Tag: africa

  • Trees For Kibira: encouraging future generations of shade-grown Burundi coffee

    Trees For Kibira: encouraging future generations of shade-grown Burundi coffee

    There is an undeniable connection between coffee growers in Burundi, the health of their soil, and the coffee we drink. We’ve been dreaming about an indigenous tree reforestation project in Burundi for the last couple of years. For a long time, we didn’t know what it would look like. All we knew is what we saw: a scarcity of indigenous trees, acidic eroding soils and not nearly enough shade for the changing climate. 

    The Kibira is Burundi’s only indigenous rainforest, tucked away in the North-Western part of the country. The coffee we grow and produce depends on the cool, micro-climates that the forest provides. Whenever we ask neighboring coffee farmers what they think of the Kibira, they often mention fighting and war. The forest was a place where rebel soldiers took refuge during times of unrest. For years, the forest has been stripped of its natural resources and indigenous flora by its surrounding communities. Trees have been cut down for firewood and land cleared by people living on the fringes of the forest, looking for food and land to plant crops. Since the early 1930s, the Kibira has shrunk in size from 123,000 to 74,000 acres, and it’s estimated that deforestation in the region is happening at a rate of 9% per annum.

    “There is an undeniable connection between coffee growers in Burundi, the health of their soil, and the coffee we drink.”

    Indigenous tree seedling sprouting through mulch

    Trees For Kibira is a long term project focused on planting indigenous African trees around every hill in Burundi where our coffee is grown, mitigating the effects of a changing climate and encouraging the practice of sustainably grown coffee. Our hope is that these plantings aid the health of the local rainforest, Kibira Forest, and the coffee growing communities that live near its edge. So far, we have planted 322,000 indigenous and agroforestry trees at a cost of $140 per 1,000 trees. Our goal for the upcoming planting season is to plant 500,000 trees.

    Since 2018, we have distributed 322,000 indigenous and agroforestry trees to 2,700 farmers. This has created a total of 406 jobs (employing 70 women). Our vision is for all 5,100 coffee farmers who we work to be included in the Trees For Kibira activities. The goal for 2020 is leaning towards extending our reach from 2,700 to 3,500 coffee farmers. 

    “It’s estimated that deforestation in the region is happening at a rate of 9% per annum.”

    What we’ve learnt from nearly a decade’s worth of work in Burundi is that community is everything. Even with all the money in the world, we wouldn’t be able to create a long lasting impact without the support of our Burundian community. We’re working hard to build networks which include local government, village leaders, and conservation networks to create the impact we know Burundi needs. Planting trees is not going to solve climate change, but it can help to mitigate its impact. The statistics are startling. Climate change will reduce the global area suitable for coffee by about 50% (Bunn 2015). Added to that, the livelihoods of 100 million people depend on coffee (Pendergrast 1999), many of whom are vulnerable to climate change (Baca et al. 2014).

    Four people in the distance walking across rural Burundian landscape

    “What we’ve learnt from nearly a decade’s worth of work in Burundi is that community is everything.”

    Trees For Kibira is focused on seeing nutrients sewn back into Burundi’s soil for the sake of healthier coffee trees, rejuvenated farms and a sustainable coffee growing future. We would like our neighbors to be empowered to grow their coffee for generations to come and to protect their land against the effects of the changing climate. We believe the impact will be great.

  • Long Miles Coffee’s Post-Harvest Update: news from the coffee farm, field and cupping lab

    Long Miles Coffee’s Post-Harvest Update: news from the coffee farm, field and cupping lab

    From the Farm

    collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Long Miles Story Team

    Green coffee cherries on a coffee tree

    The first of September usually means the end of the dry season in Burundi, and the start of the country’s second rainy season. During this time of the year, many communities of farmers usually shift their focus from coffee to other subsistence crops (such as maize, potatoes and cassava) that need to be planted by the time rain starts to fall.

