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  • Ignite a flame of hope in the hearts of people who lost their place of living

    Ignite a flame of hope in the hearts of people who lost their place of living ‘IGTING’, a social enterprise in the Philippines More

  • Fun times of the Ethiopian girls’ baseball team that visited South Korea

    Fun times of the Ethiopian girls’ baseball team that visited South Korea Welcome! It’s your first time to Korea, isn’t it? More

  • Ethiopia’s Imperial Family of 6,037 members,

    Ethiopia’s Imperial Family of 6,037 members, Standing at the most intense front line of the 6.25 Korean War More

  • Teaching “art”, a way to play that is more fun than a smart phone

    Teaching “art”, a way to play that is more fun than a smart phone Lee Bora WFK Volunteer from KOICA in Ethiopia More

“For the increased cooperation, networking and chance for interchange between generations” President of PHILKOFA, Gina Borinaga
“For the increased cooperation, networking and chance for interchange between generations” President of PHILKOFA, Gina Borinaga
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Beautiful KOICA For the increased cooperation,networking and chance for interchange between generations President of PHILKOFA, Gina BorinagaConfucius emphasized the importance of a good friend. He told his disciple, Jaro, that Friends should sincerely encourage each other and strive with their best efforts, and mentioned the joy of a friend visiting me from afar when discussing pleasure. The KOICA Alumni Association is a project that follows Confucius's word of encouraging good friends from afar. Human resources from developing countries are invited to Korea for training and they are reinvited every two years. This is to strengthen the friendships between the alumni and share the vivid knowledge of the local site.There are 56 countries that have formed the KOICA Alumni Association. These countries can be divided into regions of Africa and the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. In mid-August this year, it was time for the alumni meeting in Africa and the Middle East, and in early November last year, Asia and Oceania regional alumni meetings were held. Alumni from 13 Asian countries, including Nepal, East Timor, Mongolia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Pakistan and the Philippines, and from Fiji in Oceania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from CIS, gathered to share their experience and discuss the future direction of their activities. Among them, relatively large and active is the Philippines KOICA alumni meeting (PHILKOFA), and we met with its ninth president, Gina Borinaga.Q. First of all, can you introduce the KOICA trainee alumni association?The KOICA Alumni Association is an extension of the global training program. Since its beginning in 1992, it has continued to bond alumni around the world with each other. This year s reunion, held in November, was a great opportunity to share our achievements, experiences and examples with KOICA alumni. At the same time, it was a great opportunity to network with leaders from other countries.(Above) Southern Cotabato Mindanao province community outreach (Below) Cebu City Community OutreachQ. What activities are you engaging in at PHILKOFA in the Philippines?PHILKOFA has already entered its 18th anniversary since its beginning with 20 members in July 2001. It is a non-profit and non-government organization now with a membership of 2,982. We serve as a bridge to help develop the local community with our experiences and knowledge learned from the alumni association. Specifically, we are engaging in knowledgesharing seminars, establishing networks with local universities and NGOs, and volunteering.Among the recent activities, Community Outreach, which was conducted in June of this year, is the most memorable. We visited Datal Biao Tukalmay Elementary School in Mindanao, southern Philippines, and provided books (for the library), school supplies (notebooks, pens, scissors, erasers), and five computers from the Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines (KCP) and also planted trees near the school. This is a school for the B laan tribe, the underprivileged ethnicity in the Philippines. They don t have enough supplies to study, but the Philippine government has limited capacity to take care of them. To improve this, PHILKOFA visited them and donated the items, plus a medicine box to the local mayor for the tribe s health.