Coffee Kids blog

Friday, August 27, 2010

The strength of long-term relationships and the promise of new ones

As our new fiscal year begins we are thrilled to announce five new partnerships! We look forward to working with these organizations in several new communities in Mexico and Guatemala. As we begin to work together we reflect on our partnerships over the years and emphasize the importance not only of long-term support for these organizations and communities but also the trust, transparency, and ultimately, friendship that ensues from working together to confront poverty at its roots.

Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned over my years at Coffee Kids is that long-term support of a partner organization is essential to creating sustainable communities. Coffee Kids partner, CAMPO, sets an extraordinary example of the strength of community when both organizations are working together and both recognize that change takes time.

César Morales, program coordinator with our partner CAMPO in Oaxaca, Mexico, talks about CAMPO’s history with Coffee Kids and why long-term support matters. César explains:

Short-term relationships offer few opportunities and few possibilities to think about impact and real results. This isn’t to say that in short-term relationships you can’t establish objectives, rather in short-term relationships – less than 2 years – it isn’t possible to measure impact and to see the evolution of the projects. In the first two years of project support at CAMPO, we were able to reach certain goals, but it wasn’t until after the third year of support and relationship-building when we could really begin to identify and note the influence a project has on a community.

At Coffee Kids we seek to increase our scope to include more capacity-building and technological assistance. César goes on to mention the importance of capacity-building and organizational strengthening.

At CAMPO, the manner in which Coffee Kids supports us has been very important. Coffee Kids allowed us to create local processes of development, from technical assistance to capacity-building, from food security to developing our internal strengths. Initially Coffee Kids, helped us with our operations, but in the past three years Coffee Kids has helped with our organizational infrastructure. This has been incredibly important because it has given us the institutional strength we need to become a sustainable organization.

Of course, none of this would happen if you didn’t believe in Coffee Kids, our partners, the communities, and the families who ultimately benefit from knowing they have your support. On behalf of all of them, thank you.

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Matthew Algie: At the forefront in supporting coffee-growing families

Matthew Algie was established in 1864 in Glasgow as an importer and packer of tea. Now the UK’s largest independently owned coffee roaster, Matthew Algie pioneered the movement toward fresh espresso and ethical coffee sourcing. Working with some of the biggest names on High Street, Matthew Algie also has direct links with coffee growers.

Matthew Algie began supporting Coffee Kids in 2001 and has steadily increased its support over the years. The company has donated more than $200,000 since 2001.

Most recently, Matthew Algie sponsored the Barista “Knockout” reception held June 24 at the Hand and Flower Pub in conjunction with the SCAE Show in London. Its sponsorship of the reception was in addition to the company’s annual contribution.

“They set the standard for a company that recognizes its connection to origin and cares about the coffee-growing families at the heart of the coffee industry,” said Carolyn Fairman, executive director of Coffee Kids.

“As long-term supporters of Coffee Kids, we continue to be impressed with their work with local partners supporting coffee communities in the widest sense. Coffee Kids’ work is particularly strong on education, health awareness and empowering women in coffee-producing communities,” said Gary Nicol, Chief Executive of Matthew Algie.

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Gracias

Alana Duggan of Crema Coffee Company of Toronto, Canada, organized and worked countless hours for the Kids Art Show. Artwork was sold at $50 apiece, with 100 percent of the proceeds donated to Coffee Kids.

A collection of coffee shops (Toronto Coffee Conspiracy) in and around Toronto, Canada, held a Latté Art Throwdown. Along with the coffee competition, there was music, prizes and beer. A donation jar at the event raised $625 for Coffee Kids.

Mascot Parkdale of Toronto, Canada and Reunion Island Coffee of Oakville, Ontario held a coffee-give-away-for-charity days. Instead of asking their customers to pay for their drink, they requested donations for Coffee Kids and raised over $1,500!

The 2010 Coffee Kids/ World Barista Championship online auction finished on June 25 and raised nearly $2,500. Thank you to all the bidders and especially to the businesses who generously donated items. Without these generous donors, the auction would not have been possible: Reg Barber Enterprises, 1st in Coffee, Anfim, Capital Coffee Roasters, New Harvest Coffee Roasters, Caffe Ibis Coffee Roasting Co., Behmor Ltd., REDW The Rogoff Firm Certified Public Accountants, Rocket Fuel Coffee.

Paolo Nadelet of CMA presented a check for $20,500 to Coffee Kids Executive Director Carolyn Fairman at the SCAE Show in London. A percentage of the sale of Plus4You espresso machines is donated to Coffee Kids.

Helmut Thurner of San Giusto Café, Austria, presented a check to Carolyn Fairman at the SCAE Show in London. Thurner collected the donations through a number of fundraisers in Austria.

