Slideshow image

YOUR SUNDAY CUP OF COFFEE
and its outreach effects around the world

Coffee used for Sunday Coffee Hour and all UCoL functions is Fair Trade coffee, purchased from Level Ground Trading. This Victoria, BC company started in 1997 with the idea of improving the lives of disadvantaged small farmers around the world through trade. In the 19 years that have passed, trade relationships were formed in Bolivia, Peru, Ethiopia, Tanzania & D. R. Congo, Colombia, India, Philippines, Uganda and Sri Lanka. Fair Trade premiums are directed to different projects based on the needs of the farmers: healthcare benefits, school scholarships, agricultural technical training, co-op projects etc.

The following story tells about the benefits the Fair Trade premiums have on education for small-scale farmers’ children in a coffee growing region.

When we setup our first trade relationship in 1997, small-scale coffee farmers in Colombia told us that education of their children was a top priority. In response, Famicafé was founded to fund education for small-scale farmers’ children.

How does it all work?

Level Ground Trading pays a Community Premium to Famicafé each time we purchase coffee from Colombia, which funds student scholarships and classroom resources.

Beyond student scholarships, there are other key factors which may not immediately come to mind such as: repairing washed out roads which must be in place for students to attend school, breakfast programs that ensure the students have adequate nutrition before they start their day, replacing leaky roofs or installing gutters on schools so that the learning environment is comfortable etc.

One of the more significant challenges for rural farm kids is that their home is too far from school to be able to commute to and from daily. Famicafé has run a boarding house where each year from 3-14 students have lived during the week, with a ‘dorm mom’ to care for them.

Famicafé has been personal, caring and ultimately successful in accomplishing the goal of providing education for small-scale farmers’ children! Some students have gone on to earn post-secondary degrees and are active in serving their community as medical professionals and agronomists.

To learn more about the work of the Level Ground Trading and the effects it has on the life in the small farming communities with which they trade, visit www.levelground.com.

 

Image © Level Ground Trading Ltd.