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/