Saturday, April 05, 2008

Voice from the Field: Itzel Guadalupe Navarro Espinoza

Itzel Guadalupe is a member of a youth training group and the radio production workshop sponsored by Coffee Kids’ partner Self-Managed Development (AUGE) in Cosautlan, Veracruz, Mexico.

“I have been a part of the youth training group since 2006. I began by participating in a survey that we conducted in the area of Teocelo. The idea was to learn what the youth enjoyed and liked to do, to know what they thnk where they are from, what they study, what they see for their future, to learn why they emigrate or stop studying and other topics.

“After that, I got involved in other groups with the trainers including music, theater, painting and dance. I’m currently working in radio production and training. There I”ve had the opportunity to participate in the production of radio spots for a world campaign to prevent AIDS for which we won the UNICEF-OneWorld Radio Prize in 2006. We went to Mexico City to receive the prize.

“I have also participated in a Mesoamerican Network of Youth that they conduct every year on the national level. It was a wonderful experience and it’s interesting to participate in the workshops and meet other youth from other regions, states and countries that have similiar ideas and a different vision for the country. And it’s rewarding to meet other young people who not only think about having fun, but also think about the future.

“Another part of the work I do at my school. As a part of my social service, I spend time teaching women from the savings groups in my community to use computers. That way they can track their savings and loans using Excel int he computer that AUGE donated.

“I have enjoyed working with AUGE because from them we have learned and had many experiences that will serve us well in the future.”

Friday, April 04, 2008

Voz del Campo: Itzel Guadalupe Navarro Espinoza

Soy parte del grupo de jóvenes facilitadores desde el 2006. Comencé participando en una encuesta realizada en el área de influencia de Teocelo. La idea era conocer que es lo que a los jóvenes les gusta e interesa hacer, saber que es lo piensan, de donde son, que estudian, que futuro esperan o les gustaría tener, aprender de las razones por las cuales emigran o ya no estudian, y otros temas mas. Después me integre a los otros grupos de facilitadores, teatro, música, pintura y danza.

Actualmente estoy en los talleres de producción de radio y de facilitadores. Ahí tuve la oportunidad de participar en la producción de unos spots de radio para una campaña mundial para la prevención del SIDA, por ese trabajo ganamos el premio UNICEF/OneWorld radio Prize 2006, el cual fuimos a recibir a la ciudad de México.

También he participado en la red Mesomaricana de Jóvenes que se efectúa cada año a nivel nacional, fue una experiencia muy bonita, porque es muy interesante participar en los talleres conocer a otros jóvenes de otras regiones, otros estados y países que tienen las mismas ideas de dar una visión diferente al país. Y darnos cuenta que somos jóvenes que no solamente pensamos en divertirnos, sino que también pensamos en el futuro.

Otra parte de mi trabajo lo hago a través de mi escuela, ya que tengo que prestar un servicio social y lo hago enseñando computación a las mujeres de los grupos de ahorro de mi comunidad, así ellas pueden ahora llevar el registro de sus prestamos y ahorro usando una hoja de Excel en la computadora que AUGE les donó.

Me ha dado mucho gusto conocer AUGE, porque de ella hemos aprendido y tenido muchas experiencias que el día de mañana nos servirán mucho más.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Irish Eyes on Nicaragua

Ever traveled with a pack of Irishmen? Lucky for me I can say that I have. And it was the gift of a lifetime. I traveled to Nicaragua with representatives and affiliates of our long time supporter in Ireland, Java Republic. While it’s always an adventure and an eye opening experience when our supporters visit Coffee Kids project participants, this was truly an extraordinary journey.

I don’t know that I have ever seen such an extraordinary spirit of generosity, compassion, adventure, fun and learning. I myself learned about the Irish and their history and just what incredible people they are. There were people from each region of Ireland, including Northern Ireland. Because of the history of poverty and violence that Ireland has experienced and because they were able to overcome that history largely due to education, these travelers felt a sense of solidarity with the Nicaraguan people. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti. Nicaragua has experienced a long history of civil strife, corruption, and poverty. Perhaps it was this ability to identify with this shared history and to see the hope for the future that lead to such exceptional generosity on behalf of these Irish travelers. But I don’t think so. I think they are just highly compassionate people.

I watched as 17 people made a concrete difference in the tiny community of Aguas Amarillas by supporting the students struggling to continue their education and learn new technologies to bring them into the future. Perhaps the most moving gesture, at least to me, was that each one of these people brought back the knowledge that they can make a difference— not just by being associated with Java Republic, but through their own personal commitments to support Coffee Kids and generate more support for the town of Aguas Amarillas and so many like it throughout Latin America.

I have never been so proud to represent Coffee Kids internationally and of the work that we do. I can’t thank them enough for all that they taught me about the impact an individual can have on the lives of others. They each touched many lives, not least of all my own.

Check out pictures from the trip at Coffee Kids Flickr site or you can visit this site and see photos of the trip from our friend Patrick Jordan who was one of the visitors with the Java Republic.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Staff Views: Oaxaca Trip

By Heather Ferraro, Membership Coordinator

As the membership coordinator at Coffee Kids, I work with donors out of our administrative office in Santa Fe. I don’t often have the opportunity to see the projects we support in action, or meet the participants face to face. This was my second visit to Mexico, and my first time visiting remote coffee-growing communities.
In the communities that we visited, we were quick to notice the absence of women in the town meetings. They generally attended only when specifically invited, and they didn’t really serve on committees or participate in discussions.

