martine O’Callaghan says she connected with their story.

“When I first interviewed for the job, Sue told me about how some of the kids couldn’t focus properly because they didn’t have anything to focus on,” she said.

 “They had no stimulation, no real contact with anybody in the orphanage and they slept in cots.”

Orphans Aid International accepts donations of almost all goods, which are then sorted through and priced at what they believe are affordable prices.

“We don’t take electrical goods, but we get given everything under the sun. It’s like Aladdin’s cave out the back, sometimes it’s Aladdin’s nightmare, but of course we’re not going to say no to things,” O’Callaghan said.

The funds raised are put towards causes that Orphans Aid International is committed to, such as malnourished street children in India, abandoned and orphaned children in Romania and Russia and also emergency appeals.

Another is the Imuka Family Strengthening project, which was started by Peter and Danielle Gordon of Tauranga, who moved their family to Uganda where they lived for five years.

During that time they discovered that most orphans in the country have family, but these family members can’t afford to raise the children, so they wanted to change that.

The Imuka project provides parents with valuable lessons about education, health, business strategies and in some cases approves them grants to start a small business.

“That little hut that we have in the store is actually a real representation of where a Ugandan woman called Barbara lived with her four children,” O’Callaghan said.

“With the Imuka project she was able to start up a little grocery store and she has been able to move to better accommodation.”

The project is partly funded by the organic coffee, which is sold in-store in an area dedicated to selling products from countries in which Orphans Aid International run projects.

“Some people do say that all we’re doing is helping orphans overseas and I can see why people think like that,” O’Callaghan said.

“But by providing a really lovely store for people here in the greater Waikato area to shop in, we’re helping the poor families here too.”

“These people would probably not have the ability to purchase clothes that are new and expensive, so for us to provide them with something that they can get at a really good price for themselves is helping them.”