Wanted: project coordinator for Africa Centre

coffeeroasting

Smell the coffee: Jerusalem Barnabas demonstrates how to make a cup of Ethiopian coffee.

A heady smell of roasting coffee greets you. Women in bright colours laugh and chat as they pass plates of African food.  We’ve just dropped into a fundraising coffee morning with a difference and it feels a long way from the grey Edinburgh summer on the other side of the door.  Welcome to the Africa Centre Scotland…

There is an extra buzz in the room because Africa Centre Scotland (ACS) has just been awarded funding for a part-time project co-ordinator. If this morning’s Ethiopian Coffee Experience is anything to go by it will be a great job for someone.

agnes_sitting

Agnes Holmes, ACS chair, wearing a beautiful Ethiopian dress for the occasion, has a long list of projects in her diary. To mention just a few, there’s  Zawadi Women’s Choir, art workshops, and youth drama activities connecting Scottish and African communities.

All this organised from the small office in Blackfriar’s Street brightly decorated with posters and crafts from different African countries. The centre run by volunteers offers support and a social meeting place for Africans newly arriving in Edinburgh.

Thanks to Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, ACS now has three year funding to employ a part-time project co-ordinator helping to run the office and organise events as  well as working with volunteers and developing links with other community organisations.

“It is very exciting. We are already getting enquiries,” says  Agnes  breaking away from the coffee ceremony to answer email queries. “We are hoping to interview people during August so that the job can begin in October.”

She points out that the deadline for applications is 12 August 2009 and that applications from minority ethnic individuals are particularly welcome.  (For more details and the  job application pack phone 0131 557 6145 or email info@africacentrescotland.org.uk )

Now, back to the coffee. Breakfast might never be the same again.

millet

Millet ‘popcorn’

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