    “We have to hurry and finish everything before September because once the rain starts, there will be many things to do. You can’t work on activities meant for the dry season during the rainy season. My husband is supposed to be mulching and fertilizing the soil of our coffee plantations while I plant other crops, but he’s still busy pruning our coffee trees. I’ve had to stop what I was doing to help him look for mulch.”

    Jeannette Ngendakumana is a coffee farmer from Gaharo hill

    Meanwhile, some farmers are still focused on picking coffee cherries. Due to the irregular weather patterns that Burundi experienced this year, the country’s coffee harvest came to an end while many farmers still had unripened cherries on their coffee trees.

    “Harvest might be over at the washing stations, but it’s still going on at home. There are many cherries that need to be picked. We are still in the dry season, and the coffee trees aren’t getting much water. The small amount of water they do get is being fed straight to the cherries that are still ripening and haven’t been picked. These leftover cherries also cause the number of antestia bugs found in the coffee farmers to multiply. The only way to prevent this is by picking them. Many farmers can’t accept losing so many cherries after harvest, so they continue to process coffee at home: picking, sorting cherries, hand-pulping and then drying. Coffee traders have permission from the government to buy parchment coffee at a fixed price from coffee farmers. I still have one hundred kilograms of coffee to sell.”

     Joseph Haragasika is a coffee farmer from Gaharo hill.

    From the Field

    written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager for Long Miles Coffee

    Sack of parchment coffee on the ground

    Previously I talked about how our Lab in Bujumbura was pushing hard to have a lot of samples processed and dispatched at that time to David (in the States where the main Lab is based, because of the threat by COVID-19). Because of the hard work of the Buja Lab Team, our process chain was always active. And today, I am grateful for the step where we are at and I can congratulate Mr. Zebron (Long Miles Coffee Lab Assistant) for having delivered most of our expectations. This week, intensive Lab work was done. All the urgent samples were processed and dispatched to the Lab in the States. This is a good thing as lot construction becomes quicker and milling plans become definite. We can expect to see the activities moving in a faster way, from the beginning of September.

    Liar or dreamer, I ignore what you will think of me. Having a container ready in August was done, as promised. But shipping should take place early September, which is good as the earliest, so far, we have been able to make is early October. The reason is that export paperwork is not a quick-do-it-yourself kit. In fact, when we had everything ready, an official in charge of issuing the grades confirmation certificate (taxation report) was out for three consecutive days. When he was supposed to come back, coincidentally it was a day off as it was an election day (for hill leaders). Even for other signatories, we observe similar delays and we never stop learning!

    From the Lab

    written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations for Long Miles Coffee

    Person pouring water from a kettle into cups of coffee
    Image taken by Julianna Elizabeth Herr

    Echoing Seth’s message, the busy days in the lab continue. It has been a pleasure to see much of the work from the last two months come to a point of fruition in the form of final, milled lot samples. The milling quality has been excellent and the coffees are so balanced and clean. If you have not received samples yet and are expecting them, do not fret. Our focus at this time is on moving lots through the process as quickly as possible, in order to allow milling and export to happen as quickly as possible. In the end, this will serve everyone in the supply chain.

    I so greatly appreciate the tone of optimism and enthusiasm in Seth’s section of this week’s newsletter. The entire team has been pushing hard to move coffee as quickly as possible. Hours after Seth emailed me the copy for his section, however, we did run into what is currently a concerning situation. The dry mill which is contracted to mill and clean our coffees this year has been on strike. The strike concerns the mill owner and specifics surrounding former-employee pensions. In ever humbling Burundi coffee sector fashion, we are monitoring the situation patiently. A report I received just minutes ago relayed that the situation will hopefully be resolved early next week. That said, there is no way to know at this time. I will continue to use this space in these emails to update all of you concerning the situation.

    As always, if you feel that you have not been heard regarding your needs for this season, please reach out to me!

