What if your daily coffee was more than a quick pick-me-up?
There is no doubt that our Western world conveniences like electric kettles, packaged coffee, and drive-thrus make our lives easier and quicker.
However is easier and quicker always better?
What have we lost of community in our busy lives?
Can I share a glimpse into the precious community life that I experienced in the Refugee Camp around a cup of coffee?
I think we can all learn something from these neighbours of mine.
Coffee with my neighbours is a pause, a process and a song
My neighbours know the importance of stopping together for coffee.
To them, the shared process of roasting, grinding and pouring out of the coffee, is just as important as the consumption of it.
They call gathering for coffee, Jebena.
Coming together for Jebena is not a quick process.
It requires specific roasting pans, pots and little cups called Fingal. Cloves, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon must be ground and added in specific proportions to make the coffee just right. The coffee beans are roasted, ground and poured out through an oddly shaped vessel, itself called a ‘Jebena’.
Each woman arrives wearing a colourful tope (a large decorative wrap ). Amidst laughter the jebena song begins:
“Peace to you my neighbor,
The coffee is ground,
The incense is bringing forth its fragrance.”
One lady beats the roasted coffee and another pounds the spices, rhythmically with the mortar and pestle. The others clap or beat whatever else they can find in unison.
This is more than just a quick coffee.
Coffee with my neighbours is about blessing and belonging.
Often during Jebena each visitor contributes a small amount into a central dish. As the celebration concludes the group decides who they want to bless with the money.
During the first Jebena celebration that I hosted in our home, each lady brought 50 pounds (then the equivalent of 50 cents – half a day wages).
At the end of this gathering the women decided that I should have the money.
My first instinct was ‘No, no, no, I don’t need the money, you do!!’ but I stopped myself and received it with thankfulness.
I learnt something in that moment: Jebena is about blessing and belonging.
These women had already helped me so much to set up my home and learn how to do life in this challenging environment.
However, this act of generosity over Jebena was the first time I really felt that our family had been accepted as part of their community.
Coffee with my refugee neighbours is about welcoming and community
The people in Camp, have been forced to flee from their homes due to bombing and war.
Their homes have been destroyed, fields stripped and family members have died or been separated from them.
Access to healthcare and opportunity for education have been diminished. All as a result of war.
In the midst of these hardships, Jebena has been a very important way for community to remember what they share and celebrate this.
During Jebena my neighbours take a moment out of the harsh heat to find shelter in the company of one another.
A ‘welcome to Jebena’, is a ‘welcome into our community’.
Jebena reminds me of the table of communion.
A time for togetherness and sharing.
A time for giving and receiving.
A time for remembering and belonging.
As we come to His table may we learn from my neighbours. Rather than hurry and consume, may we pause and sing, bless and remember to whom we belong. We belong to Christ the King. We belong to one another.
So, just in case you want to re-create Jebena in your community…
Recreating a coffee celebration – The recipe for Jebena
Ingredients:
– Coffee beans
– Cloves
– Cardamon
– Ginger
– Cinnamon
– Sugar
You also need:
– ‘Bahur’ – locally made incense to put on the charcoals as the coffee is enjoyed.
– ‘Jebena’ – a small silver pot with a spout from which to pour the coffee out of.
– Small charcoal stove and frying pan
– Fingal –small little cups to take the coffee shots
Consider adding the sides:
– Peanuts
– Sesame biscuits
Method:
- Roast the coffee over the charcoal. Take care not to burn the beans.
- Grind the coffee in the mortar and pestle
- Grind the cardamom, cinnamon and ginger.
- Boil the coffee in a small pot on the stove.
- Add ginger and the other spices according to your personal preference.
- Pour the dark liquid into the Jebena.
- Fill the fingal half full with sugar and fill the rest of the cup with the spicy coffee mix from the Jebena
- Drink as a community
Coffee, Jebena, is an important part of this culture’s celebrations and it is a very special part of our community life here the camp.
Love Hope
Written from home in the refugee camp in 2017
Hallelujah in the Mountains 