At the Coffee Kids reception in London, Basheba Flachs of the Berlin School of Coffee made a donation of 1,000 euros at the Coffee Kids reception from donations collected at the German barista competitions.

The homeroasters at http://greencoffeebuyingclub.com organized an online auction, and their generous and enthusiastic bids raised over $10,000 for Coffee Kids. Forty-one generous businesses and individuals gifted Coffee Kids with exciting coffee items that sold in the auction.

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Voices From the Field

Rafael Elot Aquino, 21 years old. Food Sovereignty facilitator

“I joined the Self Managed Development (AUGE) in 2006 during a regional youth meeting. After receiving training from AUGE I became a volunteer and started facilitating Food Security courses in several communities. Even though all the facilitators come from the same places, it has not been easy working with the communities, because the families are used to buying junk food. But with patience and stewardship, we have managed to see the bad effects of cheap food on our health. There was a case in one community where a woman told us that thanks to the courses, she stopped buying cookies to feed her children and used that money to purchase vegetables and fruits instead. I was very moved by this experience, and this motivates me even more to do this job.”

“I like to call myself a facilitator rather than a promoter, because the communities and the young people I work with already have the ideas. My task is mostly to inject motivation and help them coordinate their initiatives. I also learn a lot from the people in the four communities I work with; in fact, my family says that I have become more extroverted and that I now have goals in my life. I feel very happy, because thanks to my grassroots work with AUGE I have been able to get a scholarship for college to study Rural Development Management and Planning.”

“My dream is to become a high-school professor in a rural area. I believe that rural education is a very important tool to overcome poverty and to improve the quality of lives of youngsters.”

“In rural communities, courses that focus on food sovereignty, applied leadership, reproductive health and intercultural communication are very important because they trigger leadership in youngsters and the parents realize that young people are capable of doing good things for the society.”

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AYNI Makes Strides Against Domestic Violence in Peru

By International Program Coordinator José Carlos León Vargas

Since 1991, the Cooperation Group for Social Development (AYNI) has promoted gender equality, citizen participation, and the rights of women and men to improve their quality of life.

“When we first visited the province of La Convención in Cusco back in 1991, we noticed that violence against women was a problem that was not denounced at all,” says AYNI Director Alberto Alanoca Pazos. “Women and men saw this situation as something normal, and government institutions also thought gender violence was part of the culture.”

The project is producing results because it focuses not only on creating awareness, but also on building mechanisms through which women can access public defense, shelter and counseling. When a woman is a victim of violence, she can refer to one of the four advocacy committees that are formed by respected women in the community.

AYNI trains public officers (policemen, government representatives, judges, hospitals, etc.) to provide efficient and respectful service to the women. Local authorities and institutions sign a protocol of intervention to eradicate violence in an effective way.

“It was very difficult to get support for this type of project,” explains Alberto. “Many organizations provide funds for reproductive health or income-generating activities, but didn’t finance initiatives that reduced gender violence. The support from Coffee Kids is extremely useful because it helps us implement a more integral strategy to deal with the issue.”

Coffee Kids’ support has helped AYNI establish solid alliances with local authorities and to train women on advocacy and counseling for domestic-violence issues.

Hilda Bellota, president of the Mandor women’s advocacy center in the Mandor community of Quillabamba, says: “We painted and fixed a house that one woman in the community lent us to set up the center. Many women have come, and the husbands are now understanding that this is a real and serious issue in the communities. Young women are also becoming aware of this problem, and we teach them how to communicate with other women and to let them know that our center and other institutions are here to support them.”

The project has had a real impact in the region, says Alberto. “We have cases in which men are the ones who go to the local advocacy centers and tell us about cases of domestic violence in their community. Before it was unthinkable that men would consider this a problem, but now men and women are working together to eradicate a problem that affect us all.”

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Thursday, July 22, 2010

Coffee Kids in London

More than 150 donors, supporters and friends gathered at London’s Hand and Flower pub during Caffè Culture and the SCAE Event on an evening in late June, for the first independent event organised by Coffee Kids UK—the Barista Knockout.

Generously sponsored by Glasgow-based roaster (and leading British donor) Matthew Algie, the lighthearted competition attracted some of the world’s best baristas, including current and former WBC champions James Hoffman, Gwilym Davies and emcee Troels Overdal Pedersen.

Baristas Dave Makin, Estelle Bright, Carl Sara, Scott Griffiths, Neil Le Bihan, James Hoffman, Gwilym Davies, Dan Thompson, Oda Misje Jaug, August Crone, James Phillips and Jason Scheltus competed in the first CKUK Knockout, and the winner was Dave Makin, the 2008 Australian Barista Championship.