    Links worth checking out

  • The Long Miles Coffee Scouts: community changers and coffee innovators

    The Long Miles Coffee Scouts: community changers and coffee innovators

    Long Miles Coffee Scouts

    The Long Miles Coffee Scouts are grassroots community changers who take coffee quality very seriously. They are a team of twenty-six Burundians who live and work on the hills where coffee is grown. Under the leadership of Epaphras Ndikumana (Long Miles Social and Environmental Impact Leader), The Coffee Scouts come up with innovative and home-grown solutions to fight the threat of the potato taste defect, mitigate the effects of climate change on soil health and empower farmers with the tools they need to produce quality coffee.

    The Coffee Scouts got their name the day they left on their first mission, armed with spray bottles of organic pesticide to scout for antestia bugs, the colorful bugs linked to the potato taste defect, in neighboring coffee farms.

    Antestia bugs caught by Long Miles coffee scout

    “The name ‘scout’ is used in Burundi to describe a group of people in the Catholic church. Most of the time, they are dynamic people who are ready to serve their neighbors, whoever they might be. I thought that we needed dynamic men and women like this, who are ready to serve the community of coffee growers; people who are ready to spend their time and energy accompanying coffee farmers in the trajectory of becoming specialty coffee producers. This is why we called the team ‘The Coffee Scouts’.” – Epaphras Ndikumana, Long Miles Social & Environmental Impact Leader

    Since their inception in 2014, The Coffee Scouts have become a quintessential part of Long Miles, and have been pivotal in improving the quality of the coffee we produce at the farm level. They play a crucial role in bridging the gap between our washing stations and the neighboring coffee farming families who deliver their cherries to us.

    Each Coffee Scout works with a group of farmer friends from the hill they work on, committing to help them understand and use better agricultural practices. Together with these farmers, The Coffee Scouts set up Farmer Field Schools which are small, model coffee farms. On these farms, anyone in the community can come to practice farming techniques, ask questions, and learn.

    Long Miles coffee scouts

    During coffee harvest, The Coffee Scouts can be found in the field, guiding farmers through selective cherry picking or at the washing stations, helping with farmer reception and coffee cherry quality control. You can’t miss them in their bright red t-shirts. Long after coffee harvest has ended, you’ll still find The Coffee Scouts in the hills teaching communities of coffee growers the importance of mulching and fertilizing the soil, seasonally pruning their coffee trees, growing green manures, planting and distributing indigenous shade trees, and preparing coffee seedling nurseries. And catching antestia bugs, of course.

    While The Coffee Scout’s work is widely appreciated on the hills we collect coffee from, their job hasn’t come without challenges.

    “At the beginning, it was hard for us to get farmers to follow what we were doing. People had never seen others running after insects trying to catch them. They thought that we were crazy! It was also difficult to build relationships with communities of coffee growers because we were new to the coffee sector.”

    Back in 2014, the team was made up of just four junior agronomists working on two hills. Since those early days, The Coffee Scouts have expanded to a team of twenty-six (nine of which are women), working with coffee growing communities on twenty neighboring hills. Two of the founding Scouts have become the managers of Bukeye and Heza washing stations, with another two Scouts becoming washing station assistants.

    “Our vision is to scale the team, not just for Long Miles Coffee in Burundi but on an East African Community level. The valuable contribution of The Coffee Scouts, both in empowering coffee growers and increasing the quality of coffee they produce, needs to be known and recognized worldwide.” – Epaphras Ndikumana

    The Coffee Scouts are continuously growing as leaders and mobilizers in their communities. Their innovation and positivity is the beginning of a better future being realized for generations of coffee farmers in Burundi.

  • PERCEPTIONS OF BURUNDI’S ELECTIONS

    PERCEPTIONS OF BURUNDI’S ELECTIONS

    On 20 May 2020, more than five million Burundians lined up to cast their vote in the country’s presidential elections. This was the first set of democratic elections to take place in almost 15 years. We asked some coffee farmers what their thoughts were on this:

    “I heard people saying that there is a new president. I’m happy for him.”

