{"id":20392,"date":"2025-07-18T22:41:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T22:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/?p=20392"},"modified":"2025-11-10T22:45:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T22:45:19","slug":"east-african-students-create-community-with-coffee-and-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/news\/2025\/07\/18\/east-african-students-create-community-with-coffee-and-conversation","title":{"rendered":"East African students create community with coffee and conversation\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Every morning, as students prepare for the day ahead, many reach for a cup of coffee to help them wake up.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But for three East African students at the University of Washington Bothell, their morning brew is more than a simple caffeine delivery device. It\u2019s also a drink central to their communities. That\u2019s why when they wanted to create a student club, they decided to dedicate it to drinking coffee.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"496\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/Yabsera-Legesse-Eskndr-Tadesse-Koket-Gebiremichael-496x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Yabsera, Eskndr and Koket together. \n\nKoket Gebiremichael, Nursing \n\nYabsera Legesse, Law, Economics &amp; Public Policy \n\nEskndr Tadesse, Business Administration \" class=\"wp-image-20399\" style=\"width:auto;height:600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/Yabsera-Legesse-Eskndr-Tadesse-Koket-Gebiremichael-496x1024.jpg 496w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/Yabsera-Legesse-Eskndr-Tadesse-Koket-Gebiremichael-145x300.jpg 145w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/Yabsera-Legesse-Eskndr-Tadesse-Koket-Gebiremichael.jpg 581w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 496px) 100vw, 496px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Yabsera Legesse, Law, Economics &amp; Public Policy&nbsp;<br>Eskndr Tadesse, Business Administration<br>Koket Gebiremichael, Nursing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-highlight-paragraph-large has-purple-400-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ea6ba7ca0c3347d2a32814571afd1bff\">A common journey to UW Bothell<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>BunaTalk (or \u201ccoffee talk\u201d) is a student club created by students Koket Gebiremichael, Yabsera Legesse and Eskndr Tadesse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The three co-presidents share common stories when it comes to their early lives. Each of them immigrated to Washington at a young age. For Yabsera Legesse\u2019s family, the motivation for his parents to emigrate from Ethiopia was to give him and his siblings a better life. \u201cThey realized that for us, there\u2019s wasn\u2019t going to be a lot of opportunities for us to succeed [in Ethiopia],\u201d Legesse said. \u201cEven if we went to school and college, life was never going to be that good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When each of the now co-presidents arrived in the United States, they found it hard to relate to others at school. Rather, they found connection in their local East African community. Their families connected with other families \u2014 often over cups of coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After high school, when the three students were deciding on where to go to university, UW Bothell was a top choice as they wanted to stay close to their families. \u201cThat&#8217;s a big theme within East African communities,\u201d said Gebiremichael, also from Ethiopia. \u201cOur family is the top priority for us, and so being away from them isn\u2019t always easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the three students arrived on campus, they realized there were many other East African students \u2014 but there was no easy way for all those students to connect. Their student club, BunaTalk, was the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-participants-in-traditional-clothing-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"BunaTalk clubs members wearing traditional clothing.\" class=\"wp-image-20398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-participants-in-traditional-clothing-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-participants-in-traditional-clothing-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-participants-in-traditional-clothing-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-participants-in-traditional-clothing-2-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-participants-in-traditional-clothing-2.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-highlight-paragraph-large has-purple-400-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3629fef357e088252a2a790e1898567f\">A cup of buna in the morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The history of coffee goes back thousands of years to the Oromo people of East Africa who first cultivated the coffee bean. One popular legend says coffee was discovered by a shepherd who noticed his goats getting a jolt of energy when they munched beans from a specific bush. This led to the shepherd trying the beans himself and then passing his discovery to local monks who chewed coffee to keep them awake during prayers. Over time, the chewing of beans evolved into the ceremonial brewing of coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In modern times, drinking coffee is central to &#8220;Habesha&#8221; communities, a term broadly used to describe people of Ethiopian and Eritrean heritage. Tadesse, from Eritrea, is quick to point out the differences in coffee culture between East Africa and the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn Western culture, coffee is just a pick-it-up-and-go in the morning thing. It\u2019s something you do for five minutes,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut coffee in East African culture is a whole ceremony. When the coffee usually comes out, you know you\u2019re going to be staying there for a while, for conversations about culture, politics and social norms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tadesse explained that in a traditional coffee ceremony, it can take two to three hours to prepare the coffee. Families roast their own coffee beans, grind the beans by hand and each person takes a turn smelling the coffee. Coffee is a way for East African families to connect with the larger community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tadesse says, \u201cIt\u2019s where people come together to talk about anything and everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"633\" height=\"949\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/Yabsera-Legesse-Eskndr-Tadesse.jpg\" alt=\"Tadesse and Legesse in traditional attire. Tadesse is holding a guitar-like instrument called a krar, and Legesse is holding a small cup of coffee.