O Magazine!
Several months ago I received a call from Charles London, a freelance writer who discovered the Peace Kawomera Cooperative after doing some research on the Abayudaya (Jews of Uganda).
“Hello, my name is Charles and I’m interested in writing a story about the Peace Kawomera Cooperative for O Magazine.”
“O, as in Overstock? O, as in Oh? Or O as in Oprah?” I asked. I was in a bit of shock.
Chuckling on the other end, he replied, “Yes, O as in Oprah.”
Thus it started.
I first met Charles at Tufts University. He went to Tufts to celebrate with us as we received the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award. He also came to meet our February/March touring delegation, which included 4 farmers from the Peace Kawomera Cooperative. After spending some time together in Boston, Charles joined the farmers, Ben, and me on a bus as we traveled from Boston to NY. On the ride, he interviewed each of the farmers, Ben and me. We had a lot of fun as he got to know us, and we got to know him.
As we continued with the tour, Charles continued on to Uganda. He visited the members of the Peace Kawomera Cooperative, their farms and schools, and learned about the coffee project from the ground. He is a brilliant writer with a good heart.
The end result: a new friendship, and an article in August’s edition of O Magazine. Here is the link: http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200808_omag_coffee/1
Sales have been much slower than we hoped for, but many people have called in response to the article with an interest to get involved. Only time will tell, but with the arrival of the new crop just before the article hit, and our new website launched, good things are on our side.
If you read this, please forward it on. Let’s start a new campaign of telling everyone we know about this article and the courageous farmers of the Peace Kawomera Cooperative. Encourage your friends to buy a bag or two, and even look into starting a buying club in your community if you haven’t already done so. Together is the only way we can sustain the peace building efforts of the Peace Kawomera Cooperative.
All the best, and have a great weekend!
Holly
July 27th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I never real O magazine but for some reason I picked it up this week… the story about the cooperative was incredibly moving and inspirational. My family is in the process of adopting a baby from China and have a blog about our journey that seems to get about 50-100 hits a day. I’m going to do a post on the cooperative and hopefully spread the word.
Our child’s name will be Kavanna - which is a Hebrew word that means “focus” and “joy of life”, which also sounds very Tao. To us it bridges both her cultures… just as the cooperative has connected so many different people for the purpose of peace (and coffee, of course).
I will also buy some coffee from the online store!!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Dear Nina,
Thank you for sharing your warm story with us. Congradulations with your adoption. I’m very happy for you. If you would email me your blog address, I would love to keep up to date with your journey. The name for your child seems like a perfect fit. In the Jewish tradition, names are important and reflect our core being. With the name Kavanna, I am sure your child will keep focus of what’s important in life, and find joy in life itself. Thank you for embracing our coffee project and being a force for change in the world.
In Peace,
Holly
holly@thanksgivingcoffee.com