    Jeannine. 35 years old.

    Burundian Coffee Farmer

    “I think the elections went well. I’m an old man who only needs peace, but for young people who need change it wasn’t the same case. Since voting day, the young people from the opposition party kept being badly beaten up by the young people from the ruling party. As parents, it hurts to see this. I believe that God will use the new president to make change. I don’t want to see Burundi going back to the bad times it went through.”

    Thomas. 55 years old.

    “The candidate that I voted for is not the one who won, but what is important is that until now there is peace in Burundi, and people are still doing their daily activities.”

    Jean-Claude. 32 years old.

    “I have bad memories of the last election, and this voting period scared me. In 1993, in less than 5 hours 15 of my family members, including my father, were killed. I was the only child left in the family. I appreciate how safe these elections were. I’m not surprised by the result, as I had put in my mind that the ruling part would be the winner in Burundi. Maybe our grandchildren will change things because I don’t believe that this generation will see political freedom.”

    Leonidas. 34 years old.

    “The election started well. During the campaigning period people were happy, but from the voting day things went bad. My brother who is a part of the opposition party was working in a polling station. People from the ruling party were there too and had a box of voting cards. They were voting for people who weren’t even there. When my brother stopped them, they beat him and he was taken to hospital. I’m not happy about the election results because the ruling party didn’t win; they stole it instead.”

    Eduard.

    Burundian Coffee Farmer

    “I’m waiting to see what new things the president will bring. I hope that he’s going to promote the coffee crop.”

    Pronie.

    “I don’t know many things about the elections. I only heard people saying that they went well. I went to a polling station at a nearby primary school. I don’t know who I voted for. The person who was working at the polling station told me to put my fingerprint in front of the eagle. There were many old people voting with me who were told to put their vote in front of that eagle too.”

    Bernadette. 70 years old.

  • HARVEST UPDATE

    HARVEST UPDATE

    From the farm, field and lab.

    NY Times article on the 2020 presidential elections in Burundi, East Africa

    FROM THE FARM

    words by Firmin, collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Story Team.

    On 20 May 2020, Burundi took to the polls to vote in the presidential election. This was a pivotal moment for the country as the last election like it, which took place in 2005, was wrought with controversy and violence. Firmin, a 52-year old coffee farmer from Mikuba hill, which is close to our Heza washing station, shares their thoughts on the elections.

    “Everything went well on the day of the elections. I went to vote at a polling station set up at a primary school on Nkonge (a neighboring hill) around 11:00 am. I didn’t want to go any earlier because I was waiting to hear about the security of the situation. Up until now, I can say that the elections went well. People are at peace and still going about their everyday activities as usual. Whenever elections have happened in Burundi, I have felt insecure because it reminds me of the bad times we went through as a country after the 1993 elections.

    Those who survived the violence in my family hid and lived in the bush for a month. There was one day when my father got drunk, made his way to our house and accidentally fell asleep there. He was killed that day, and all of his crops were thrown into a sewage pit. 

    It doesn’t really matter who wins the elections – whether the title of president is won fairly or not. What’s important is that there will be no more death on this hill. As someone who has already been through a terrible history of death caused by the elections, it is too early to tell if there will be peace. Violence only erupted three months after the 1993 elections. This time, I like to believe that there will be peace for longer.”

    Burundian coffee hills

    FROM THE FIELD

    written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager.

    “In the first update I raised the issue of irregular rain. What I want to narrate today is its consequence. In fact, after the long days of extravagant rain, next followed long days of baking sun. This, then, causes the berries to dry on trees instead of ripening. However, what is a problem on the one hand becomes an advantage on the other hand. In fact, two weeks ago, we were complaining that we do not have enough drying tables because parchment delays on drying tables, because of rain but today at one of our washing stations, the half of lots that were drying have been taken off table (because of enough sun light).

