The community center in Sveržov has been transformed into a coffee shop: Guests are served by girls from the community

In the first half of August, the girls and women from our community center in Sveržov realized an interesting idea – a coffee shop called Kávičkáreň. They turned the premises of the center into a cafe, which was open to everyone from the local community, as well as outside it. Pleasant music played in the background, and the girls who decorated the room and turned it into a cafe had a drink menu ready, from which the guests could choose drinks and something good to eat. „I’m very happy that the Kávičkáreň was launched and was a success, because people came and there were quite nice conversations, which fulfilled the purpose of our vision and idea,“ said our colleague Jarka Krukárová, guarantor of the center in Sveržov.

Once a month, the premises of our community center in Sveržov will become a cafe shop. Guests can choose from a wide selection of drinks, where they can find not only brewed coffee or cappuccino, but also iced tea with lemon and ice, cofola with lemon or even an elderberry drink with ice. They can also enjoy cookies alongside their drinks. However, the menu changes depending on the season – in autumn they will prepare rather warm drinks. „I have to highlight the work of the girls who knew how to divide the tasks and stick to how they planned it. They prepared drinks and coffees, served guests, washed dishes and also served children in the children’s corner. They really enjoyed making orders, serving, preparing drinks, and one day they might even make a living from it,“ explained Jarka. Each guest can make a voluntary financial contribution, thanks to which the girls will buy ingredients for the next month.

Jarka said that even though the Kávičkáreň was originally supposed to be open only once a month, many people would already like it if it happened more often. The guests will be able to visit it before the beginning of the school year. Older boys and children are already preparing for the next opening. „With the older boys, we go for wood, from which we then make wooden screens. These screens will separate the area where drinks are made from the area for customers. Younger children make decorations for the cafe. The young women consult with each other and provide a drink menu,“ said our colleague Vierka Rojková. Another part of the preparations is the enrichment of the drink menu – Vierka would like to teach the girls how Viennese coffee is prepared.

The coffee shop was highly praised by all present, and the girls from the community took on their roles as hostesses responsibly and honestly. Vierka explained that last week she and the girls were on a trip to the Bardejov spa, where they observed how the waiters and waitresses served them. They tried to notice all the mistakes they want to avoid while serving, and at the same time they were also inspired by waitresses who were really good at their jobs. „The girls are very much looking forward to Kávičkáreň. They bake cakes that we serve with coffee, they learn to carry drinks and coffee on a tray, but at the same time, what I think is the most important, is that they learn how to treat customers.

If we want people to come back to us and feel comfortable, it is very important how we treat them and what kind of atmosphere we can create. We teach the girls to imagine that we are in the customer’s place and how we would like to be served,“ explained Vierka.

All those customers appreciated the pleasant afternoon full of interesting conversations, in which almost all women from the community participated, but also girls, boys and children. They are looking forward to the next opening of Kávičkáreň and have ideas about how their joint project will progress. „For now, it’s about sitting in a pleasant environment with conversations, chatter and laughter,“ added Jarka. The purpose of the coffee shop is also to introduce girls to the work of waitresses, to teach them how to communicate with customers and, last but not least, responsibility for the work done. Perhaps thanks to this experience, they will gain ambitions to work in the field and develop their skills further – in the informal environment of the Kávičkáreň, but perhaps also professionally through specialized courses or education.

Project LDI03023 „Development of career counseling skills for social inclusion“ is supported by Norwegian funds and co-financed from the state budget of the Slovak Republic.