During the evening, CK Executive Director Carolyn Fairman introduced donors presenting checks, including the UK Barista Championship, the German Barista Championship/Berlin School of Coffee and Matthew Algie itself. She also presented a new film featuring the work done by Coffee Kids origin partners Hijos del Campo Foundation in Costa Rica.

Ross Brown, Lucy Henry, Eric Brown and Miko (who also filmed the proceedings) helped out, and there were donations in kind from Italian restaurant Ottolenghi and Bea’s of Bloomsbury.

Also during Caffè Culture, Coffee Kids collaborated with the WBC to produce the London Coffee Map, a guide to the hot new independent coffee-bar sector in the city. Each of the shops promoted Coffee Kids during Caffè Culture week: Tapped and Packed, Penny University, Coffee Plant, Bea’s of Bloomsbury, Climpson & Sons, Exchange Coffee, Flat White, Hurwundecki, L.J. Coffeehouse, Milk Bar, Nude Espresso, Taylor St Baristas, The Pavilion Café, Tina, We Salute You, Brown’s of Brockley, Counter Café, Espresso Room, Federation Coffee, Fernandez & Wells (Espresso Bar), Ginger & White, Kaffeine, Monmouth Coffee, Taste of Bitter Love, Caravan, Look Mum No Hands, Present and Dose Espresso.

The Coffee Kids stand at Caffè Culture drew a steady stream of visitors and new donors from the more than 11,000 attendees at the London show.

View pictures from the show at our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coffeekids/sets/72157624441898239/

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Exploring Honduras

From May 30 to June 3, International Program Director José Luis Zárate and International Program Coordinator José Carlos Léon Vargas met with organizations that are implementing social projects that benefit coffee-producing families in Honduras.

Exploration trips are an essential part of the process that leads to partnerships between grassroots organizations and Coffee Kids. This journey took us to the beautiful municipality of Marcala, in La Paz region.

As is common in coffee-producing areas, natural resources and beautiful landscapes contrast with a general lack of basic services, scarce access to education and few economic alternatives. The trip gave us the opportunity to meet with coffee cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, women’s groups, schoolteachers, local authorities and coffee producers.

Community leaders explained to us the challenges and opportunities of a region like La Paz. One of them, from the San José community, said: “Coffee production is difficult: fertilizers, certification and learning of technology is very expensive. Our hardest months start in June, when there is no coffee. In September our corn plants start producing, and that helps families to subsist. People in coffee regions need support to have economic and social alternatives.”

Despite the constant challenges of prices, technology and lack of basic services, groups in the Marcala and San José communities are implementing initiatives like small community libraries, educational programs for children, handcrafts and organic-food stores run by women. Coffee-producing communities know how improve education, health and income for families; what they need is a little support to turn challenges into opportunities.

View pictures from the exploration trip at our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coffeekids/sets/72157624587680374/

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Friday, June 25, 2010

Coffee Kids raises nearly $2,500 from WBC Charity Auction on E-Bay

The 2010 Coffee Kids/ World Barista Championship online auction finished up on Friday morning, June 25. We are proud to announce that Coffee Kids raised nearly $2,500, all of which will benefit projects for coffee-farming families in Latin America.

Thank You to all the bidders and especially to the businesses who generously donated items. Without them, the auction would not have been possible!

• Reg Barber Enterprises
  
• 1st in Coffee
  
• Anfim
  
• Capital Coffee Roasters
  
• New Harvest Coffee Roasters
  
• Caffe Ibis Coffee Roasting Co.
  
• Behmor Ltd.
  
• REDW The Rogoff Firm Certified Public Accountants
  
• Rocket Fuel Coffee
  

Next week, we’ll have news about the other Coffee Kids/WBC events, including the Coffee Kids SCAE reception sponsored by Matthew Algie and the coffee map featuring London’s must-visit coffee destinations.

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Thursday, June 17, 2010

Women’s Advocacy, Guinea Pigs and Sending Kids to School in Peru

In May, I visited our four new partners in Peru: AYNI, APROVAT, APROCASSI and COOPACFSI.

AYNI leads the Gender Violence Eradication and Advocacy project in Quillabamba. It has developed a network of micro-advocacy centers in coffee communities where women can receive advice and attention when they are victims of violence.

“We have developed a protocol of intervention where police, government, nonprofit organizations and other institutions know how to deal effectively with cases of gender violence,” said Alberto Alanoca, AYNI’s director.

