Newspaper Page Text
14 June 2015 | INtOWIl
AtlantalNtownPaper.com
Photos by Isadora Pennington
Katrell Christie, owner of Doctor Bombay’s Underwater Tea Party and founder of the Learning Tea.
By Isadora Pennington
Doctor Bombay’s Underwater Tea
Party has been a cornerstone of the
Candler Park commercial district on
McLendon Avenue since 2005. Relatively
unknown to tourists and non-locals, the
cozy cafe is known for its wide variety
of hand-selected teas sourced from all
over the world. The shop also makes and
sells baked goods along with ice cream
for the kids, small sandwiches, and of
course, coffee.
The decor is vintage,and fantastical,
with parasols and origami birds hanging
from the ceiling, old paintings on the
walls, and shelves overflowing with used
books. Long, communal style tables
occupy one half of the space, a piano
rests by the window, and there’s a private
garden patio in the back of the building
down a narrow hallway.
Katrell Christie, owner of Doctor
Bombay’s, has pushed the shop to evolve
through the years. “I dont know what it
is about this place, but it is the mecca of
love," laughed Katrell, remarking on the
romantic nature of the shop.
From first dates to engagements,
the environment has hosted a variety of
momentous occasions in some of her
customers’ lives. Katrell even met her
husband in the cafe. Cafes are “the heart
of small communities,” she said, “I see
kids grow up over the ice cream cooler.”
But there’s more to this cafe than just
pastries and drinks. It was on a trip to
Hyderebad, India in 2009 that Katrell
initially encountered young, orphaned
women, their subpar living conditions,
and lack of opportunities. Seeing these
women’s struggles and hardships as they
fought to attend school, get jobs, and have
fulfilling lives struck a chord with Katrell.
“I thought it would be buying
books,” she said. In reality, the girls
needed much more than that.
At first she helped only three girls
who were about to be kicked out of their
orphanage. Without any safety net or
family to fall back on, their future was
in jeopardy. “Most likely they would
have been trafficked or been out on the
streets,” said Katrell. She made a promise
to come back in six months, and the
Learning Tea program was born.
In the months that followed, Katrell
placed a fishbowl on the counter
for donations toward the initiative.
“Through change donations over the
six months, I was able to rent them an
apartment,” she said.
It was the first major step on a life
changing and consuming journey for
her and the young women she now cares
for. “It’s been an amazing project and it’s
an amazing community that makes this
project happen.”
The Learning Tea is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to providing
housing, tuition, clothing, food,
opportunities and a supportive family
environment for young orphaned
women in India, and Katrell has made
the cafe a conduit for the organization.
For many years, the cafe has accepted
book donations from the community.
Now the proceeds from the book sales to
customers also go toward the Learning
Tea project.
The project has grown since
those first three girls. Instead of an
apartment, Katrell now rents a building
at the top of a hill in a small town
near Nepal. Her policy? “We pay for
everything.” In addition to covering
basic living expenses, rent, food,
clothes, books, toiletries, and medical
expenses, the program also funds
computer classes and music classes for
the girls.
“I call it a life scholarship,” she
said. In order to keep the scholarship
the girls must contribute 15 hours per
week of volunteer work within their
community.
The experience of being involved
with the Learning Tea has been
transformative, quite literally, for
the girls who have gone through the
program.
One young woman around the age
of 18 had been crippled for more than
two years due to malnutrition when she
met Katrell. After becoming involved
with the Learning Tea, the woman has
recovered the ability to walk and has
been accepted out of 1,500 applicants to
train for Mt. Everest.
Another young woman whose
parents died within a year of each other
due to Tuberculosis is now applying to
medical school intending to cure the
disease. “I could tell you an amazing
story about each one of these girls,”
Katrell said.
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