(Above) Scholarship award ceremony (Below) 18th anniversary of PHILKOFA foundationQ. Are there any notable performances or case studies in PHILKOFA?Two things. First, this is the forum to be held on November 22nd of this year. Here, we will share our knowledge learned from Korea and our own field experiences, which will be a meaningful event to celebrate this year, the 70th anniversary of Korea- Philippine diplomatic relations, as we will link up with the UP Korea Research Center.The other thing is the scholarship system and medical service volunteering. We deliver scholarships every two years to eight regions in the Philippines, and we strive in many ways to assist the vulnerable, with education for brushing and hand washing, and donating health kits. Both were possible thanks to the cooperation of the KCCP. Once again, I would like to express my deepest gratitude.Q. What do you think is the role of KOICA alumni association working all around the world?The first role is to contribute to the development of the local community by training trainees to utilize their knowledge. We have held 10 to 12 knowledge-sharing activities every year. From July 2006 until now, we have held human resources and policy development knowledge sharing, waste and climate management knowledge sharing, and programs on disaster management system, ICT trend and higher education capacity enhancement to deliver knowledge to related departments and barangays (the minimum provincial government unit of Philippines) and strive for local community development.The second role is to promote exchange between trainees. There was a very meaningful event this year. It was held on July 18 to celebrate the 18th anniversary of PHILKOFA. Eighteen is the age at which a child becomes an adult. I m thrilled that PHILKOFA is already mature enough to be an adult. More than 90 PHILKOFans gathered to celebrate and reflect on the past 18 years. The event was also an occasion to build a strong bond between existing members (middle-aged or older) who participated in the training of KOICA and the younger generation who participated in the recent training of KOICA. I felt sorry for the lack of dialogue between the two generations, but this has changed the mood. It became easier to communicate with other trainees. In the future, we will hold many of these events to establish mechanisms for sustainability within our alumni association.(Left) Flu vaccination, (right) Visayas local councilQ. What did you get from the 8th Meeting of Alumni Association in 2019 and what do you expect to see from now on?We're volunteers. For the rights and dignity of others, we use our time to engage in altruistic activities without pay. That's why we need motivation. We need the driving force to do our best in the next volunteering effort. KOICA s regular invitation of trainees to attend alumni meetings gives us such motivation. And it makes us feel proud and rewarding to be recognized for our service. In the alumni meeting this time, we were also proud to have been recognized for doing something worthwhile.We hope that cooperation and networking between Korea and the Philippines will continue on in the future, and we look forward to further development of the KOICA Alumni Association. Also, I hope that young people and older generations in their 50s and 60s will have more opportunities to interact with each other within the alumni association.Written by Lee Hyun-soo Photo by Nam Ho-sik
Building a transparent government suitable for the “Arab Spring” The distribution of KOICA’s “K-electronic procurement system”
Building a transparent government suitable for the “Arab Spring” The distribution of KOICA’s “K-electronic procurement system”
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About KOICABuilding a transparent government suitable for the Arab Spring The distribution of KOICA s K-electronic procurement system Tunisia is the birthplace of the Arab Spring. Incited by the high unemployment rate, inflation and the luxurious life of a corrupt government, Tunisians tried to change the world with street protests. Understanding the anger of citizens, the military rejected the regime s order to suppress the protests, and the government, which had been under 23 years of dictatorship, was brought to an end in 2011. The priority demand of the citizens after eradicating corrupt regimes was building a transparent government. For this, the introduction of an electronic procurement system was of foremost necessity.Some of the assets of President Ben Ali, who was pushed away from the throne by the hands of Tunisians in 2011, are as follows: giant cement company, Mediterranean resort hotel, millions of euros in French deposits, 1.5 tons of gold, Falcon 9000 jets, building in central Geneva, Gituna Bank. A glance at his asset list, estimated at 8.9 trillion won according to the Daily Telegraph in the U.K., shows how deep the corruption was. Considering Tunisia s economic indicators, which plunged to a crushing degree in proportion to the corruption of the authoritarian regime, it was reasonable that Tunisians wanted transparency above all