Greetings from Mbale!
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Mbale, eastern Uganda, home of the Peace Kawomera Cooperative…and my new home for the next week!
After three days of travel, my colleague Sarah Bodnar and I arrived (finally!). Our flight from San Francisco, to Washington DC, to Rome, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was a real marathon. Then, after a night in Addis, we made a quick two hour connection to Entebbe, Uganda, which was followed by an 8-hour cab and bus ride out to Mbale. By the time we arrived, we were a little worse for the wear, but I have to say, there is something about the warmth and enthusiasm of these farmers that energizes even the most road-weary soul.
These past few days have been filled with meetings with the Cooperative’s Board of Directors, visits to farmer’s shambas (farms), and visits to the community’s mosque and synagogue. Tomorrow morning we head off for the local church.
Much has come together since my last visit in the summer of 2006. One of the big issues facing the cooperative at that time was a lack of management and experienced staff. Little did I know that Mohammed Kakaire Hatibu, who I met then, would be soon to graduate with a degree in business management, and then quickly become the Cooperative’s Secretary Manager. Kakaire’s contribution has been incredible; with his dedication and skills, he’s managed to organize the Cooperative’s operations, keep their books, coordinate their farmer-relations programs, and generally, keep the proverbial boat afloat. I’m proud to know that our profit-sharing program has provided the funds for Kakaire’s staff, and it’s really you all, buyers of this coffee, who should be proud that your support has enabled this important step forward.
We’ve been joined by Curt Fissel and Ellen Friedland, from JemGlo Productions. Curt and Ellen are the dynamic husband and wife team behind the documentary film, and they are here on their third and last visit to the cooperative, capturing the story of our work with the farmers on the ground, and the coffee’s origin.
So far they’ve tagged along for our series of workshops yesterday, where I shared the story of our interfaith outreach, and created a map for the farmers, showing each of the 86 congregations who now buy their coffee; following this presentation, we spent two hours listening to the farmers as they shared their thoughts on the challenges facing the cooperative–everything from lack of access to sufficient pre-harvest credit, to their desire to increase the amounts of organic fertilizer they are able to supply for their coffee trees; and we finished the day with a three hour session looking at the cost structure of their business, and ing different strategies for growth as they would create varying degrees of profitability. If this sounds like a full day, it was. But our conversations flow easily from one topic to the other, and the hallmark of our work, I think, is the nature of the relationship, which like all good relationships, allows us to listen, share, hear, and be heard, and through it all, celebrate the richness of life. By the end of the day we’d confronted difficult issues (how can a small cooperative stay profitable in market ted by giant multinationals), celebrated significant accomplishments (we now have 86 churches, synagogues, and mosques supporting our project), outlined plans for the future (the Cooperative’s first warehouse, and central processing center), and celebrated the beauty of this interfaith collaboration (we visited the local mosque for Friday prayers, and attended evening services at the Abayudaya’s synagogue).
I’ll be writing another post soon, with updates from this trip, so please check back soon…and, because I’m here, I’d love to be able to ask the farmers a question or two on your behalf–just post your questions on this entry, and I’ll respond with answers from the farmers.
Until then, weebale nno (thank you) for your support and partnership. Together, we are doing something incredible on the slopes of this beautiful mountain, in eastern Uganda.
Yours in Peace,
Ben