Red looks like the feeling against your fingertips when milk is being frothed. Brown resembles the smell of freshly grounded coffee beans. Without sight, South Africa’s first blind barista, Joseph Matheatau, relies on senses of smell, hearing and feel to make a cappuccino.
Joseph Matheatau is completely blind after being diagnosed with Glaucoma that caused his sight to deteriorate over years. PHOTO: Emma Hamman
In a rural town deep in the Free State, a little boy was struggling to see out of his right eye. In a classroom without electricity, winter’s overcast and rainy days meant battling to read what the chalkboard was trying to teach him. In a community with very little knowledge of disabilities, he was misunderstood.
“It was difficult for me to explain to my teachers that I couldn’t see certain things – only my grandparents understood,” said Joseph Matheatau. He was raised by his grandparents in the rural areas around Thaba ‘Nchu. “It was rare for a little one in the village to not be able to see properly. It was unfamiliar. It was only known for elderly people.”
Boyhood in the village
“I wasn’t born blind,” said Matheatau. “I lost sight in my right eye at a young age. I noticed that I was different from my friends when I was about three or four years old.”
Matheatau’s biggest challenge at school was sitting at the front of the classroom with the girls, to see the board better, while all of his friends were sitting at the back. His school years did, however, not break his spirit. It prepared him for the challenges he would encounter later in life. “I could hardly read what was written on the chalkboard in class. If I had to read a storybook in the class, I would be punished for being slow, stubborn and naughty because the teachers didn’t understand.”
Joseph Matheatau is inspired by the people around him and recently welcomed a daughter into the world. PHOTO: Emma Hamman
With small classrooms accompanied by small windows, he would have to rely on the weather outside – if it was sunny he knew it would be a good academic day. “Everybody else could still see, whether it was cloudy or not. Even if they were sitting at the back and the door was closed,” he said.
His left eye was deteriorating drastically in his teenage years and they didn’t know the cause – until he was later diagnosed with Glaucoma which eventually led to his blindness. “Growing up, my eyes were always under severe pressure. Sometimes, I thought that if I had been completely blind from a younger age, it would have been a relief to me. The moment I went completely blind I thanked God for the end of that painful challenge,” said Matheatau.
Navigating without sight
When Matheatau completely lost his sight, he was in his twenties. “It was extremely challenging for me,” said Matheatau. “Going blind in your twenties is like starting from scratch. It was like going from being a teenager to being a baby again.”
Joseph Matheatau did most of his practical hours at the Blindiana Barista, Innovation for the Blind’s coffee shop that had to close down in the pandemic. People with disabilities were at a very high risk during the pandemic. PHOTO: Emma Hamman
“My mom had to guide me and I was being spoon fed by family members who cared for me. They thought that if they didn’t do that, they were neglecting me,” Matheatau said.
“It wasn’t sitting right with me. She did it from her heart, but I wanted her to understand that I needed to fight my own battles. I know I might not be able to see – but I had to learn how to be able to function alone.”
He needed to be taught, guided and assisted. By doing everything for him, he felt that they did not give him the opportunity to master this new way of living. In 2014, Matheatau decided to go to Innovation for the Blind in Worcester, a non-profit organisation that caters to the all-inclusive, specialised needs of visually impaired adults.
Finding purpose behind the coffee machine
Matheatau had to leave the Free State to go to Worcester in the Western Cape, a place he had never seen before he lost his sight.
“My dream was to be in [the Western Cape] and see the beautiful beaches like they were on TV. But I never thought that I would move to the Cape completely blind. Without being able to see the beautiful beaches. This meant I had to experience it without sight,” he said.
“When Innovation for the Blind was looking for someone to train as a barista, I jumped at the opportunity.” He was still at the Hein Wagner academy, previously known as Alo college for the blind, that focuses on the post-grade 12 training of blind and visually impaired persons, and is based in Worcester.
After many years of making coffees, he is now training others with disabilities to do the same. “I want them to be better than me, so they can again pass on the knowledge,” said Joseph Matheatau. PHOTO: Emma Hamman
“Being a blind barista comes with unique challenges,” said Matheatau. Pouring coffee into a cup meant he had to rely on his colleagues to be his eyes.
“I would be under so much pressure sometimes and had so many tables to cover, but he would have to wait for me ensure he doesn’t spill,” said Anna Swarts, a waiter at the Blindiana Barista, a coffee shop connected to the Institute for the Blind where Matheatau worked before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“But sometimes I already steamed the milk so waiting meant the milk was getting cold and you can’t make a cappuccino with cold milk,” said Matheatau.
Steaming alone is a challenge. “I didn’t mind burning my fingers later on. I knew that could happen to anyone – even a sighted person,” he said. “A fully sighted person trying to cook something in the kitchen can burn their fingers or break a glass. Sighted people trip and fall, because it’s normal to make mistakes.”
He recalled that when he was a little boy he had a BMX bicycle and fell many times. “I learned from that that you know you will fall, but you will stand up and continue riding.”
He now makes coffee on a daily basis now and believes it has given him so much purpose. “I am now a barista trainer which enables me to train other persons with visual impairments and low vision, as well as people who are fully sighted.”
Joseph is an inspiration for people with and without sight. He pushes the boundaries of what is possible on a daily basis,” said Bianca Smit, co-founder of Blindia Blend. The Institute for the Blind’s coffee brand. “He can change people’s lives by sharing his story and his positive attitude.”
Matheatau is currently doing practicals for the Speciality Coffee Association which is under an international umbrella. “I do the same course as a sighted person, the expectations are exactly the same according to an international standard.”
Sharing his strength
“There’s so much that I learn while I’m training – especially because not all the trainees’ learning abilities are the same,” he said, before explaining that as a facilitator you break your knowledge up into small pieces. “I’m not only teaching people how to make coffee, I’m training them to overcome challenges.”
Matheatau makes use of sound, and communicative devices, such as audible machines to measure and weigh the coffee beans as it is being grounded. PHOTO: Emma Hamman
“The moment I went completely blind, the village guys immediately came to my mind.” With teary eyes he explained that he didn’t want to let his village down. He knew they were all sad for him when they got the news.
His friends in the village would look out for him when playing. “They would always say, ‘Hey Joseph, look out for the wire, look out for the obstacle’. They didn’t even understand the disability, but they had compassion.”
“My hometown is a beautiful, small place. It’s a small village – less than 40 houses. We had a fighting spirit in that village,” he said. “They are my inspiration. They would always say your attitude is your wings to fly and will determine how high you can fly.”