else after the shift of government.In response, KOICA has started to transplant the Korean electronic procurement system in order to ensure the transparent and fair operation of the Tunisian government. Korea s e-government is one of the best in the world, and it is one of the most prominent brands to symbolize its own excellence. The United Nations selected South Korea s electronic procurement system in 2018 as the joint leader in the sector of on-line participation and the third overall in e-government development among 193 countries surveyed, and has consistently ranked it as the top-tier throughout the past decade.1) For Tunisia, which was struggling to eradicate inefficiency and corruptive structures, introduction of Korea s electronic procurement system has been a wise move.TunisiaThe results were amazing. The number of Tunisian electronic procurement registrants has increased from 100 to 5,000 as of 2016, and the system s own problem resolution rate has also been reduced from 20% to 100%, and procurement time from 200 to 129 days,2) said Kim Sung-wook, formerly in charge of the Middle East Central Asia Office. The Tunisian government legally mandated the use of electronic procurement systems under the Prime Minister s Ordinance (2018.8.31). The Open Government Partnership (OGP), an organization that promotes transparency of governments around the world across borders and eradicates corruption, nominated Tunisia s on-line E-Procurement System(TUNPES) as the grand award of Africa in 2015.JordanThis had an impact on neighboring countries as well. In just two years, Tunisia s case of eradicating inefficiency and the ensuing corruption, which made it hard to see the results of the bidding, lured other countries into KOICA. Jordanian government reached out in 2014 and the Iraq government in 2018.The Jordanian government s project to build its electronic procurement system (JONEPS) was an opportunity to fully demonstrate our know-how accumulated from the Tunisian project. At present, 98% of the Jordanian Procurement Agency s total bid transactions (average 1,596 per year) are accomplished through JONEPS, with 90% of total suppliers actively using the system. The process time for bidding was reduced by about 70 hours (per case) compared to before, and the cost was also reduced by about $193.45 (per case), summarized Oh Jae-hyuk, full-post at the Middle East Central Asia Office. Thanks to KOICA s performance, the Jordanian government was able to clearly organize the public procurement system, which was split into 56 and thrown into dissonance, officially declaring a unified procurement system.3)JordanIraq s Kurdish local government has also requested the transplant of South Korea s superior electronic procurement system in 2018 to make public procurement procedures more transparent. Of course, there are difficulties. The different procurement systems4) and the conflict within Muslim states are in the way of promoting the project. Iraq is a multi-ethnic country, and thus there is a conflict between Shia and Sunni Islam, and the main party has weak influence, which leads to the instability of the management of state affairs. As such, the specific decisions regarding the electronic procurement system project has gone through changes, requiring additional measures to be taken, said Song Jong-in, a PM who is in charge of the public procurement modernization project of the Iraqi government of Erbil, run by the Korea Trade Network. We tackled the obstacles step by step with the know-how accumulated from the successful operation of the Tunisian project and the internal and external business risk analysis and quick responsiveness of KOICA. Things have been on good terms for two years, he continued, expressing confidence. This is quite impressive considering the fact that the budget execution rate of the Middle East CIS regional assistance has been at the bottom of the list for the past five years. Especially since the Middle East has a traditional risk of political instability and business unpredictability.In order to overcome the low budget execution rate, KOICA has set up systematic strategies by expanding cooperation with international organizations and changing the project based on existing building construction into becoming cutting-edge. This has led to a spectacular achievement of stripping away the country s existing systems and transplanting new ones.Jordan1) The UN e-government survey was conducted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs to assess the level of e-government participation and development among 193 member countries every two years since 2002. Korea ranked first in both categories three times in a row in 2010, 2012 and 2014. It ranked 3rd and 4th in 2016 and 1st and 3rd in 2018 respectively, maintaining the top ranking for 10 years (ministry of the Interior and Safety, 2018.07.22).2) World Bank, 20183) Announced the Regulations on the Government Procurement System (2019-28) and posted it in the official gazette. 2019.11.1.4) In the case of the Korean e-government, it is a rule to submit a bid once, but in the case of other countries, one institution can bid several times. In some cases, the officials in charge correct the details of the bidding instead of corresponding agencies.5) Kuwait Finance HouseWritten by Lee Hyun-soo Photo by Hwang Woon-ha, provided by KOICA