    I will also talk of Ninga Washing Station. Ninga is located 10 kilometers from Bukeye Washing Station. When Bukeye started, there were farmers who were members of a cooperative at Ninga who came to know Long Miles had opened a station at Bukeye. These cooperative members were interested in how Long Miles take care of the farmers they partner with (farmer education through coffee scouts programs, transparency, bonus, social projects…). So they decided to deliver their cherry to Bukeye, though it was far. When they were lucky, they rented a truck but it happened that cherry collection was banned. Then they started walking to Bukeye. However, it was not easy to reach Bukeye, not only because of the distance, but also because of threats from workers of another washing station they went past before reaching our station. Those workers were supported by some corrupt local leaders. As Ninga is a region with a lot of good coffee, Long Miles got a plan to build a Washing Station there. Then land was bought in 2017. We always thought Ninga could start in 2018 and Ninga farmers hoped to cut with the threats and long walking. But for many reasons, some financial, others related to coffee sector regulations and speculations, it is in this year that we will be able to set basic infrastructures that can allow us to receive farmers and dry some coffee on the land. So, farmers are very happy that the washing station they had been waiting for has just started slowly. For them, this is a victory as many challenges made them feel pessimistic while today, a candle of hope is shining in a room of darkness.”

    FROM THE LAB

    written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations

    “The first round of samples from the 2020 harvest season are officially en route to our lab in the States. Currently “On Hold” in Bahrain, according to DHL’s tracking, to be exact. These samples represent the very first coffees to come off of our drying tables this season. Over the next eight to twelve weeks I will be tracking hundreds of samples as they pour into our lab, eager to do a complete physical analysis on them, roast them, cup them, and in turn, send them back out to roasters and importing partners the world over.

    Admittedly, when I say “our lab” in the States, I am referring to a corner of my basement. Do not be mistaken, it is a well-outfitted corner. In it sits an Ikawa, a two-barrel Probat sample roaster, an EK43. Immediately upon moving into this house, three years ago, I installed what I deemed the necessary water treatment equipment to make sure I could cup and brew coffee I would be happy with. It is, without question, the basement of a coffee professional. But, a basement none-the-less.

    But that is 2020. I do not know one person who is not “making do” right now, who is not parent, teacher, employee, employer, (and so much more) all wrapped into one. While we often wear these many hats, we are not accustomed to doing so simultaneously. The dramatic shift away from what I, and so many others, know to be normal has provided some excellent and much-needed perspective.

    Just a few short weeks ago, for example, we believed that we were facing a harvest that would be comparable to the volumes we saw in 2017. As the days pass, one after another, without rain, we are realizing that some cherry on the tree is likely to not ripen. Though significantly better than last season, volumes will likely not be what we expected and certainly not what we had hoped for. Six months ago this would have been extremely jarring to me. But the world has taught me some measure of patience through the pandemic, some measure of understanding just how little control I have. As the old adage goes, it is not what happens but how we respond, and I am certain this year holds many wonderful responses from the team I am so lucky to work with.”

    Links worth checking out

  • Too Much Rain

    Too Much Rain

    Burundi coffee, Specialty coffee, Long Miles Coffee Project, Burundi

    “RUGURU (upcountry ) IS BAD. TOO MUCH RAIN.”

    It comes in a message from Anicet, one of our coffee scouts at the end of last year.

    The heavy rains have caused soil to spill down the steep slope our Heza washing station is built on, stopping just short of the cherry reception tanks. Part of the road leading to Heza has crumbled away, making it impossible for anything or anyone to pass. We have to make our way on back roads to reach Heza now, adding an extra hour onto our already two-and-a-half-hour journey.

