“I have weaknesses due to terrorism bombings, but those weaknesses do not stop me from continuing to strive for a better life”
Mrs. Vivi Normasari (51) or known as Mrs. Vivi is one of the victims of terrorism crimes assisted by the Winesses and Victims Protection Agency of Republic of Indonesia (LPSK-RI) who struggles to become survivors in order to rise up better and inspire many people, especially those who have been victims of terrorism to have a better life spirit.
Mrs. Vivi is one of the beneficiary of the social entrepreneurship training program organized by Yayasan Inspirasi Indonesia Membangun / The Foundation for Inspiration of Indonesia Development (YIIM) in cooperation with LPSK-RI, and the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the year of 2022. This program is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) number 1, namely “End poverty in all its forms everywhere” and SDGs Number 16 concerning “peace, justice and strong institutions”. Departing from the spirit of SDGs, YIIM in cooperation with LPSK and UNODC created a social entrepreneurship program that aims to empower the economy of disadvantaged communities and underprivileged communities to produce entrepreneurs and independent individuals, in this case specifically providing economic strengthening and empowerment for survivors.
Journey of life
Mrs. Vivi is one of the victims of the terrorist bombing that occurred at the JW Marriott Jakarta in the year of 2003. Mrs. Vivi had to suffer a scar that made her hand unable to function normally due to the explosion of the bomb. Prior to the incident, Mrs. Vivi was a worker at an overseas bank based in Jakarta. Due to her limitations, Mrs. Vivi had to leave her job and look for other ways to keep earning. Tirelessly, Mrs. Vivi eventually opened a small food business located in her house, which located in Purwakarta. However, after running this business, Mrs. Vivi felt that she needed to develop other business ideas in order to survive.
In the year of 2022, Mrs. Vivi had the opportunity to participating barista training social entrepreneurship program from YIIM, LPSK, and UNODC. This training led her to find other passions that could be developed, namely those related to baristas. The training makes her get the opportunity to do an internship at YIIM’s Inspiration Coffee for 2 weeks. Not only that, she also received the assistance of barista tools such as moka pot, french press, and vietnam drip in order to support her own business.
Starting a business
After participated in the training, on March 25, 2022, Mrs. Vivi started to open her own coffee shop. The name of the coffee shop is “Kedai Kopi VN”. The name VN comes from the initials of her name, namely Vivi Normasari. Her shop is currently still being built in a modest way in her house terrace due to its limited money.
Vivi’s coffee shop sells a variety of coffee and snack menus such as hot & ice coffee, espresso, Americano, palm sugar milk coffee, coffee latte, hazelnut latte, caramel latte, and various other types of latte. Mrs. Vivi also provides a special menu as a signature of her shop, namely dalgona coffee and dalgona chocolate. This Dalgona variant is a variant that is in great demand by customers. She also provides a snack menu, such as dim sum, soken mix (potato nuggets sausage), pempek, various variants of instant noodles, and rice bowls with 5 variants (teriyaki chicken, teriyaki meat, chicken chili matah, sambal matah meat, and squid chili matah) .
The location of the shop, which is still in her house terrace and in a residential area in the Purwakarta area, it makes Mrs. Vivi sells her business at an affordable price. She sells hot & ice coffee variants ranging from IDR. 12,000 – IDR. 17,000 for one cup depending on the variant and type of drink. For food variants, Mrs.Vivi sells prices ranging from IDR. 15,000 – IDR. 20,000. Then for the instant noodle variant, she sells at a price of IDR. 7,000.
Currently, she sells about 10 cups/day. This achievement can be judged as a fairly satisfactory start. This is because her coffee shop is still relatively new and its position is on the house terrace. For now, the products that Mrs. Vivi sells are only available directly at the VN Coffee Shop. However, Mrs. Vivi is currently managing of online business registration and licensing to market it, through platforms such as Go-Food, Grab Food, and Shopee Food to enlarge its market coverage.
Sharing Benefit and Favor
“I want to share and influence the knowledge that I have gained to my friends who are also victims of terrorism bombings. Many of them are still unlucky and need business assistance, I want to help them with what I have…”
Mrs. Vivi has a desire to help her friends who are also bomb victims to become independent in terms of economy by opening a business. She wants to share and influence the knowledge she has gained from the training to those in need. According to her, sharing and influence the knowledge is something generous and a charity for her. In addition, she also wants to continue the benefits provided by YIIM, LPSK, and UNODC in providing barista training.
Plans and Hopes
Mrs. Vivi has plans and hopes for the future to develop her business further. She wants to open a business shop in a roadside shop in a vary facilities, such as an air-conditioned room and a smoking area. Not only that, she also has plans to innovate other coffee menus. She does this to make the coffee menu in her shop more varied.
For friends who wants to have a taste Vivi’s hand-made coffee, you can come directly to “Kedai Kopi VN” which is located at Perum Buana Indah Blok A no 27, Babakan Cikao-Mulya Mekar, Purwakarta. In addition, for further information, please visit Instagram @kedaikopivn or call 0812-9926-5326.
Inspiration Greetings!