Hilda Bellota, a 60-year old woman who leads the micro-advocacy center at Mandor community, just a few miles from Quillabamba, shared with us: “We painted and fixed a house that one woman in the community lent us to set up the center. Many women have come, and the husbands are now understanding that this is a real and serious issue in the communities. Young women are also becoming aware of this problem, and we teach them how to deal with them and to let them know that our center and other institutions are supporting them.”

I headed north to Tamborapa Pueblo, in the Jaen province. It was a real surprise to see a radical change in the community since 2009. When I arrived to Tamborapa, APROVAT director Helgar Zelada took me to a grocery store that women in the community set up in January. The store was beautifully decorated and full of products, but the most striking difference is that the shop is the only one in the community that sells fresh vegetables and fruits. Other area shops only sell canned products, fizzy drinks and not-so-nutritious goods.

APROVAT has also trained the women to run the shop on their own, which is reinforcing their self-esteem and working abilities.

“At the beginning I was afraid of doing an invoice for the clients. I wasn’t sure of my skills,” said Delia Noemi Adrianzen Iparraquirna. “I also got scared once when I touched the computer and the monitor shut down. But Aprovat’s staff has spent a lot of time teaching us how to manage our shop and do our bookkeeping with the computer. Now I can do the invoices without problems and I am able to use the computer to do my calculations. I am learning many things with the shop.”

APROVAT’s staff plans to open new shops in other communities to provide access to fresh food in the region and sell locally produced vegetables.

The final leg of the trip took me to San Ignacio province and APROCASSI and COOPACFSI. APROCASSI has just started a project called Micro-Credit for Education. These initiatives allow parents to ask for small loans to pay for school costs such as tuition, uniforms and basic materials for their children. The families repay the loans with low interest that APROCASSI uses to support more parents.

“Before the project started I used to sell my coffee in advance for a very little price,” one of the mothers who takes part in the project told me. “That was the only option because I had to pay for school fees and materials. With the loan, I don’t have to give away my coffee and I can cover the school costs for my kids. When I repay the little interest, I know it’s going to help someone like me.”

COOPACFSI’s staff took me to visit their guinea-pig farm and training center. COOPACFSI uses this small farm to train families on small-animal production. Due to the high cost or lack of high-quality food in coffee communities, the project is a very good alternative for families to improve their diet and generate extra income from selling small animals. After the visit to the training center, I went to a community with very little road infrastructure, where a family is already producing guinea pigs. The people in the community told me that during the rainy season, access to the town is very difficult, and the animals help them consume fresh and nutritious meat. We ate guinea pigs in different styles. The meat tastes really good and is an important source of protein for the families.

The trip was short but very fruitful. It demonstrated once again that families know what their problems are. They only need support to turn those ideas into tangible projects with positive effects on their communities.

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Monday, June 14, 2010

Coffee Kids, World Barista Championship Team Up for Online Auction

Starting June 18, everything from a home roaster to a programmable coffee maker will be auctioned on eBay to benefit Coffee Kids’ projects for coffee-farming families.

The auction is part of the World Barista Championship’s efforts to support Coffee Kids, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for coffee-farming families. Baristas from more than 50 countries will compete June 23-25 in London to become World Barista Champion, and the annual event will feature multiple efforts to raise awareness and funds for Coffee Kids.

The auction, which opens June 18 and closes June 24, can be accessed at http://shop.ebay.com/coffeekids.

Featured items, all donated by Coffee Kids supporters, include:

- Reg Barber handmade FB/80 Model for the USBC bronze trophies, made from solid maple, donated by Reg Barber Enterprises

- Capresso MT600 programmable 10-cup coffee maker, courtesy of 1st in Coffee

- Anfim Barista Grinder with digital timer and cooling fan, courtesy of Anfim

- Home Brewers Dream, including kettle, scale, dripper, filters, mug, a pound of coffee and a tote bag, courtesy of New Harvest Coffee Roasters

- Organic, Fair Trade, shade-grown, bird-friendly coffee, courtesy of Caffe Ibis Coffee Roasting Co.

- Behmor 1600 home coffee roaster featuring smoke-suppression technology, courtesy of Behmor

- Weekend Explorer Grill and Cooler, courtesy of REDW The Rogoff Firm Certified Public Accountants

Other events at the World Barista Championship:

- A Coffee Kids reception at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 24, featuring a “Celebrity Barista Knockout” with past World Barista Champions competing in a latte-art contest and a presentation by Coffee Kids Executive Director Carolyn Fairman.

- A coffee map featuring London’s must-visit coffee destinations. All participating shops will collect donations and raise awareness about Coffee Kids.

Correction:

-We previously published the inclusion of a one-year subscription to Barista Magazine, plus a Barista Magazine tote bag, courtesy of Barista Magazine, however magazine subscriptions are prohibited by Ebay.

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