Coffee for a cause: Getting to know eviG

During a 3 week trip to attend the Uganda Marathon back in May 2019 with his family, the idea for eviG came to Roland - a self-confessed coffee lover - who took the opportunity to visit local coffee plantations and reconnect with old Ugandan acquaintances from his work with Tokheim Europe B.V., some 25 years ago.

What is eviG, you might ask? Good question!

eviG is a profit-for-purpose business that sells artisan-roasted coffee to help disadvantaged kids anywhere in the world get an education.

The founders, Roland van Amstel and Liam French, called the business eviG because it is “Give” written backwards - and this is truly at the heart of what it is they do. - To “Give… Back”!

From their profits supplying great coffee to offices, cafes and direct to the public via their website, eviG is able to work with Australian registered charities, supporting projects that help children and young people in Australia and internationally to have access to quality education which enables them to create a brighter future for themselves.

With the founders contributing their time pro bono, eviG is an ultra-low-cost operation where every dollar helps to give a leg-up to as many kids as possible. This enables them to maximise the net returns for distribution to charitable organisations, and the way the infrastructure is set up allows them to run eviG on-the-side of their day to day roles - which for Liam is the Supply Chain and Operations Manager of a global electronic musical instrument manufacturer (ironically called Roland!) and for Roland, is full-time study alongside holding the fort and looking after the troops as “house-husband” while his wife pursues her career.

The Founders of eviG, business partners Roland on the left and Liam on the right, with their children.

The Founders of eviG, business partners Roland on the left and Liam on the right, with their children.

After initially coming across School for Life through a job opportunity, Roland researched our organisation and realised there was a strong alignment with his values and cause close to his heart - to provide education to disadvantaged kids. He tells us he has “particularly good memories of Uganda and its people”, having ties there from his first job out of university where he worked with 12 African countries for 3.5 years.

So when the time came for eviG’s inaugural distribution of profits to charities, School for Life came top of mind for the international portion of their support.

We are so grateful to have a wonderful community of supporters, and we love getting to know the individuals and corporates who make up the School for Life family and so we asked eviG some questions recently.

GETTING TO KNOW eviG

SFL: How did you guys meet? And what was it about your friendship/partnership that led you both to go into this business together?

eviG (Roland): Liam was one of our training officers when Patries, my wife, and I did our bronze medallion at Dee Why SLSC in 2009. I guess what got us to build eviG is that we share a similar world view in that we consider ourselves quite fortunate to live where we do and to have what we have, and we realise very well that this is quite different for a lot of people around the world.

Also, we both really believe in kids and feel very strongly about the power of education to build the foundations for a fairer and more equitable world. We both have a kind of entrepreneurial spirit - I’ve had a tech start-up for a few years, and Liam has all sorts of things going on all the time. And Liam actually knows how to build stuff, so that’s really handy. Add some energy, passion and persistence, and you have all the ingredients for having a bit of fun while doing good!

SFL: Why is it important to you that you and your business support not-for-profit foundations like School for Life?

eviG (Roland): Liam and I both have young kids of our own, and we passionately believe that education is the key to a better future - not just for individual kids, but for the world as a whole. And we are also very aware that there are (too) many children out there - in Australia and abroad - that do not have the opportunities that our kids do.

Education empowers, and Liam and I are in a position to make a little “dent in the universe” by giving a leg-up to those less fortunate than us, and rather than just making annual donations, we decided to put our business skills to work and build a venture that has the potential to raise significantly more funds than we could individually ever donate.

SFL: Can you tell us a little bit about you and your business?

eviG (Roland): eviG went live in November 2019, with the target to achieve a net return of $10,000 for distribution to charitable organisations each year.

We intentionally kept a fairly low profile in the first few months, working with our first customers to iron out any wrinkles and to fine tune the processes. The idea was to then hit the market of small to medium offices with 20-200 staff to build the customer base to achieve our target.

And then Covid happened and people went to work from home en masse, which pretty much put the brake on things for our growth plan.

As a result, we are not yet at the level we set ourselves back then and we are super keen to sign up more regular, subscription-based business customers to build the stable recurring revenue stream that we would like to have (incidentally: we handle any orders, big or small, from residential customers to big business - we serve everyone!).

SFL: How did you come up with the idea for eviG?

eviG (Roland): eviG is the result of many conversations between Liam and I over many a cup of coffee, we spoke with lots of people in the coffee industry ranging from importers to a whole bunch of coffee roasting businesses, and the original idea went through several iterations to eventually arrive at a model that we believed had a good chance of success… and then we just went for it!