It was a strange feeling to attend meetings filled with only men, especially since Coffee Kids staff is mostly women, including a female executive director. I wondered what the men thought about all of these women in prominent leadership roles.

I wondered if it makes them think about or question the status of women in their own community, or do they just think that modern American women are a strange anomaly?

It was clear to me that there is work to be done to empower women and create just, equitable gender relations in these communities. Carolyn Fairman explained that in other communities where we work, there have been great strides in promoting gender equity, especially where women’s savings groups have promoted a sense of solidarity and empowerment.

But it’s a delicate balance, respecting current cultural norms while also promoting human rights and civil liberties. Change has to come from within a particular community, and success is more likely when the men participate and support the change.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Staff Trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, Opens Eyes

In early December, Coffee Kids staff visited Oaxaca, Mexico, to learn about some of the programs supported by Coffee Kids partner, CAMPO, and a dry mill run by our partner, FomCafe.

The visit included a tour of CAMPO’s new educational center. Buildings are still under construction, but CAMPO is already using the installations to provide training to coffee farmers from around the state of Oaxaca. Demonstration projects include worm composting and standard composting; organic gardening and greenhouse projects; fish, sheep, rabbit and chicken production; and responsible building techniques (Check out our programs page for more information on CAMPO).

CAMPO’s offices are being constructed using a compacted earth technique, which is similar to adobe with a mix of soil, sand, lime and water optimized for local conditions and compacted into a sturdy wall.

The day after our visit to the center, we traveled two hours down windy roads into the mountains outside of Oaxaca, and then two more hours down a dirt road clinging to the side of said mountains. After four hours of stomach-turning travel, we arrived in Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, a small town clinging to the mountain.

The town is in the middle of a globally important bio-reserve. Jaguars and tepesquintle (similar to a giant spotted rat) maraud the area and lush forests hem the town in. Most families work in coffee and have struggled for years. Thanks to CAMPO’s help many have begun working in other areas to supplement their income and provide a better quality of life for their families and improve their community.

The organic coffee plot of Don Raymundo Osorio was a striking example of biodiversity and responsible management. His tall coffee bushes were ready for harvest and vanilla vines crawled up their stems providing two cash crops on the same shady plot. Raymundo showed us the beginnings of a greenhouse which will provide vegetables year round, part of a project the community is doing with CAMPO’s support.

We returned to the town center to visit with local leaders and learn more about Santa Cruz’s history. The town’s commitment to protecting their forests, water supply and biodiversity has earned them financial incentives from the government for the maintenance of their resources. Their environmental vision and resources also attract a steady stream of students and researchers to the area and they are constructing a research center for these visitors to create additional income for the community.

Community leaders also told us about their struggle to build a road to their community. Until about four years ago, people from Santa Cruz had to walk hours to reach the nearest road. All supplies were packed in. But with a strong effort and support from CAMPO, determined community leaders navigated endless bureaucratic processes to build a road and connect their town with the outside world.

The following day we followed a steep footpath straight down the mountain to arrive at the neighboring community of San Antonio del Barrio, still inaccessible by road. We arrived sweaty and tired in this tiny town in the valley, where we were welcomed by local officials and a marimba band. We met with a group of women who, with CAMPO’s help, have started selling their elaborate, hand-embroidered huipiles (traditional blouses) in Oaxaca City. After the visit, we made the long journey back to Oaxaca City.

The next morning we visited with Coffee Kids partner FomCafé and toured a dry mill, recently purchased by four Oaxacan coffee cooperatives to consolidate and gain control over their production process. We learned about the detailed steps of dry mill processing, but more importantly how the four cooperatives pooled their resources to purchase the mill.

Like so much of what we saw on this trip, it was a reminder of just how enterprising people can be when they are determined to create a better life, and just how much impoverished communities can accomplish with a little bit of help.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Nicaragua Program Trip – September 2007

In September, I visited our partners SOPPEXCCA and CECOCAFEN in Nicaragua. The main goal of the trip was to facilitate an exchange or encuentro between AUGE, a Coffee Kids partner from Veracruz, Mexico, and SOPPEXCCA.

These face-to-face exchanges are an important piece of Coffee Kids’ approach to development by allowing our partners the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and approaches to common problems.

Several months ago, Clara Palma, coordinator of AUGE’s savings and children’s groups, realized that the children in the groups were growing up, which brought up some challenges.

She wondered, what options they could offer these young men and women? Do we just tell them that there is no place for them? Or, do we try to fold them into the adult savings groups?

In Nicaragua, SOPPEXCCA has created two successful programs for children and adolescents in environmental education. As a result, Coffee Kids coordinated a meeting between the two groups to discuss and share approaches to setting up programs for adolescents.

On the second leg of the trip, I visited our partner CECOCAFEN to learn more about the progress of their GMAS (Groups of Women Saving in Solidarity) project and the scholarship program in the region of Nueva Segovia.

This region was one of the first places colonized by the Spanish; it was also an important center for gold production and a constant target of pirates. Ironically, the area is now one the most isolated and rural regions in Nicaragua.

During this trip, I visited the communities of El Ocotal, Jalapa and El Jicaro. Some of the project participants traveled 3 or 4 hours to attend the meetings. The participants shared their feelings and ideas regarding the savings programs and let us know how big a difference it was making in their lives.