    The rain started coming down in October and the ground hasn’t been dry since. It’s not unusual to have rain this time of year, but it is unusual to have so much. The reality is, Burundi doesn’t have the kind of infrastructure to handle all this rain. There are no real gutters here. No retaining walls or storm drains. Entire roads wash away, becoming one big deadly beast that makes its way through neighborhoods. This devastation spills over into farmers’ fields, uprooting crops. It breaks down homes, church buildings, erodes roads and sometimes claims lives.

    “YOU CAN’T GO 500M WITHOUT SEEING THE DAMAGE FROM THE RAIN. IT’S TOUCHING EVERYTHING, NOT JUST THE COFFEE.” – Merchicedeck, coffee farmer on Gikungere hill

    We’ve heard heartbreaking stories of friends waking up in the middle of the night, their belongings floating all around them. Families have spent days sweeping and scooping rainwater out of their homes by the bucketful. Raging knee-deep rivers have cut off entire neighbourhoods from one another.

    Burundi Coffee, Specialty Coffee, Long Miles Coffee Project, Burundi

    Last week we took to the coffee hills to see how our farming community was feeling about all the rain. On the way up, the one national road was blocked by piles of mud that had spilled down from the surrounding mountains, making it impossible for cars to pass. Trucks that usually haul goods and fuel across Bujumbura (Burundi’s economic capital) were stopped dead in their tracks. Lines of cars snaked both up and down the road, waiting for the mud to be cleared by hand. We counted two broken pipelines spilling precious water across the road with no one to fix them in sight.

    “THE BEGINNING OF COFFEE HARVEST IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HAPPY TIME FOR US, BUT THE RAIN IS BECOMING OUR ENEMY.” – Pascal, coffee farmer from Munyinya hill

    Burundi coffee, Specialty coffee, Long Miles Coffee Project, Burundi

    This is not just a challenge for Burundi. It’s a hard truth to swallow for South Sudan, Central African Republic, Uganda, DR Congo, Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.

    “MY FAMILY’S LIFE STANDS ON COFFEE. WE WERE EXPECTING A LOT OF IT THIS YEAR, BUT DAY BY DAY I WATCH IT DISAPPEAR. THE RIPENING COFFEE CHERRIES AND LEAVES KEEP FALLING OFF THE TREES BECAUSE OF THE HEAVY RAIN.” – Abel, coffee farmer from Munyinya hill

    Almost as quickly as the heavy rains came down, they slipped away again. We celebrate the dry days, our ears still prickling at the sound of rumbling thunder and dreading the pitter-patter of fresh rain.

  • Land for Burundi Coffee

    Following @kristyjcarlson on Twitter and Instagram gets me excited about being part of this family of four that has their hearts set on helping a community in rural Burundi produce amazing coffee. I’m so happy to be a part of it.

    Building a coffee washing station in Burundi has meant taking on an obscenely huge amount of challenges and obstacles on the way to realizing the dream.  Let’s just say accomplishing something like this in Burundi has few more challenges in it than building that lemonade stand in Wisconsin when I was six.

    For months now we have set our sites on building this coffee washing station.  Finding the perfect location was key to making it a success.  After 3 years of sourcing and cupping Burundi coffee, I knew where we needed to be.  The place we were looking for was sitting in the middle of a triangle of the best coffee washing stations producing the best coffee in all of Burundi.  Besides the best coffee, it was a place where farmers are too far to carry their coffee to the nearest station forcing them to sell to local buyers at ridiculously low prices.  It has one river, bringing plenty of fresh clean water to run the de-pulper.  Sitting at the perfect altitude with a micro-climate that is unique and ideal for producing the kind of coffee that makes you (ok, maybe just me) go weak in the knees.

    Three years to make certain of this specific spot.  Months to get all the paperwork done and meet all the farmers to explain the vision.  Weeks to get all the signatures of the owners of the land willing to sell and the neighboring farmers as witnesses. Then, on the last day before signing, we find out that two of the five farmers don’t feel like selling anymore.