Happiness in Sharing and Devotion Increase as People Come Together! KOICA welcomes Friends of Korea
Happiness in Sharing and Devotion Increase as People Come Together! KOICA welcomes Friends of Korea
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KOICA Photo-essayHappiness in Sharing and Devotion Increase as People Come TogetherOn October 15th, a 2019 U.S. Friends of Korea (FOK) KOICA Visiting Event was held at the assembly hall of the KOICA headquarters. Around 50 families of members of FOK as well as KOICA employees attended the event. The event was a precious opportunity to look back on the volunteer activities of the FOK and the journey of expansion and reproduction of support that Korea was able to return upon having previously been a beneficiary.Peace Corps Reunites after Times of PovertyThe atmosphere of those gathered in the assembly hall of the KOICA headquarters could not be brighter. The white hairs that showed the passing of time and the slower walking paces The executive and staff members of KOICA that met with those of the Peace Corps that lived with volunteering and devotion all their lives, shined with vibrancy and vigor that was brighter than ever.The Peace Corps is a volunteer institution that was established in 1961 according to President Kennedy s New Frontier policy. From 1966 to 1981 for 15 years, around 2,000 people were sent abroad to Korea, and they participated in projects for the health of the people such as eradication of tuberculosis, as well as teaching English to students, and supporting the people of a nation that had lost so much through war.Friends of Korea (FOK) is a non-profit organization that was established in 2013 to further enhance bilateral relations, based on the United State citizens who were active in Korea. The main members are USFK veterans who were a part of the Peace Corps in Korea. They created video content related to development in Korea and Peace Corps activities, and also supported Korean organizations to contribute to promoting Korea to the world. Their rather flawless Korean pronunciations that could be sporadically heard could probably be attributed to their interest in Korea and the diverse projects.Kim Myung-jin, Director General of Global Human Resources Coordination Department, welcomes FOK with wide open arms. Director Kim had mentioned how much this volunteer group from the U.S. had devoted itself to Korea when it was once a poor country, and she introduced the Peace Corps as the group responsible for showing the value of volunteering to Koreans. She also added that since the new millennium, Korea has been actively participating in volunteer work in many countries such as Africa and Asia, as the U.S. has in the past. Thanks to the inspirations from the Peace Corps several decades ago, Korean volunteer groups can also be active and I am very grateful, she said, upon which the FOK members and their families burst into applause.Volunteer, Creating its Virtuous CycleGerard Krzic, President of FOK, took to the stand to give his response. In his very clear Korean pronunciation he said, Thank you Director Kim for organizing today s event, and thank you everyone for coming, to which the audience responded with warm laughter.President Krzic carried out many societal tasks in Korea with around 2,000 Peace Corps volunteers from the year 1966 to 1981, and reminded everyone of the fact that Korean volunteers are also currently carrying out the same tasks. He also emphasized the great development and achievements Korea was able to obtain over the years, as well as the fact that the Peace Corp and FOK are currently on their 3rd goal. This goal is to teach the United States about the countries that the U.S. has helped. We are networking with education programs, love for humankind, and communities of Korean-Americans. Our visit to KOICA today is also a part of this networking. Gerard Krzic also gave his thanks to Korea, that went from being a beneficiary to a contributor, spreading the meaning and value of volunteering.Professor David McCann, a former Harvard University professor, also received a big round of applause for his lecture. He volunteered as an English teacher in Korea from 1966 to 1968 at Andong Agricultural High School. During this time, he came across a poem