June in Rwanda (2011)

Two days before we left Rwanda, we visited Bukonya. Bukonya is one of our Community Trade partner villages and the first community where Land of a Thousand Hills built a coffee wash station.

At Bukonya, Pastor Ildephonse had organized for us to meet Seraphine, a widow, a genocide survivor, and head of the local reconciliation group. By her side sat Onesphore - one of the very men that took the lives of innocent people in Bukonya during the 1994 genocide.

Onesphore went to prison for 15 years for his part in the genocide.  When he was released, he returned to the site of his murders and begged forgives from Seraphine and the community. Incredibly they forgive him. How?

Seraphine, holding back her tears, told us how first and foremost she was called by God to forgive Onesphore and men like him. She told us how she felt sorry for him, that even though she had lost everything - he too returned from jail to find that everything he valued had been taken from him.

Today Seraphine and Onesphore work together in the village community farm, in peace - helping each other heal.

I asked Seraphine, what should we learn from their story. She reminded me that America has people of all colors and cultures, but what we look like is not important - first and foremost we are all children of God.

We’ve done so much these last few days, 7am starts and 9pm finishes. After a long day in the coffee hills, at dinner I asked the team what was the most amazing part of their day. For many of us, it involved our driver, Saidi. These last few years, Saidi has clocked thousands of miles escorting Land of a Thousand Hills groups around Rwanda in his 10 seater Land Rover. All our Coffee Ambassadors from our partner churches know him for his favorite saying, “Coffee is my life!”

Before we left for Bukonya, Saidi accompanied us on a visit to meet Anglican Bishop Mbanda. Mbanda has been extremely supportive of Land of a Thousand Hills’ work in Bukonya and Ruli. At his office, Saidi made a donation towards a church project that caught his heart in Bukonya village, a project supported by Land of a Thousand Hills’ non-profit arm - the Do Good Initiative. The most amazing part of the donation was not the size of the contribution, but the fact that Saidi is a Muslim.

“We are all brothers and sisters,” Saidi told me.

Much respect to Saidi too for dealing so calmly with the gas tank falling off our SUV! Two sticks, a wash basin and water bottle and we were back on the road!

Sorting coffee at Ruli Mountain Coffee Wash Station

Today was a special day, we visited the coffee wash station at Ruli Mountain. Ruli holds a special place in the hearts of our coffee drinkers. Many of you know that 6 months ago when we discovered Ruli, this community was close to falling apart and closing its doors.

Coffee wash stations form the epicenter of coffee growing villages throughout Rwanda. Both in the hills and at stations like Ruli, today hundreds of thousands of rural Rwandans are working together to restore their villages, producing one of the world’s rarest and most sought after coffees. Before Land of a Thousand Hills’ non-profit arm - the Do Good Initiative - stepped in to rescue it, the potential closure of Ruli could have seen over 1000 farmers, and hundreds of workers lose their livelihoods. But thanks to you, this was not God’s plan for Ruli. Dozens of workers were eagerly working away, happily teaching us the intricacies of sorting, cleaning and grading coffee.

The highlight of the day was meeting Aime, an orphan boy that began training as a coffee technician at Bukonya wash station. He has now been promoted to work at Ruli. After spending the day at Ruli, one of the coffee sorters shouted, “We love you,” and Aime, after asking for us to pray for him shared, “If there was no coffee in Rwanda, I would have no life.”

We believe Ruli Mountain coffee will take first place prize in the prestigious “Cup of Excellence” competition next year. Thanks to you, not only is Ruli open today, but it is a community transformed.

Yesterday, while I sat waiting for my flight to Rwanda, I was catching up with a friend on the phone. She asked me, “Is it true? Is coffee in Rwanda really bringing people out of poverty, helping them reconcile? And really, is it some of the best coffee in the world?” - I love a good skeptic.

I ask you, the reader, if your country fell apart and the nation turned in on itself, how would you start to reconcile with your neighbor? If it lost 10% of its population in just 100 days at the hands of brainwashed militia, how would you start to forgive? How do you even begin to function again as a people, how do you start to rebuild?

The answer in Rwanda was to start to get people back to work, working together. For the rural communities, this work came in the shape of coffee.

It is now widely accepted that Rwanda produces some of the finest specialty coffee in the world! 100% arabica, all natural beans, grown on heirloom trees in volcanic soil. The coffee is exceptional, but Rwandan farmers need to work together to grow this coffee. As they come together, they prosper, and communities start to reform and embrace a greater purpose.

