Tag: Burundi coffee farmers

Early Payday For Burundi Coffee Farmers

We ventured out into rural Burundi as a family last weekend to make early payments to the coffee farmers who are delivering coffee cherries to the new washing station. For weeks, the farmers have been delivering their coffee cherries to collection points we’ve set up near their communities. It’s one of the reasons you’ve heard so little from us, we’ve been busy building the station and organising community coffee delivery to the station. Coffee is one of the few ways these communities make money, and most farmers have to wait until October or as late as December to see any money from their hard work.

Last year, the average coffee farmer in Burundi earned $133 for the entire year. We are trying to change that number for the better in a number of empowering ways. Giving farmers an early payment for the coffee cherries that they have delivered to the Long Miles washing station not only builds trust with the community but it also allows farmers the opportunity to have some funds to get them through the lean months until full payment arrives towards the end of the year.

Each farmer has a card detailing how much coffee they have delivered to the station so far. Goat brochettes anyone?

^ Hello! This guy had me at first glance. The minute I saw him I knew I had to find a way to photograph him. There is always a crowd.

We were busy checking out a pig (in the wooden cage to the right) while farmer payday got underway. Getting organized.All tuckered out. Thanks for the photo, Coffee Guy, because one of my goals is to get IN FRONT of the camera more so that my boys remember I was there!

You can buy Burundi coffee that supports the washing station build and the coffee farmers delivering coffee to the station from Dogwood Coffee. They are donating $4 a bag towards the Long Miles Coffee washing station. Thanks Dogwood!

May 17, 2013
A walk around town and a washing station update.

We took a walk around the town of Bukaye, the closest town to our coffee washing station site, (which is now less of a site and more of an ACTUAL station) a few days ago and let the kids roam the streets and find interesting treasures. You can view the full post with a slideshow here.

We are excited that the washing station is almost finished and ready for the harvest that is coming in as I write. I can’t wait to show you harvest time and how the station has progressed. For now… here’s a sneak peak of the washing station being built.

Happy Weekend!

April 19, 2013
Day 1: Building A Burundi Coffee Washing Station

We are too tired to move or write much after today, but WOW what progress in our first day building this coffee washing station here in rural Burundi. Thanks for all the well wishes friends, we FEEL them. Thank you!

If you would like to support this project by drinking coffee, please buy Dogwood Burundi coffee online or in store. They are giving $4.00 PER BAG back to building this washing station. Thank you Dogwood Coffee!

March 4, 2013
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

February 26, 2013
Burundi Coffee Farmer Story | Rosato Rugoke

This is Rosato and he’s a Burundi coffee farmer…When he looked into my camera lens, I felt like I saw his entire soul just hanging out in the open. Like many Burundians, Rosato is not sure how old he is. He thinks that he might be 85. Rosato is one of the founding members of the Mpemba Coffee Cooperative. His father wasn’t alive when coffee was being produced in Burundi, which makes him a first generation coffee farmer. Rosato learned about coffee during the monarchy, possibly around 1932. He began with just a few trees and now he has around 400 coffee trees. It has been a long road, keeping his trees healthy throughout the war.Rosato is not alone in this life, he shares it with a wife and 4 children. He hopes his children will continue to follow in his steps, as coffee farmers.

Hasselblad 501 C with proxers, Fuji400 desaturated

Behind the scenes, Neo helps photograph Rosato. Mamiya 645 Pro TL , Fuji400 desaturated

February 4, 2013
Let’s Build A Coffee Washing Station!

We are beginning something that makes our family pretty close to giddy.

Giddy is really not my thing.

I’m the Midwestern American stoic type…

(with a strange leaning towards living room dance parties).

But this….

This project makes me want to stand up on a couch somewhere and shout “Yes!”

What is it?

We are opening a coffee washing station. Let me explain just why this is SO EXCITING! Coffee farmers in Burundi grow coffee in small personal plots. Each plot ranges in size, but most are about half the size (or smaller) than the typical American backyard. On this small plot families grow EVERYTHING that they need to survive for the year. They might have coffee, banana trees, corn, beans, and manioc all on the same plot. My hubs, the Coffee Guy, explains a bit about what a washing station does:

The washing station’s main purpose is to remove the coffee seed from the skin and fruit and dry out the seed to prepare it for hulling and export. For great tasting coffee the washing station has to do much more. Without a well run washing station within a few hours walk farmers can expect a barely livable wage with little to no chance of premiums. Too long a distance or poorly operated and marketed stations destroy any hope of long-term relationships with buyers. Direct trade relationships with roasters and western importers are the key to help create a stable and sustainable source of income for the 2,000+ smallholder farmers surrounding each station.

