Meet Salomi

Salomi is a young barista from Varsha and Jug’s church, who did some work with Black Kite last year during a difficult time for Varsha’s family. We were so impressed by her, that we recently asked her back to be our part-time barista for the next six months. 

At twenty-two years of age, Salomi has had to deal with circumstances that are not unusual here in Nepal. Nepal is a strongly patriarchal society, and Salomi is the only daughter of a single mother. Her mother, who only completed her basic education, had to find work abroad to earn enough money for the family; she has been living and working in Kuwait for seventeen years.

“I was raised by my grandparents on my mum’s side. We don’t have a big extended family to help us, so it has not always been easy. My grandmother was the first to become a Christian when they were living in India. She met some pastors and got to know about Christianity and then became a Christian. My grandfather was initially strongly against Christianity but then he himself became a strong Christian after his wife did. Sadly, he died thirteen years ago.

“Because of my family situation, I have not been able to get my Nepali citizenship until very recently. This is because documents from my father’s side were needed by the government and they were impossible to get. As a result, I could not apply to study in college, but I am now planning to work abroad instead.”

Future plans

Like many young people in Nepal, Salomi is looking to live and work in wealthier countries, to make a better future for herself and her family. She is planning to go to South Korea later in 2026 to earn enough money to allow her mum to come back and live in Nepal. The only type of work open to Nepalis is in factories or agriculture, but you can still earn ten to twenty times a typical Nepali salary there.

“I love the atmosphere at Black Kite Coffee and enjoy working there. The part-time salary allows me to pay for Korean language classes and is giving me extra experience for working abroad – it also helps my family a bit too!”