\" class=\"wp-image-20406\" style=\"width:auto;height:400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/Yabsera-Legesse-Eskndr-Tadesse.jpg 633w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/Yabsera-Legesse-Eskndr-Tadesse-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/Yabsera-Legesse-Eskndr-Tadesse-600x900.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 633px) 100vw, 633px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-highlight-paragraph-large has-purple-400-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-0a3cc076511c6e47d1e6c320a71849cf\">Habesha buna conversations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of Legesse\u2019s earliest memories of the coffee tradition was speaking with his father about their extended family. His father explained how his grandfather had grown up in the mountain regions of Ethiopia and had worked hard to go to law school to become a paralegal. Legesse said those conversations inspired him to major in Law, Economics &amp; Public Policy and eventually to become an attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An important conversation that Tadesse had over coffee was around what to do after high school. His extended family gathered over the Christmas holiday, and at the time Tadesse had a hard time deciding whether to go to a community college or a university. When the topic came up during buna, the family laid out the pros and cons of the decision, and his cousins shared their experiences of going to college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cWhen you have a coffee at hand, that\u2019s when it\u2019s your time to speak, almost like you\u2019re given a mic.\u201d<\/p><cite>Eskndr Tadesse, Business Administration&nbsp;<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen you have a coffee at hand, that\u2019s when it\u2019s your time to speak, almost like you\u2019re given a mic,\u201d Tadesse said. \u201cAnd my cousin was talking about college and what her experiences were like. That\u2019s one of the main things that helped me decide what path to take.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And one of the reasons the BunaTalk club co-presidents said they came to UW Bothell is that they knew the University had a large group of Habesha students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-highlight-paragraph-large has-purple-400-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3b0503b328f48d0b661c8ea71f5a1edf\">Creating a community for East African students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When they spoke about how hard it was to connect with that community, the three agreed they wanted to create a space where they could share their culture with other students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gebiremichael noted that she wanted a place where people could have the same meaningful conversations that her parents and grandparents were having over coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-events-1024x340.jpg\" alt=\"Mosaic of images from BunaTalk club events.\" class=\"wp-image-20397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-events-1024x340.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-events-300x100.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-events-768x255.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-events-600x200.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-events.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Legesse, a priority was simply to have a space for people to meet and get to know each other. \u201cBeing Habesha is very social, and not having a social space where people could talk to each other and be among people from their own countries and culture was hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEspecially in high school, I didn&#8217;t see a lot of Habeshas, and it always felt like I was alone,\u201d he added. \u201cI wanted to create a community where people don&#8217;t feel like that. If they need to talk to someone, they have people who look like them, who can welcome them and understand where they come from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the group realized there was a need for a more community, they decided to make it happen. They started with an event where people could meet in a classroom to enjoy food and drinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"729\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-group-at-awards-ceremony.jpg\" alt=\"Members of the BunaTalk club receiving the Rising Star Award during UW Bothell\u2019s annual Club Council Recognition Banquet.\" class=\"wp-image-20396\" style=\"width:auto;height:600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-group-at-awards-ceremony.jpg 729w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-group-at-awards-ceremony-243x300.jpg 243w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/give\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/07\/BunaTalk-group-at-awards-ceremony-600x741.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-highlight-paragraph-large has-purple-400-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f2e189a30a218da9e8bd5e3b34710fb4\">BunaTalk\u2019s first year of connection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Planning that first event, the three club co-presidents were afraid nobody would turn up. But when the day came, more than 100 students arrived, and they realized there was a real thirst for buna \u2014 and all it means \u2014 at UW Bothell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the club\u2019s first year, BunaTalk held six events, including a volunteer day, a traditional coffee ceremony, a game night, a friendship mixer and a basketball tournament. For this successful first year, the club recently received the Rising Star Award during UW Bothell\u2019s annual Club Council Recognition Banquet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite some big ideas for next year and new members of leadership, the group said they won\u2019t forget what brought them together to begin with: a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Tadesse explained, \u201cThere\u2019s no community without buna.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When three students noticed a need for a stronger East African community at UW Bothell, they started a club leaning on coffee \u2014 a drink central to their culture. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":599,"featured_media":20393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"school":[],"class_list":["post-20392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"Give to UW Bothell","email":"uwbgive@uw.edu","phone":"425.352.3869","box":"","address_line_1":"17927 113th AVE NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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