    What do we do?  Tomorrow we go back to the land to talk to the farmers.  The area co-op president and commune elder have talked through our vision and are coming with us to make sure that the farmers know the kind of impact this station will have on the lives of all 2,500 families in the four surrounding hills.  If they still decide they don’t want to sell are we back to square one?  No, the commune elder said that we can have the two hectors next to the spot we want that are owned by the commune.  The rivers the same, the slope is great, and the view is stunning.  He gets the vision.  He has caught hope.  He tells us that they will do whatever it takes to see us partner with them.

    We have found our spot and started to put down our roots.  This challenge is just one of many in our way, but if it was easy we wouldn’t need to do it, it would already be done. Am I Worried? No, but we are weeks away from starting to build on land that we still don’t own with money we still have not raised… It will all happen though, it will all happen.

     

    Coffee Guy

     

  • Family Post

    Family Post

    Today I’m taking a step back. Looking at the last few months in pictures. I am blown away with gratitude. I am so grateful. Grateful for the journey we are on. Grateful that we live here even though IT’S TOUGH sometimes. Grateful for the people in our lives (the ones we see every day and the ones we don’t).

    Thanks for sticking with us.

  • A Christmas round-up

    I think our whole family is finally coming out of our “we just got here” coma. We made it home to America in time for Christmas!  In case you are new to the blog or just don’t get a chance to read every post (how could you!) we’ve rounded up a highlight reel for you.

    We began our move by sending the vehicle first. Ben left to drive our South African purchased vehicle from our home in South Africa 5,500 kms through Africa to Burundi. The first day of the journey his traveling companion had to turn back because of visa issues. He went on to do the drive alone (here’s my nifty map of the drive) which scared the crap outta me. The trip was not exactly convenient. I was left alone with two kids and a mostly packed house on our ten year anniversary.

    Then, as Ben drove on, my heart was tested and it was almost more than I could bear. My sweet littlest little got sick, so sick. We were in the hospital, friends were watching my oldest (some of the best friends on earth), and I was just praying that my littlest would breathe.

    Our littlest made a full recovery, and Ben eventually made it back to South Africa. When he did he was feeling pressure that we should have moved to Burundi already because the coffee was rolling in. That made my heart break because I was not ready to leave my lovely South African life. Certianly not before our schedule said so. But then we were there, it was time to jump. Ready or not.

    And we did. We landed with a thud. Into a house with 20 construction workers crawling all over it, a film crew following us around, and a kid throwing rocks through windows. Ben began cupping coffee all day long every day to try and catch up on his job. The boys and I just tried to survive. Every day was a test of my resolve to stay… and we had only just landed.

    Eventually the construction stopped. Not because they were finished, but because they ran out of money. I didn’t care. I was happy just to have them out. We began to make friends. I knew how to drive through all of this and life gained a rhythm. And we found ourselves preparing for a big day. Our biggest little’s first day in a French speaking school. When that day came, soon after so did another. A very unplanned for day. Ben had a potentially life threatening staph infection. We were faced with questions. Should he be airlifted to Kenya or South Africa? Should we risk the care in Burundi and stay? We decided to stay.

    He recovered, but I was tired. Tired of living at a flat out crazy man’s pace. We decided to make some changes. Changes that would ensure we could live life better. We found a nanny, we set some work boundaries, we made time for things that mattered. Then I lost something. Someone, really, who had journeyed with our family for what felt like a century, even though it was just a decade.

    Somewhere in there I got my first medium format film camera. I began to shoot. It was more than just a camera for me. I fell in love with the beauty of slowing down. Of taking time for things that need time. Of appreciating one thing at a time. The list goes on. My kids began to thrive. They made friends. Great friends. We began to see that this decision of ours, to be in this crazy place, might just be a blessing to all of us after all.

    And now it’s Christmas and I am so thankful to be in the land of warm and consistent showers… no matter what the temperature is outside. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

    Love,

    me

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