by Kin Sowol Kim that sparked his interest in Korean literature, upon which he went back to Harvard to obtain a doctorate degree in Korean poetry studies in 1976. From then until 2014, he lectured on Korean literature at Harvard University. Professor McCann talked about how the direction of his life was forever changed since his volunteer experience in Korea and how he is continuously striving to promote Korean literature in America. In the 60s and 70s, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world, right after the war. Without supporting nations that gave unconditional support during this time of poverty when there was barely any food to last a day, Korea today would have been something of a far-off future or unrealizable dream.The US Peace Corps that came voluntarily to provide support to this barren land with only devotion and love for humanity are people that helped Korea find self-reliance. When asked if they would return to Korea to volunteer even now, 92% responded Yes, which goes to show just how much they love Korea.Those young people that devoted themselves to an unfamiliar poor nation now reflect back on the past when they impacted society with positive influences, and now feel great joy looking at a nation become a contributor from a beneficiary.The Peace Corp taught Korea the value of volunteering. The love received from each country during tough times is now given back to other nations going through the same struggles, and KOICA is doing just that. The event that meant to reflect this virtuous cycle and to continue it was truly nothing but beautiful.Written by Lee kyounghee Photos by Kim Hui-jin
Nutrition Improvement Project focused on Nutrition-centered Agriculture in Rwanda
Nutrition Improvement Project focused on Nutrition-centered Agriculture in Rwanda
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about KOICANutrition Improvement Project focused onNutrition-centered Agriculture in RwandaWith an average longevity of 64.7 years, ratio of low-height children 38%, and 50.3 out of 1,000 children under the age of 5 dying¹ .At a time when we talk about living up to the age of 100 or even 200, these figures may be hard to grasp, but this is the reality happening before us. This is the story of Africa s Rwanda.PD/Hearth for Malnourished Children and their CaretakersRwanda belongs to one of the least developed nations in the OECD Development Assistance Committee. It is still suffering through the economic and social impact from the 1994 Rwandan genocide.Rwanda has an especially high ratio of malnourished children, and the main causes of death amongst children age 5 and younger are pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and malnutrition.This is because it is difficult for children in Rwanda to get balanced nutrition due to lack of food or improper utilizingo f food within households. The low income of Rwandan households, as well as a lack of knowledge around a child s diet and nutrition, are among the fundamental causes.Most children with chronic malnutrition come from regions with low agricultural productivity. Therefore, in order to improve chronic malnutrition, a more fundamental and detailed solution was required, more than the one-dimensional method of providing food aid.To this end, KOICA is launching.PD/Hearth for Regional Sanitation Agentsa Nutrition Improvement Project focused on Nutrition-centered Agriculture in Rwanda, along with the NGOs A Better World and World Vision, as a part of its Civic Society Cooperative Project². A Better World and World Vision both chose the Rwamagana and Rwesero regions in Rwanda as their beneficiary regions and decided to carry out a nutrition mediating project based on agriculture. From June 1st 2018 to December 31st 2020 for 2 years and 7 months, they have carried out and will continue to carry out projects to improve nutrition based on agriculture in Rwanda. Currently, in 2019, they are in their 2nd year running.(Upper line) PD/Hearth for Regional Sanitation Agents(Lower line) PD/Hearth for Malnourished Children and their CaretakersThe activity carried out first was the Education on Nutrition Mediating Method (PD/HEARTH). This entailed taking the dietary habits and healthrelated behaviors of relatively healthier people and combining them into a manual so as to spread them to families with malnourished children.It also carried out trainings to teach the members of the regional society how to prepare food, including food for babies, based on eco-friendly farming, as well as growing kitchen gardens (household gardens).PD/Hearth for Regional Sanitation AgentsOn top of this, there are many detailed programs in action such as Community Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (CIMCI) that has regional sanitation agents with records of sick children, caring for diseased children, as well as Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) that has regional sanitation agents and sanitation experts providing education on the proper way to breastfeed and take care of children, and Family Planning (FP) that provides support in planning and adjusting the number of children, time gap between pregnancies, birth timing, and time to suspend giving birth. Moreover, there are regional radio programs that educate people on pregnancy and breastfeeding as well as child nutrition and management, and nutrition committees of relevant government affiliates have been held to discuss relevant issues.