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Service - Voluntary Work at a Cafe

Learning Outcomes:

• Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth

• Worked collaboratively with others

• Engaged with issues of global importance

• Developed new skills

5 January 2014

Talked with Pak Toni, the manager, about the cafe, like its background and how the business is going so far. The business has been going for 2 months now, so it is still new in the area. Although it is still new, but customers have enjoy a coffee shop in Sentul.

19 January 2014

We continued the previous session and learned about the food that are listed on the menu, like the taste and the food presentation. It is important because the business relies on the food as one of their income, so we had to understand the taste of each dishes and how it is presented to the customers. At the end, we helped clean the dishes in the kitchen.

2 February 2014

The first task that we did was to prepare the ingredients for the food and drinks. Most of the foods are all prepared already, like instant noodles, fried/grilled banana, etc. The things that we had to prepare was the portions for the juices, such as guava, strawberry, and soursop. We had to chop the fruits to small pieces and packed them inside a plastic bag, then place it inside the freezer. hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello

16 February 2014

After we learned on how to make the snacks previously, today we learned to make several of the drinks like Teh Tarik, Ice Tea, guava juice, and soursop juice. For the juice, we have to know the specific amount of the water, ice, and sugar so it would taste as how the customer enjoys it. Other than coffee, the cafe's speciality also lies on the tea that they have, which comes from Medan. To make ice tea, we simply boil the tea and pour it on a glass. For Teh Tarik, we used the same tea and add condensed milk and sugar and mix it by pouring it over to cups. After we did this, we helped with washing the left over dishes.

2 March 2014

Today, we tried to serve our second customer. We took turns with the job, and this time I get to do the serving of the orders to the customer. I still remember what Pak Toni said earlier in the beginning of the activity on how to serve the customers properly. I never forget to use the tray to deliver the food and drinks, as well as when cleaning the tables. hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello

16 March 2014

In our second last meeting, we still have the chance to serve our fourth customer. This time, since I am the only girl amongst two other friends, I get to pick which job that I want for today. I picked the job in the kitchen, where I am in charge of making the food and drinks. I enjoy making food because from the previous activity in Creativity, I have understood the basics of baking which is rather similar to this work. I am glad that I can use my skills from my other CAS activity to serve the customers here.

12 January 2014

Learned about the drinks, paticularly the cafe's speciality: coffee. The coffee they serve ranges from Aceh Gayo, Medan Sidikalang, Kalosi, Mandaling, and others. After the talking session, we helped the other workers with cleaning the dishes.

26 January 2014

Today, we helped to properly serve the food and drinks to the customers. It is important to understand manners to serve the menu to the customers so customers will feel respected. We used trays to deliver the food as well as when cleaning the table from plates and cups. We also learned to serve the cutleries for the customers to use and place it nicely on the table.

9 February 2014

The second task that we did was to learn to make a dish, which is a toasted bread. The cafe serves a variety of toasted bread, like in chocolate, strawberry, and cheese. We tried to make chocolate and cheese toasted bread first. We begin by learning on how to prepare the ingredients, then how to cook the bread. There was also a specific technique on how to serve the dish so it looks appetizing for the customer. We were guided by one of the workers so that we do not miss anything. Then we continued to make more dishes. At the end, we helped also with cleaning the dirty dishes.

23 February 2014

Today, we served our first customer. We divided the jobs equally; one will take the orders, one will make the orders, and one will bring the orders to the customer. I get to take the orders from the customers. It was nerve-wrecking since I am aware that I am not well in communicating with others, especially strangers. However, I tried my best to smile and let the talking go as how it should go. At the end, we all helped to clean the dishes. hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello

23 March 2014

This is our last meeting for this activity. We still have the chance to serve our fifth customer. This time, I get to serve the dishes to customers. This is the second task that I enjoy because I do not need to communicate much with the customers. This is one of the weakness that I need to improve on for next time if I encounter this kind of task again. So far, the activity to volunteer working in a cafe is a fun job. I become more appreciate to the workers that serves food and drinks to customers and I can understand how it feels to take time in making the dishes.