A people once only known for genocide is now becoming known as a nation of peace and coffee. By drinking their coffee, you are blessing their work. They are blessing us too, as we experience and embrace their unique stories of restoration.

So yes, the coffee is great! People are providing for themselves. Forgiveness can be felt all around. To learn more, all you have to do is read this blog and Drink Coffee. Do Good.

It is less than 48 hours before our team leaves for Rwanda. On our trip are two Church Pastors, three Coffee Ambassadors and one young college student.  One of the Coffee Ambassadors has never even left the US before, never mind been to Africa.  I think her’s might be the most interesting of stories.

Follow us to Rwanda.

Check out the photos! We raised the first few $$$$ and a small operation has been launched in the village of Chadirack. The first few pounds of beans will be here soon.

Wow. So it has taken us a few more weeks of research and prayer.  But we have a plan in place for Haiti.

If successful the people that donate to this cause will be responsible for the rebirth of the Haitian Specialty Coffee Industry and impacting up to 1,000,000 lives.

Not often you can say that! - MERRY CHRISTMAS

 HAITI: CHADIRACK COFFEE WASHING STATION

Coffee Farmers:
400 to 2,000
Family Members:
2,000 to 6,000 and an unknown number of orphans
Coffee Recognition:
Historically a major source of coffee for the world.
Future Do Good Projects:
A mule cooperative to help farmers transport their coffee, a secondary school, a church building and leadership development
Potential Production:
Initially 40,000 lbs
Future Ministry:
Earning the right to share the Gospel. First through deed, then by word. Providing training for christian leaders.

My wife laughs when I knock on wood to test the quality of furniture. Friends smirk when I smell cups to make sure they are clean. I need stories, photos. I like to meet people. I like proof. I like evidence.

This week we’ve met some incredible people. Seen some incredible places. Today we went to one of the coolest, yet saddest places I’ve seen in Haiti - an old disused coffee plant.

Built in the 1940’s, at one time it was the center of a community famous for coffee. It employed dozens of people. Serviced hundreds of farmers. Today it is still being cared for by the same man that was forced to close its doors 10 years ago.  

He showed off the place, turning dried up faucets, lifting gates and pulling levers like it was still the same state of the art facility that once filled 9 trucks with coffee a day. Despite tadpole filled tanks and chickens nesting in rusted machinery he was continuing to process his coffee here today. So sad, yet proud and passionate for this relic of the past, it was as if a ghost was giving us a tour.

Later that day, we met with farmers in Don Don village, a community known for its Voodo roots. The farmers closed the meeting in prayer. After, I requested Zach ask one of the farmers, how after all that has happened in Haiti - how had it affected his faith. “You have to faith,” he told me. “Without faith, you have nothing.”  There is so much hope in Haiti.

This is the proof I need. We’ve met, laughed with and hugged the people who’s lives have been changed, both positively and negatively through coffee. They have made a tangible impact on me, now it is all our turns to have a tangible impact on them.

DRINK COFFEE. DO GOOD.

10am. Day 1.  - We scarcely found a coffee tree. Of those we did, many were diseased or dying. Of the healthy ones, some cherries were moldy, others dried out or insect damaged. So why was this day such a success?

The Haitian people came out in droves! Villagers flocked to meet us. Each sharing their memories of hillsides covered with coffee in the days before global coffee price crashes, days before the embargoes.

They shared their excitement, their dreams of having the money to no longer rely on the uncertainty of charity - donations for their children to get an education. Specialty coffee won’t just bring in cash, it will bring a trade, a craft. It will bring dignity and self respect.

Later that morning it got even better. As we climbed the hills we came across coffee in abundance. Much of it growing wild, mostly shade grown. The cherries were bright red and goats littering the hillside. Red cherries = ripe coffee. Goats = fertilizer!

High in the mountains, in the village of Goyavier over 400 locals came to Pastor’s Josephs church to welcome us. We shared how coffee has transformed the village of Bukonya in Rwanda. How those farmers are no longer just people that grow coffee, but community partners. A family healing on the wake of disaster…

… you can only imagine the applause.

I don’t know who was more thankful today. The Haitian church leaders because we answered their call. The villagers because we embrace their hope and recognize their need for sustainability. Or me, because through them and you - I get a chance to make a difference. Thank you. DRINK COFFEE. DO GOOD.

Enjoying Haitian Coffee with Pastor Joseph in Goyavier, Hait.i