(Upper line) Eco-friendly Agriculture Training(Lower line) Allocation of LivestockKOICA has also built a nutrition and sanitation center to enhance accessibility to nutrition and sanitation services, and has introduced environmentally friendly farming methods to increase farming productivity with the special conditions of Rwanda s farming conditions in mind, such as its lack of arable land, climate change, and hillside farming. It has also enhanced the content of organic mater in soil and spread the method of sustainable farming, and has provided support in enabling households to grow seeds of mushroom tubes and diverse crops (onions, spring onions, cucumbers, carrots, etc.) and selected households with small-scale farming as beneficiaries, providing them with livestock such as goats, pigs, and chickens, so as to diversify their sources of nutritoin.Allocation of LivestockThe achievements of the project have been inspiring. The total number of beneficiaries of this project has reached 10,528: 9,423 children below the age of 5, 700 pregnant women, 243 regional sanitation agents, and 162 maternal volunteers. As of June 1st 2019, 143 out of 178 participating children from Rwamagana gained 900g or more in weight, and 417 out of 769 participating children from Rwesero put on 900g or more in weight.Also, the level of knowledge upon receiving education on gardening from A Better World jumped from 54% to 96%. Currently, a trial eco-friendly and sustainable farm is being run with locals as subjects, and 100 goats and 100 pigs have been allocated to 200 trained households.PD/Hearth for Regional Sanitation AgentsKOICA will continue to carry out nutrition and sanitation activities in cooperation with other institutions in order to implement the related projects planned up until next year. It will also strengthen the potential of sanitation labor forces in regional societies and carry out diverse campaigns. Also, it will continue to monitor the development and growth of children under the age of 5 and carry out education in eco-friendly farming, creating trial farming, growing eco-friendly home gardens, and keeping livestock.The nutrition improvement project centered around nutrition agriculture in Rwanda provides a fundamental solution to the nation that suffers from malnutrition and disease. It is not support that increases reliance on helping countries or decreases willingness to be self-reliant, but it is one that provides a fundamental solution through sustainable agriculture, and by creating a virtuous cycle that helps the cooperating nation to be selfreliant.KOICA will continue to strive to prevent such sad incidents as children losing their lives due to malnutrition.1) Source: Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (2014-2015)2) Civil Society Cooperation Project: A representative open-participating international development cooperation project that creates an overarching partnership amongst diverse parties such as the government, civic groups, companies, and universities, and contributes to sustainable development and relieving poverty in cooperating nations, by utilizing human resources, intellectual assets, technology, business potential, and financial resources.Written by Nam Jiyeon Photos by Better World
A new future, inspired by friendly cooperation, peace, and prosperity. Korea-ASEAN Community of Shared Future (New Southern) ODA Strategy
A new future, inspired by friendly cooperation, peace, and prosperity. Korea-ASEAN Community of Shared Future (New Southern) ODA Strategy

