Nine percent of the membership is comprised of women who, in addition to producing coffee, understand the need to diversify their economic activities to defray their basic necessities.

The group is dedicated to helping women realize their goals of economic independence, which will allow them to generate their own income and have control over it. However access to services in the formal banks is limited to women because the disadvantages that they suffer have weakened their gender, social and economic conditions. This grant will be used to finance entrepreneurial activities driven by women.

Specifically, a group of twelve women produce the mushroom Bauveria bassiana, which has been proven to effectively control pests that plague coffee. Because of its effectiveness in fighting pests (broca de café), there is an opportunity to commercialize this ecological product (as well as other ecological fertilizers such as lombrihumus, biogreen, etc.) among the cooperative’s associates

The grant provides the women with the capital to conduct training sessions, giving women with the skills necessary to produce these products. Additionally, the grant enables them to purchase basic equipment for their production, and will help the Cooperative facilitate the organizational structure to guarantee the commercialization of the products.  

Economic empowerment grants financial security and allows a woman to become more confident in the home, the community, and the cooperative. Furthermore, this can transform gender relations; making them more equally balanced and possibly even improving the well-being of the woman and the entire family.

 

Program Update:

Twelve women, heads of household are participating in the project to produce and sell ecological products to coffee producers affiliated with the Cooperative Union Tierra Nueva. The money is being used to build a facility, materials and supply training, along with the marketing and promotion of these products. Currently the first phase, construction of the laboratory, is almost complete.

 

 

 

Cup for Education – Los Conejitos Schoolhouse Project Dominican Republic

In October of 2007, Hurricane Noel caused incalculable damage in the entire southern region of the Dominican Republic, including the provinces of San Cristobal, Peravia and San Jose de Ocoa, and the community of Los Cacaos. The river flooded and taking with it many homes. The small building that the Little Bunnies Preschool was located in was almost completely buried by the imposing mudslides. In January 2008, the Little Bunnies Preschool received funding to restore operations of the preschool and purchase school materials, teaching materials, modest uniforms, equipment, tables, and paint for the walls.

Nevertheless, this space is not large enough nor is it conducive to teaching 45 children from a physical or emotional standpoint. It is now the priority of the teachers to purchase a permanent space for the education and care of these children so that when their mothers are working they have the opportunity to thrive.

The women coffee producers in the Municipal District of Los Cacaos depend on childcare that is provided to them by the Little Bunnies Preschool for children ages 3-5. This preschool provides the women a safe an educational place they can leave their children while they are harvesting coffee. The children thrive there under the instruction and care of two teacher volunteers.

This preschool has been operational for now eight years. There is a need for it to continue. If the facilitators are able to purchase a permanent home for the school, the quality of the education will dramatically increase. Currently, they must move from year to year and with that comes unnecessary problems with the care and education of children. It is a known fact that by providing a stable environment this preschool would be able to better serve the women who depend on it and do what it is intended to do.

The requested funds support IWCA’s objective of advocacy for disadvantaged women in that the women coffee producers who utilize the Little Bunnies Preschool are women who have very small coffee farms in the Los Cacaos area. These women are living in a highly impoverished area where many of the men have had to leave to work in other areas. The women are alone to keep their children and their small coffee fincas running. It is with this preschool that the women can go and provide for their children.

 

Project Update:

IWCA support attracted additional funding from other sources, which allowed them to expand the project in size and scope. Originally planned as just a one-room schoolhouse, they will now be able to purchase the land and build a larger facility. Construction plans include two classrooms, two bathrooms, one office, a multipurpose room for the community, and outside recreational areas for a playground. Due to the increased support and size for this school it will also be used as a community center and a training center for the whole community that will now benefit many more families than originally planned. Other partners in this project now include a coffee cooperative, a specialty coffee organization, the municipality and the people of the community.

This project is just getting underway, but we can expect great stories and photos.

 

 

 

Desarrollo Autogestionario, AC Veracruz, Mexico

The organization is located in the heart of a coffee growing area, in the center of the state of Veracruz, Mexico. For many years, growing coffee was the most important agricultural production of the region. The region’s economy depends on the growth and manufacture of the coffee process.

The endless coffee crisis has dramatically changed the appearance of life conditions of this rural population. Every day, unemployment and migration problems arise, and many adults and young men decide to migrate to the capital city or the United States. The women re left alone to take care of their homes, their children, the animals and their small piece of land.

Further, the economic crisis has reduced the number of opportunities the immigrants have to work in the U.S., and as a result, the amount of money sent by the workers to their families in Mexico has been dramatically diminishing.

In order to face this crisis, the women created the Groups of Women in Solidary savings, in 10 zone municipalities. Currently, the Organization consists of

110 Groups, with 2, 662 members (73% women). The aim of groups is to provide workshops for youngsters in schools and communities, with topics such as gender equality, inter-family violence, sexuality, AIDS/HIV prevention, and migration, among others.  Additionally, a medical clinic for The Women’s Group provides information about improving health.

