You probably haven’t realised it, but on the ground floor of the Mutual Rumana building in Port Moresby’s Waigani suburb something inspirational is happening—and it’s not just five star food at two star prices.
Granted you can sit down to eat dishes like mouth-watering fried tuna with rice for about what you’d pay for a coffee and muffin at Port Moresby’s major business hotels.
But the most remarkable thing is that most of the nine staff at the Ricochet Café come from the infamous Kaugere Settlement and some have even spent time in jail. And they don’t just work there, they are all shareholders in the business.
The establishment, now about 10 weeks old, is the brainchild of Lydia Kailap, an Australian hospitality professional who has lived in PNG for a decade, and her Papua New Guinean husband Peter.
‘Our idea was not just to train these young people to cook and wait tables but to actually run the business. When the time is right we’ll step aside and leave them to operate it themselves,’ she says.
Unsurprisingly, the venture is not without its challenges.
‘We’ve had no external support of any kind and would dearly love to be in a position to invest more in launching the business,’ she says. ‘It was also hard to find a suitable venue and we are crossing our fingers that our rent won’t go up.’
Nonetheless, word is starting to get around. The Ricochet Café recently hosted the annual Red Cross Ball and its founders already have their sights set beyond the capital.
‘Looking ahead we’d love to roll the idea out in other centres around PNG,’ says Kailap.
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