KOICA InfographicsA new future, inspired by friendly cooperation, peace, and prosperityKorea-ASEAN Community of Shared Future (New Southern) ODA StrategyOn November 26, ASEAN-Republic of KOREA Commemorative Summit was hosted in Busan with the heads of 10 countries from Korea and ASEAN. The summit aimed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and ASEAN and discuss the plans for reinforcing the cooperative relationship. During the summit, the Co-Chairs Statement of the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of KOREA Commemorative Summit, which aims to broaden the cooperation in security, trade, innovative industries, and HR exchange, was signed.The New Southern Policy, which the Korean government is carrying out in order to achieve peace and prosperity in Asia, focuses on reinforcing cooperation with ASEAN countries as strategic partners and to expand the level of diplomatic and economic relations with countries of Southeast Asia.Since this plan requires ODA that corresponds to major policies of the government, KOICA prepared detailed executive plans for performing the New Southern Policy (Design on ASEAN-KOREA community of shared future) by the government as well as New Southern ODA Executive Strategy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their major goals include searching for cooperative development plans that contribute to the complex and organic public- and private-sector partnership between Korea and ASEAN by reflecting the core values of 4P (People, Peace, Prosperity, Physical Environment), reinforcing links within the region for ensuring sustainable growth of ASEAN, and mitigating gaps in development.Source_ Performance Plan for ASEAN-KOREA community of shared future ODA

Ethiopian Coffee ceremony The holy and fascinating ritual
Ethiopian Coffee ceremony The holy and fascinating ritual

There is a warm, dark-colored liquid that makes people instantly feel better after taking a sip, and fills the body with energy with wide open eyes! That magical drink is coffee. Nowadays, it is not so difficult to come across a place where one can experience fresh, flavorful coffee with world-famous coffee shops, cafes that only deal in specialty coffee, and roasteries offering freshly roasted beans. However, none can compare to the flavor and fragrance of bunna (meaning coffee in Amharic) from Ethiopia, the original birthplace of coffee. One cup of coffee made with sincerity, with beans roasted and ground by hand, is infused with care, love, wishes, respect, and all sorts of other positive energy.Bunna, not coffeeAfter being in Ethiopia, there are now only two types of coffee for me. Ethiopian coffee, and the rest. Of course, coffee is a product of personal preference, so individuals will have different tastes and preferences. Even so, it would be illogical for a person to claim to know about coffee without having tasted Ethiopian coffee, whether they are a famous barista, roaster, or cafe owner. By Ethiopian coffee , I do not mean high-quality Arabica like Gesah or Yirgacheffe. I am referring to Bunna. I mean the coffee with a thick consistency that is made with the traditional Ethiopian roasting and grinding methods.Bunna presents a new sensation that cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled in other coffee. The coffee is brewed to a thick, reddish color. It does not require focusing the senses of the nose to smell the coffee, as it gives off a strong aroma on its own. As soon as the coffee touches the tip of the tongue, all sorts of flavors that are hard to define clearly including a natural sweetness, a gentle sourness that does not sting the taste buds, a slight saltiness, and nutty flavors storm the inside of the mouth like an orchestra. The clean aftertaste that does not linger bitterly in the mouth after emptying the whole cup is quite fascinating. Truly, absolutely, delicious.At least three cups a day, the kingdom of coffee Have you had coffee? , Do you want to get coffee? , Can I offer you coffee? These are the words that I heard in Ethiopia most frequently. It is equivalent to the Korean expression, Have you eaten? To Ethiopian people, coffee is more than a simple drink. It means care for the other person, and the way that people greet one another. It is a symbol of friendliness and an offering.The Ethiopian myth regarding the creation of coffee is well known. Around the 6th and 7th centuries, a shepherd named Kaldi observed that his goats would not sleep at night, and would run around energetically after eating a kind of red beans that he had not seen before. So Kaldi took some of the beans home for himself, boiled them in water, and drank it. His mind became clear and fresh. Excited at his discovery of the mysterious plant, Kaldi told the Islamic monks about the beans. They called them devil s fruits , and tossed them into the fire. But soon even more fragrant and delicious smells started to come from the fruits that were tossed into the fire. That is said to be how coffee came about. There is no way of knowing whether Kaldi in this believable myth really existed. One thing we can be sure of, however, is that Ethiopia has the most perfect natural environment for coffee to grow. That is, Ethiopia, located in an alpine region more than 2,000 m above sea level, has a stable climate that is not too cold and not too warm throughout the year. So Kaldi s goats probably found and ate the coffee cherries without much difficulty. One thing that is more