NEW HILTON BARISTA BREAKS BARRIERS
Phumzile Mazibuko, who was born profoundly deaf, never imagined herself making coffee at a four star hotel, but she says being given the opportunity to work at Anew Hotel Hilton has profoundly impacted her life.
Apart from the delicious cappuccinos and café lattes she whips up, Phumzile’s presence at the hotel has also bonded the entire team, as evident by the deep friendships formed – a constant reminder of the beauty and power of communication that transcends conventional speech.
Phumzile has been stationed at Anew Hotel Hilton for the past year and a half. She joined the team in 2019 under CIRO Coffee Academy Barista Project with Essential Deaf (eDeaf). Anew Hotel partnered with the initiative as part of their empowerment programme that focuses on employing previously disadvantaged or disabled persons in their hotels.
Currently, Phumzile is one of three deaf baristas employed by Anew Hotel at various hotels throughout the country. The Anew Hilton staff had to undergo a deaf sensitisation training program and signboards are placed on the counter that takes the customers step by step through ordering their beverage in sign language. This enables Phumzile to interact with her customers.
Phumzile said, as a very sociable person, being a barista at Anew Hilton has helped her come out of her shell and has “changed her life for the better”.
“I enjoy it so much, I can’t even begin to explain. The work place, the skills I’ve learnt and the beautiful friendships I’ve formed with my colleagues, who go out of their way to communicate with me.”
“Even the guests try to communicate with me and I love that connection I get from communicating with people,” she said. During lunch breaks, Phumzile teaches her colleagues sign language and they communicate over WhatsApp.
At first, adapting to life at Anew Hotel was “quite challenging”, as she had no experience working in a hotel and had to learn everything from scratch, including how to operate the coffee machine. “But the opportunity presented itself and I took it with both hands.”
Phumzile even won the HITEC Award for Courage for her ability to “adapt and take on new challenges and surroundings, as if it were second nature to her – and always with a smile”.
Phumzile said she was delighted to win the award and it encouraged her to “keep striving and to be the best and strive for perfection”. Anew Hotel Hilton’s general manager, Anthony Moskovitch, said Phumzile adapted beautifully and fell right into the life and pace of the hotel.
“She walked right in and she made the role her own. She’s done an exceptional job perfecting her coffee training and adapting to the hotel life and pace in such a short amount of time.
“She helped bond our team. She’s created a more inclusive environment at Anew and sparked a lot of interest and positive interactions with our customers – which was never our ambition going into this project, but our customers have responded so well and supportively.
On our feedback systems, Phumzile is mentioned every second day,” Moskovitch explained.
Pop in and say hi to Phumzile at Anew Hotel Hilton and learn some sign language when ordering your cuppa!