The Organization has also developed a printed bulletin and two radio programs entitled “Coffee Dreams” and “The Zalad,”  and has developed a small technological training center with 18 machines, for adults, youngsters and children.

With the same purpose, a computer center was founded in four communities in order to allow women to have access to the computers, in an attempt to alleviate their fear of technology, increase their self esteem, develop various abilities, and deal with the saving accounts of their group in a digital way. The first experiences in these four communities have been successful, and the objective of the project is to reinforce these activities, in the communities with women and to extend to two other communities.

With the funds, the project will be able to ensure that the women in the coffee communities learn more about the information technologies; specifically through the purchase of for new computers along with an addition one for use by an instructor who would travel to the other 6 communities to train other women. A scholarship would be provided to another women who could help with the training.

The project’s goal will be to allow women to train women so that they can keep the savings accounts of the group and acquire the skills necessary to understand and in time, belong to the working market. The goal is to train at least 20 women per community, while empowering women in their family and community lives, in school and in the acquisition of public services.

Not only will the computer allow women to stay connected with family members who have moved away, the training opens their eyes at to new possibilities of obtaining work and improving their economic situation.  Further, it enables them to understand and support their children with their homework, while demonstrating to them that through hard work and studying, they can better their own financial situation.

 

Project Update:

 

With the IWCA financial support, they were able to buy three computers and cover the instructor’s costs. The knowledge acquired has, without a doubt, made these women more sure, stable and confident, allowing them to become leaders within their communities. The training opened up economic opportunities and their ability to assist their own children in their schoolwork. By furthering their own education, they serve as role models for their own children, instilling in them the desire to learn more.

 

Café Feminino – Malnutrition Prevention Workshops – Peru

In the Lambayeque area of Peru where coffee is produced by women on small scale farms, 5 women’s groups, representing 300 women, have been working to lower the incidence of malnutrition in their communities through education. In 2007, a small group received training in the area of food security and malnutrition prevention. Because this workshop was so successful, it is their wish to expand it to 9 workshops so that more women can be included in the education.

The grant will be used for a “Malnutrition Prevention Workshop for 200 women trainers, who will in turn, train 1,000 more women. The Malnutrition Prevention Workshops provide education to the women of these very isolated communities where poverty is very prevalent. The poverty has created a situation where many women are uneducated and do not understand the nutritional values of fruits, vegetables and meat. They have already been successful in putting in place breeding programs where Cuyes would provide the much needed protein component of the diet for the children of the community. It is very common for the children to be given a steady diet of white rice, which is inexpensive but very poor nutritionally. By using their current resources, the women expect to first educate the women of the community and then expand their small animal breeding programs as well as create more vegetable gardens to supplement the nutritional aspects of their diets. But the educational workshops must come first.

If this project is successful, (and it has been on a small scale), the children of the Lambayeque region of Peru, will have reduced rates of malnutrition for the long term. This can be achieved by educating the mothers of these communities, where education is very limited and poverty creates desperations for many. By educating the women, the mothers, the grandmothers, and the aunties of the community in this area, the children can begin to recover.

 

Project Update:

During the food security and nutrition workshops that were held in the Lambayeque region of Peru, 156 women coffee producers and 50 community members participated. The goal for the first year was to reduce, by 10 percent, the number of cases of infant chronic undernourishment by means of weight control, physical examination and education about better hygienic dietary habits and customs.

The workshops were held in the communities where the women live allowing them to socialize and share ancestral knowledge of the Andean biodiversity in order to battle the problems of undernourishment and extreme poverty, and better their lives.

 

 

Coffee Kids and ADESPA - Literacy and Technical Training School – Guatemala

Paraxaj, Guatemala, is home to a group of 125 families living on a coffee plantation. In 2004, six local volunteers created The Association for Sustainable Development of Paraxaj (ADESPA) to address the lack of health and educational services in Paraxaj and the surrounding area. ADESPA became a Coffee Kids partner in 2006. The people of Paraxaj live in conditions of social marginalization and geographic isolation. The majority cannot read or write, and their worldview is limited by a lack of education and available resources. The region confronts a high infant mortality rate and death during childbirth is common; given the lack of outside information, many believe this is normal and acceptable. The lack of economic resources has created a strong dependence on the coffee crop and has prevented the community from having much hope or vision for improving their quality of life.

Focusing on education as a means to overcome poverty, ADESPA offers adult literacy classes to community members, helping stimulate curiosity and self-esteem, and leading to greater awareness of their rights and economic options.  In 2008, 19 adults (9 women and 10 men) took part in the literacy program.

In 2008, ADESPA developed a technical training program to teach participants hands-on business skills. As part of the program, Coffee Kids financed a bakery initiative to teach business skills and provide the community with quality bread twice a week. The initiative generated local employment and income for the participants while it provided them with experience managing a small business. In 2008, 23 women and 11 men attended the training courses. This year, training in two new areas, making shoes and beaded belts, will increase the diversification of economic activities.