I would like to note two very important parties without whom eviG would never have happened: the first is Your Corner Accountants in Manly, who generously do all our legal and accountancy work pro bono, and of course Little Italy Coffee Roasters in Frenchs Forest who supply our coffee - Adam in particular switched on to our idea straight away and their team has been amazing in their support to help us get the business underway. They are a great bunch, and they make great coffee!

So there you have it!

If you like great coffee (and who doesn’t?!), why not check eviG out. Not only will you get your dose of caffeine, but you can also take comfort in knowing that profits are helping to ensure children in need have access to the quality education they deserve.

You’ll also be supporting another amazing business that has close ties with School for Life, Little Italy Coffee Roasters! Owner Adam Bortz trekked Mount Kilimanjaro with School for Life back in 2017 - our first ever fundraising trek - and visited our schools in Uganda post-trek for the opening of Mbazzi High School.

We love how small and close knit our community is! ❤️

If you’d like to find out how your business can get more involved with School for Life, get in touch with us at hello@schoolforlife.org.au.

Success Stories
Goretti

Sweet and shy Goretti lives with her aunt, uncle and cousins in a small house in the local village. When Goretti was younger, she moved in with her aunt and uncle because her parents could no longer look after her. She was one of our first students at Katuuso Primary, starting in 2011 when she was just 4 years old. Now, Goretti is in Senior One at Mbazzi High School, and is relishing the honour of being a high school student in her community - something that is taken for granted in Australia, but in Uganda, represents freedom and opportunity. Goretti also loves attending School for Life because she hopes to one day become a pilot in Uganda - a dream which she knows can only be reached with the help of a good education.

Violah

Violah has been at School for Life since since she was six years old. Sadly, Violah has experienced hardship no child should ever deal with. Her Dad passed away three years ago, leaving her Mum without the financial means to support her family - so she left Violah and her siblings with their elderly grandmother. Every day, Violah has to wake up at 5am to fetch water, cook meals and make sure that her younger sisters are properly looked after. Then she walks half an hour to get to school. Despite this adversity, Violah has flourished at school and has made many friends. She loves that School for Life is "helping me to build a future". After finishing school, Violah hopes to become a teacher to help other children.

Umar

Umar is one of our best performing students at Mbazzi Riverside High School - but life has not always been easy for Umar. His father abandoned the family in 2015, leaving his mother to struggle to support her five children on her own. School for Life has provided Umar with opportunities that may never else have eventuated for him. Umar begun his journey with School for Life at Katuuso Primary School, where his academic ability was quickly revealed. Now, he is a thriving member of our Senior 1 class and a formidable wing on the football team. With a love for mathematics, Umar is set on studying electronic engineering after finishing his senior studies - a goal which he is the first to admit is now within reach thanks to the skills and resources provided to him by School for Life.

Rose Nambooze

Rose is a 32‐year‐old single mother of one. She started working with SFL in 2013, after taking part in our tailoring training program. Prior to working with us, she was unemployed and living in her father's home helping to care for her father, who had cataracts, and his farm.
Thanks to her full time employment, Rose was able to save enough money to pay for an eye operation and restore her father's sight, allowing him to return to work as a mechanic. Now, Rose has moved into her own home and no longer relies on her father financially. 

Joseph

Joseph is one of our Special Needs teachers at Katuuso. After surviving a severe case of malaria at age four, he was left permanently deaf. He was raised by his single mother and attended a nursery school for the handicapped and later transferred to a school for the Deaf in Kampala. He eventually mastered sign language and pursued a university degree in education. Joseph decided to become a teacher so that he could give the gift of education to others who are hearing impaired.

Teddy Namatovu

Teddy is a participant in the Kumi Tailoring Program and four of her five children attend Katuuso Primary School. She and her husband farm two acres of land, which supplies fluctuating revenue. Participation in the Kumi Tailoring Project has secured income to reliably pay for school fees, nutritious meals and renovations to the family home. Teddy has gained a great deal of self-esteem from her ability to support her family and she takes pride in independently financing the education of all five children. Teddy has also been working on her numeracy and administration skills. She was appointed Treasurer of the tailoring group and will be responsible for keeping records of their savings.

Flaviah Nassaazi

Flaviah Nassaazi started working at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School in 2011. Prior to cooking at the school, she and her husband were subsistence farmers. They worked tirelessly for small yields and minimal income to support their family. Flaviah's cooking job not only enables her to pay school fees for her children, but she has also invested in a local barbershop business. She is now passing her cooking skills onto her eldest son Frank, who has also joined the school's cooking staff. Flaviah and her husband attend the adult literacy classes offered weekly at the school. Her English and reading have improved immensely, as well as her confidence.

Rachel

In 2010, Rachel began as a cleaner at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School. She was working to save money to study to be a teacher at University. Thanks to Barrie and Simone Goldsmith, her dream of studying came true and she is now fully qualified.