Hope
Restored; to the world its a Story book by Kenyan writer Violet
Barungi. To the village of my birth its a new beginning for my
people. A new beginning in 2016 where hope has been restored, a hope
in economical sustainable coffee production and community
development. A hope that one day our story will be known to the
world. It might take another generation for the coffee producers in
my village to fully thrive, but our hope has been restored.
An
estimated 70% of Kenya's coffee
farmers are micro
and small-scale producers.
Many
of these farmers to date are still not able to take care of very
basic needs or even cover the cost of school requirements for their
children.
Our
work is to offer technical advice to the coffee farmers so they can
improve their production methods to quarantee more yield and better
quality. We later on through our partnerships purchase and ship the
coffee to Germany via Direct Trade.
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| Farmer's field day- Ndurutu Wet mill Jan 2016 |
Beginning
of January we teamed up with our partners Heinz and Nicole plus a
group of other Roasters from Germany and visited the village of my
birth.It was a new beginning for both the farmers and our partners
whom we have been working together for the last 2 years. Both teams
could finally meet the people who produce our coffee to continue
forging longterm relationships.
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| Nicole having a discussion with one of our farmers- Wilson Mwangi |
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| the Team being taken through Export & warehousing by Maina of KCCE |
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| Manuel cupping the best coffees for this season |
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| My Name is..... ;) |
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| my father with Holger of German Coffee Associatio |
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| Farmers & Roasters Meeting- Ndurutu wet mill |
During
the trip we supported Ndurutu Wet Mill with a new Drying bed made of
steel. This will ensure that the quality of coffee is maintaned
during drying period. The mill has old drying beds made of timber,
which have detererioted due to weather conditions and infested with
ants. Our work towards community rural development is to support our
coffee producers with the necessary tools and resources to improve
their lives.
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| welding of the new drying bed |
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| preparing the grounds for the new drying bed |
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| Zackie of KEDOVO mixing the cement and sand to fix the Drying bed in the ground |
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| work in progress |
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| HP of Sandtorkai Papenhagen & Davie of KEDOVO handing over the drying bed to chairman Ndurutu Wet mill |
My Story is the Story of thousands of coffee Producers all over the world and their families
Coffee
is the only source of income in my village. To us coffee is not just a drink that lands on our breakfast table, ist simply our lives. It provides the economic
backbone for thousands of rural communities. These communities are
the most vulnerable to coffee crisis due to their location in the
coffee supply chain. My village is punctuated by stories of disaster,
recovery but above all humour, struggle and renewed hope.I believe that one day our Story will be the Story of how we overcame the struggles and poverty associated with coffee production. I have hope, a hope of a better tomorrow...
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| with my daughter on way to meet coffee farmers in Nyeri |
During our farmers field day, we emphasized greatly that producing
quality coffee and the development of the community was the
responsibilty of each and every one of them. We explained to them that what we are creating are conditions that can give them sustainable living, conditions to become entrepreneurs. We might be living an Ocean away but we are them- our relationship makes us stronger.
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| Enjoying a Cup of Ndurutu coffee roasted by Speicherstadt Kaffeerösterie from Hamburg |
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| The day would have been incomplete without Barista Zackie @ work ;) |
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| Joseph, the Manager at Ndurutu wet mill stressing a Point home |
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| one of the farmers looking keenly at Ndurutu coffee from Speicherstadt Kaffeerösterie |
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| Zackie of KEDOVO taking the farmers through our model & the idea of Revenue sharing |
The visit by our Partners would not have been complete without paying a visit to Ndurutu Primary School. For those who follow our journey, they know that my heart bleeds for the children of our coffee Producers. In them i see my Young self and my siblings as my father struggled to put us through School with proceeds derived from coffee production. He struggled, and many are the days we lived on one meal a day as the proceeds werent enough to be divided among his 5 children. My mother hawked vegetables in the village on better days.
In those children's eyes i see the unshed tears of a lost hope. And to them i whisper a Hope Restored....
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| the future of my village lies in their sustainability.....lets give them chances |
During the visit we
kick started our great project for the year Renovation of Ndurutu
Primary school.
The
school has currently 150 pupils with classes of ECD to Class 8. Due
to its infrastructure challenges, many of the farmers from the
village take their children to Kirichu primary school which is 3km
away.
Special
thanks to Kira, Axel and the whole team of Loppokaffeeexpress of Kiel
in Germany, and their dedication to continue supporting Ndurutu
Primary. Through their partnership with KEDOVO e.V they supported the
school with reading books as well as 15 full pairs of
uniforms for 15 needy children of the coffee producers. Each uniform
costs an average of 20€ which is an amount that some of the
coffee farmers are unable to raise.
In
Nov 2014, Kira visited our project in Kenya and she met several
farmers and their families.
On
behalf of my community our sincere gratitude for the continued
support.
We
mainly focus on improving the schools and the lives of the children of
our coffee producers so that we can give them chances to better
education, chances which on normal circumstances thousands of these
children might not have, chances for a better tomorrow, chances which
are key in access to employment or entrepreneurship that will help in
breaking the cycle of poverty. Chances to dream, chances of a Hope Restored.
And we soldier on.....
To continue supporting these communities we have on offer Green coffee (Rohkaffee) from Ndurutu Wet Mill late crop 2014-2015 F.O.T Bremen, transport within Germany & the EU arrangable at a cost. Please contact Soni Schneidewind or Nicole Boedgter for information on samples, prices and contract.
For roasted Chania coffee kindly purchase from our Online Shop or visit our offices in Kaltenkirchen. Visit the shop & Cafe 'Ein Welt Laden' located at the VHS in Kaltenkirchen , am Kretemoor 40, or pass by at our stand at the Kaltenkirchener Wochenmark every Saturday from 07:00 hrs to 12 noon.