The opening of a small shop in the tourist location of Acatenango will improve the selling of products and will provide more visibility to the project. Coffee Kids will also carry out networking and communication strategies to promote the work and achievements of the women of Paraxaj at an international level and among the coffee industry.

The Grant funds from IWCA will be used to support Coffee Kids’ partner ADESPA in its “Literacy and Technical Training School” project, which consists of improving the socio-economic conditions in the community through education as well as teaching participants hands-on business skills in two areas: baking and handcrafts. Thirty-five people from the Aldea Paraxaj belonging to the Kakchiquel indigenous group in central Guatemala will benefit directly from the project (4 women and 5 men in bakery training, 26 women in handicrafts/literacy program).

Specifically, the funds will be used to involve more women in the literacy program in order to improve their education, self-esteem and awareness of their rights using a teaching methodology that is specific for adults. The bakery program will focus on standardizing the baking process to achieve a lower price point to make the products more accessible in the community. Finally the handcrafts program will concentrate on funding a new small business teaching women how to create beaded belts, which are used by women throughout Guatemala.

 

Project Update:

 

Literacy Project

In an effort to make access to lessons easier, ADESPA initiated a partnership with the Guatemala Institute for Radio Education and subsequently was able to expand its regional literacy services. Lessons are broadcast through the radio station. Participants have specifically designed interactive books that correspond to each broadcast. The content of the lessons and books offer participants an opportunity to learn natural sciences, mathematics, human rights and gender awareness, literature and grammar.

ADESPA’s offices serve as a facilitation center where participants and staff regularly meet to discuss the lessons, provide further explanations and track the participants’ progress. Currently, 15 adults participate in the literacy project, an increase from 9 participants at the beginning of the year.

 

Bakery Project

In 2007, ADESPA developed a training program to teach participants hands-on business skills. As part of the program, Coffee Kids funded a bakery component, designed to provide the technical skills for operating a bakery, as well as provide the community with quality bread. Seven workshops were presented during March and April. Topics included: community leadership; introduction to entrepreneurial planning; business plans; business structure, mission and vision; and administration and basics of micro business. Daily bread production increased from 50 pounds to 100 pounds in 6 months. ADESPA acquired a motorbike to make deliveries in an effort to expand sales. The bakery is advertised daily on the local radio.

 

Handicrafts Project

The handicrafts program funds an initiative developed by businesswomen to create beaded belts and shoes. With commitment, training, and perseverance, the women have improved their skills and confidence – this improvement clearly shows through the quality of the shoes produced. The higher quality translates to higher profit that women receive for their shoes has increased 25% in six months: from $2.50 to $3.13 per pair. The women learned to produce more trendy beaded sandals thus diversifying its line sold in Guatemala City markets.

 

Alianza para Mujeres en Café de Costa Rica (IWCA‐CR) -  San Isidro de Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica

San Isidro del General is known as one of the most marginal coffee communities in Costa Rica where a majority of coffee farmers abandoned their homes to find jobs in the USA. Many never returned and rarely send funding to those family members left behind. Adding to this strain on women, once they reach the age of 18, they no longer qualify for funding from the Costa Rican Government.

Specifically, the grant will both fund administrative costs for the IWCA-Costa Rica chapter as well as fund a minimum of 5 women per year to live in the San Isidro del General Foster Home for Abused Girls. The funds generated from this project will allow girls to continue in the program, receive additional education, and provide them with basic living expenses.

The goal is to help IWCA-Costa Rica Member Farmers cooperatively roast and sell their coffees to chain stores in Costa Rica. The IWCA grant was used to fund a consultant to set up the initial program including coordination of the women, roasting, packaging design, and initial sales contracts.

The program’s goals are numerous. The money raised from the sale of coffee will be used to create opportunities for abuse survivors to survive and thrive through additional education and housing support. The foster home can be set up as a model to connect these women with women abroad who can help and mentor them. The program will help enhance women farmers’ self-esteem by obtaining a higher price for their coffee and recognizing the value of their work. In then end, the project will help create a sustainable method of funding ongoing Chapter administration costs to continue to create additional resources for women at origin

 

Project Update:

 

The grant provided by the IWCA was used for professional services to create a brand logo, register it, and cover legal costs of the new commercial brand of members’ coffee.

Presently, the group is working on the design and packaging as well as legal registration and a market study. They have secured a commitment by the biggest supermarket chain in Costa Rica to offer their product for sale, once everything is legally registered. With coffee beginning to come in October and November, it is projected that the coffee will be launched in December 2009.

With the money obtained from the selling of the coffee, the group will provide scholarships and support to the girls of Hogar Madre del Pedentor, which is a home led by nuns of the order Hermanas Terciarias Capuchinas de la Sagrada Familia located in San Isidro de Pereze Zeledon, a typical coffee region in Costa Rica.

Upon reaching the age of 18, these women have little support, which is where IWCA CR is implementing the phase, “Women Helping Women,” by encouraging these girls to continue to study, find a home for them, as well as an honorable job. All this will be accomplished with money obtained from the project.