important than the myth is that the unique culture in Ethiopia shows how the people love and cherish coffee. Ethiopia is the only country among countries that export coffee beans that has its own unique coffee drinking culture. This is called bunna maflat, which can be translated to coffee ceremony . This is a ceremony that is treated as holy like a religious ritual. It is designed to appreciate the entire process of drinking coffee, starting from washing and roasting the green coffee beans. The ritual can be carried out at any time of the day, but most people do it while having breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is customary to drink at least 3 cups of coffee during the ceremony, so if one person has two or three meetings in a day, the person would end up having at least 6 cups in one day.People do bunna maflat with their family members at home, but one can easily notice people doing bunna maflat on the streets and in shops. As this special way of drinking coffee shows, Bunna Maflat is more than an event, but is more like finding peace of mind in daily life.The most elegant coffee ceremony in the worldIn order to do the coffee ceremony, the surrounding environment must first be set. First of all, clean the place where the ceremony is to take place. Then, place ketema leaves, which signify welcome and good luck, and prepare a small dinner table called rekebot on top of the leaves. On the table, place small coffee cups called sini for the number of guests. Only women can host the coffee ceremony.Coffee ceremony procedures1. RoastingBefore roasting coffee beans, light a strong incense. This is to get rid miscellaneous smells from the surroundings so that the coffee scent is highlighted more strongly. Place clean, washed green beans into a pan with a long handle called a menkeshkesh. Put the pan on a small brazier to slowly start the hand roasting procedure. Move the pan slightly to roast the coffee beans. Using a fan is essential to adjust the intensity of the fire. Once the green beans start to turn brown, extra attention must be paid to prevent the beans from burning. It is up to the roaster, the hostess of the ceremony, to decide how much the beans are to be roasted, so the flavor of the coffee can vary infinitely. Usually, when the crack in the middle of the bean is visible and the natural oil from the beans begins to come out making the surface of the beans shiny, remove the pan from the brazier to cool.2. BrewingThe roasted coffee beans are then placed in a wooden mortar called a mukecha, then ground by hand. In this process, the strong nutty fragrance of the coffee now fills the air. Once the coffee beans are ground nicely, put the powder into a dark teakettle with a long, narrow spout called a jebena. Put boiled water in the jebena, pour the coffee water into a cup, then pour it back into the jebena so that the coffee powder and water mix well. Repeat the same process several times. Place the jebena on the brazier again and boil the mixture for several minutes. When steam starts to come out from the spout, it means the coffee is ready.3. CuppingSince all of the coffee powder must sink to the bottom of the jebena, tilt the jebena a bit to one side. Before pouring the coffee, the hostess asks the guests if they would like sugar in their coffee. Most Ethiopians mix two spoons of sugar with their coffee. Sometimes leaves called tena'adam are mixed with coffee to give it a lighter taste. The coffee is then poured into the sini cups prepared in advance. When pouring the coffee, the jebena is raised as high as possible to create foam to give the coffee even better flavor.During a coffee ceremony, it is a basic courtesy to drink at least three cups of coffee. The first cup is called abol, the second cup tawna, and the third cup baraka. You may be concerned about excessive consumption of caffeine, but the second and third cups are more diluted with water, and thus have weaker flavor and strength.One ceremony usually takes about one and a half to two hours maximum. If the conversation gets interesting in the middle, it easily extends by an extra hour. When an Ethiopian friend asks, Nu Bunna Tetu? (Shall we get some coffee?), do not expect a quick sip.Ethiopians are the people who know coffee the best, and have been drinking coffee for the longest time. To them, coffee is their national pride and identity, and is a way of life. An Ethiopian proverb summarizes this well: Buna dabo aw. Translated literally, it means, Coffee is our bread. To Ethiopians, the golden coffee beans are as precious as a staple food. Ethiopia, the birthplace of the human race and of coffee. In the dullness of everyday life, people here are leading a full life energized by the fragrance of coffee, like receiving aroma therapy.Written by Suh Hyewon Photos by Han Sang-mooh