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Lest you think that we forgot about the inauguration of Barack Obama, the incredible groundswell of community-based organizing his campaign inspired, or the hope that peace may be back in style…
It’s our pleasure to introduce you to the President’s Blend: Coffee For Change
Available in limited quantities in honor of Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20th as the 44th President of the United States of America.
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
Our friends at TWIN Trading (UK) just passed me a link to a recent article from London’s “The Observer”. In it, journalist Andrew Purvis explores the history of the Gumutindo Cooperative Union (of which Peace Kawomera is one of ten member-cooperatives), and the story of coffee in Uganda in general. It’s a great read, and illuminates a lot of the history of where Peace Kawomera came from, and the farmer-led movement transforming Uganda’s coffee trade.
“Yet, ironically, these people - deprived of everything - had one resource that the whole world wanted: coffee, grown at high altitude on the fertile slopes of Mount Elgon, which was virtually indistinguishable from its famous Kenyan counterpart. Unable to export their beans legally, farmers traded them on the black market - and Kenya, a two-day trek from the Konokoyi valley where I am standing now, was their conduit to the coffee-drinking world.”
Also, check out Mr. Purvis’ blog for his thoughts on the real reasons why fair trade matters.
Here’s to the farmers, whose remarkable story continues to inspire me, and hopefully you too!
In Peace,
Ben