|
|
CECOCAFEN Donor Trip - Nicaragua, Jan. 2008 |
A fundamental part of the work at Coffee
Kids involves education. We occasionally
coordinate point-of-origin trips with
donors and members from the coffee
industry to expose our members to life
in the communities where we work and how
Coffee Kids’ partners are making a
difference in the lives of
coffee-farming families.
As such, those same donors get a chance
to observe and learn firsthand about our
projects and how they operate. But, most
importantly, visitors learn about how
the projects are developed by the
community, who is responsible for them,
how they are evaluated and the way our
partners work with each other to share
information and knowledge.
During the second week of January,
Coffee Kids hosted one of the most
emotion-packed trips we have ever
conducted. A group of 17 from Java
Republic, a coffee roaster in Ireland,
and a film crew accompanying them,
visited our partner CECOCAFEN in
Matagalpa, Nicaragua.
One of the most surprising details of
the trip was the way this group from
Ireland identified with the people of
Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, they saw many
similarities to Ireland as it was just
50 years ago: a youthful nation of
people who love their country and
understand that hard work and constant
preparation are the sources of
development.
Our friends from Java Republic saw this
as they met with young men and women in
the CECOCAFEN scholarship program. To
have the opportunity to meet the young
people in this program is to learn
directly from their words, to witness
their strong leadership abilities,
motivation and self-confidence and
teamwork. The trip was a unique
experience for Java Republic and for us
at Coffee Kids it was another
affirmation of our mission to help
coffee-farming families improve their
quality of life.
36 photos | 227 views
items are from between 19 Jan 2008 & 23 Jan 2008.