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A short time ago, 26-year-old Ethiopia native and Novo Head Roaster Semeon Abay was diagnosed with advanced metastatic prostate cancer that had spread to his spine. He was given 1-2 years to live.
Semeon was a young actor and film student in his home city Addis Abeba in 2004 when he received the surprise news. He had won the lottery for the U.S. Diversity Visa Program, a 1 in 25,000 chance. This would give him legal residence in the United States. Having been entered in the drawing by his friends, Semeon was happy and successful in his young life in Ethiopia, and he had no desire to go to America, a seductive dream for a large percentage of the Ethiopian population.
His friends and family talked him into it. Leaving the city where his face was known for his starring role on the local sitcom "Police Program", his large photo posted prominently outside the National Theatre, Semeon headed for Aurora, Colorado where he would spend the first year of his new life as an assistant nurse at a local hospital.
Then one night he showed up to Africana Café, an Ethiopian restaurant on East Colfax, around the same time as Joseph Brodsky, Co-Founder and Coffee Buyer for Denver's Novo Coffee. Joseph had just returned from his first long trip to Ethiopia and was seated at the bar, nostalgic for the country he had quickly grown to love. The restaurant had run out of bread, and Semeon - a handsome and immensely courteous figure - had quickly offered to make a run for bread for the restaurant. The gesture didn't go unnoticed as he took a seat at the bar next to Joseph.
Semeon is a person of the world, with an introspective and thoughtful intelligence that transcends nationality and ethnicity. But he loves Ethiopia, and he was delighted to find a white guy in the U.S. who had been inspired by the beauty of his homeland. Joseph asked Semeon for Amharic language lessons, and two weeks later he met founding partners Herb and Jake Brodsky and was hired as assistant roaster. Not long thereafter, he became very passionate about roasting all of Novo's beautiful Ethiopian origin coffees and became Head Roaster.
Three years later, he had roasted 95% of all of Novo's coffee; grown into the role of brother, son, and friend of his co-workers at Novo; and travelled back to Ethiopia with Novo to take footage in the wild coffee forests. Then, on May 10, he received the news that he potentially had little time left to live on this earth.
In less than 2 weeks, Semeon had already accepted his disease, decided to embrace the opportunity to live fully for the time he has remaining, and was weighing his treatment options. He is in Ethiopia now with his first family while his second family in Colorado are rallying support for one of the most talented, respectful, and gracious men we've been fortunate to be close to. Novo has created a "chipin" account to ensure Semeon gets the treatment he needs in his battle against cancer and to help him live out some of the dreams he has for his young life. Please click on the "ChipIn!" button above to contribute or you can write a check made payable to "Semeon Abay Fund" to the following address:
3008 Larimer St.
Denver, CO 80203
Thanks to all for your support!
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