14 March 2010

March Update

Hi again, we're back! Several incredible months have passed since our last entry! You probably know bits about what has been happening (Facebook, Skype, emails, etc.) so this will be a general update.

Sweet Bean | American Coffeehouse is bringing elegance, education and inspiration to Peja


Since Day 2 of business (Jan 5), SB has been financially profitable. Sometime later this year it will probably make-up the start-up investment and be able to expand or fund other projects. Its impact on people has also been great. Employees have opportunities and responsibilities that none of their peers have; members of the community are delighted with the smoke-free alternative to the regular Peja coffee shops! (It's the only one in Kosovo to our knowledge.) People (us too!) are challenged every day to rethink matters of business, integrity, faith, and conformity to society.

Business burst to a start, so we have grown the staff from 6 to 8 half-time workers (with one resignation and one firing in the meantime). In Jan-Mar, we been working 75 hours a week (Mon-Sat) to stay on top of the wave. (We did take one extended weekend in February to relax and get supplies in Thessaloniki, Greece.)

We look forward to closely managing the business for several more months. Once it is stable, we may open the position of "store manager" to someone here who would be ready for it.

We're embedded deeper here than most people expect foreigners to be. Customers, suppliers, the landlord, municipal officials - perhaps most of all, employees and their families - are surprised and curious at the way we've taken a stake in their community. (They reckon Peja is pretty enough to eventually be a tourist destination, it doesn't make sense that we've live here now.) Selling school kids hot chocolate to-go is quite a spectacle, but people like it. And we've made a lot of friends and customers who want something outside the distinct Peja "box".

Meeting practical needs and sharing the work week with locals is an approach we're really enjoying. They've been alongside us during good and bad surprises with the business. They've shared the triumphs of creating something that the market loves. They've seen us discipline and discharge staff members. And they've seen us at the end of our rope when we're off-script and on the verge of tears. In all of this they can no doubt see evidence of a loving God in our lives, and we haven't hesitated introduce them to Him.

In January a local cable TV crew broadcast a 20 min. show about Sweet Bean. Half of the show was an interview with Landon, which allowed us to explain the business/training combination and clarify that the Yoders are not profiting from the business.

Lacey has invented and/or borrowed recipes to make everything from scratch from locally available ingredients. On average per week SB sells about: 180 muffins, 170 cookies, 260 peanut butter fingers (in-house creation), 120 hot chocolates, 80 espresso/macchiatos/cappuccino drinks, among other products.


1. A (foreign) customer enjoys WiFi and apple pie


2-3. The TeleNet crew getting footage for the SweetBean promotional broadcast.





(Thanks Emily Harrison for the last three pictures!)
4-9. Assorted scenes from the cafe. It's less awkward to photograph the kids than adult customers!

Qendra Qiriazi

We have continued to serve with the Qiriazi Center, mostly in the evenings and on two Saturdays a month. Lacey and an American colleague teach a small English class on Tuesdays and they host a girls' night on Wednesdays. Landon and the American colleagues are leading a spring run of the "Leadership Club" which is about helping the students plan and stage a community service project. (They did an anti-smoking campaign for their high school last fall, and this spring This spring they're planning community basketball tournament.)

We are beginning to arrange for the two summer camps (high school and university) that are the high point of the Qiriazi calendar. The location and most of the format will be the same as last year. However, we are inviting new speakers and plan to accept a number of first-time applicants.

Would you be interested in visiting us in June or July to help serve these students? We are looking for several more camp trainers who would befriend and help train the participants. Please let us know if you are interested in this opportunity. We would love to share more detail with you.

Everyday Life

We finally took down our Christmas tree and decorations last week. Somehow we went blind to them until mid-February, and then continued tolerating them for another month. Work has certainly made the time fly.

Electricity was great most of the winter but took a downturn in the last month. Most recently it's been off twice a day for 2 hours. The hard part both for business and personal is the suspense of now knowing when those two two-hour blocks will come. Our emotional state can definitely rise and fall with the light! It does make us better at problem-solving though, because we always need a back-up plan.

Lacey has been mostly able to maintain her jogging throughout the winter, some indoors and some outdoors. Lately, the girls who work at Sweet Bean have met her early on Sunday morning for jog into the mountain pass. They have good heart-to-heart conversations (sometimes in Albanian!), and then talk about their sore muscles the next couple of days at work.

Thank you to all of you who are giving and praying in support of our work here! We miss our friends and family! We do enjoy staying touch with you through some form of social media or another no matter how short the messages may be!