How will it help people?

We have identified a potential washing station spot surrounded by 2,500 coffee farming families. In order to deliver their coffee cherries they currently need to walk 9 miles over slippery mountain slopes with the coffee cherries on their backs. Because the nearest washing station is so far, often their coffee is fermented and useless when they finally deliver it.

We are asking God to change their story into one of hope. The start of this change will be the building a coffee washing station close to the homes of these 2,500 coffee farming families.

We believe this project will be a launching pad for initiating positive change in this community. Our big dream is to see the transformation of this community from one that is barely living week to week into one that is safe and thriving and fully fed. Employment, clean water, better education, farmer education, technical skill building, women’s sewing projects, orphan care, food security projects and most importantly the transforming power that having HOPE in the future and in a real and caring God can bring.

Will you help us build it?

We are looking for donations to make this project possible. To give, click the donate button on the top right of this blog.

Amount Needed: $40,000

Amount Raised: $14,420

If you would like to give towards this project, we are offering the following gifts as a thank you for your involvement.

Donors over $100 will receive:

A set of postcards depicting the washing station and its farmers.

Donors over $500 will receive:

2 lbs of Burundi coffee

Three 12×12 prints of the following: the coffee, the farmers or the station itself.

Donors over $1,000 will receive:

5 lbs of Burundi coffee

A 12×12 gallery wrapped canvas wall hanging of one of the following: the coffee, the farmers or the station itself

A set of postcards depicting the washing station, the coffee and its farmers

Donors over $5,000 will receive:

8 lbs of Burundi coffee

A set of two especially chosen (12×12) gallery wrapped canvases or one 16×20 gallery wrapped canvas. Canvases will depict one of the following: the coffee, the farmers or the station itself

A DVD box set of Season 1 of the Long Miles Coffee Project TV show (airing soon)

Good things come to those who wait! Please keep in mind that your DONOR GIFTS WILL ONLY BE SHIPPED IN 2014. We are asking for your patience as we focus all of our energies on launching this project.

Donations can be made by clicking the PayPal button at the top of this site. Interested in donating but still have questions? We will be answering any questions in the comments section below or email me at kristy@longmilescoffee.com.

December 18, 2012
An Open Letter

Dear One in the sky and in my heart,

What is your plan?

I would really like to know.

The thing is, it’s hard work trusting you right now.

Why that is, I’m not sure.

Probably because I am a tiny speck and I never really understand what’s going on.

It’s not like you’ve EVER failed us.

Faith.

It’s a funny thing believing in what you don’t see,

and yet seeing it all around AT THE SAME TIME.

You know about our curve ball,

the one that has us LEANING IN for comfort.

It’s not a Major League curve ball, more like Little League…

but it changes some things.

I hate change and YET

when I look back, my FULLEST moments

have been TRUSTING YOU

through CHANGE.

The births of them, the births of dreams… all the births and firsts that come from saying “YES.”

Saying YES.

It’s so hard sometimes.

I’m going to cry the whole way through this YES, even though it feels so true.

So right.

So YOU.

For the record,

I stand here in AWE of what YOU’VE done for us.

Tiny people. Blessed people.

When I look back on life,

my only regret so far is not saying YES more OFTEN.

And BTW,

“Thank You” is just not ever going to be enough.

Love,

Me

p.s. Sorry for all the whining I do along the way.

November 15, 2012
Burundi Cup of Excellence Predictions. How did I do?

Well, the Burundi Cup of Excellence has come and gone and now the burning question on everyone’s mind is “how did Ben’s predictions turn out?” That and maybe “who were the top 10?” Those two questions will be answered in the video! Enjoy.

Coffee Guy

Burundi Cup of Excellence. Was I right? from Ben Carlson on Vimeo.

September 7, 2012
Burundi Coffee Farmer: Benjamin from Musema

This is Benjamin. We met Benjamin along the side of a dirt road in Musema. He was picking coffee cherries from his trees, and our kids were climbing over a fallen tree nearby with some local kids. We had a minute, so I asked Benjamin a little bit about his life. Here’s what he had to say.

Station: Benjamin delivers his coffee cherries to Musema washing station.

Family: Married, with one wife. He has five daughters, who all married coffee farmers. He’s very proud of that.

Trees: Benjamin has 1200 coffee trees. That makes him a very successful farmer by Burundi’s standards.

Last seasons crop: Last year Benjamin produced more than a ton of coffee and got 630 Burundi Francs per kilo ($.50 per kilo). That means Benjamin made about $500.00 last year. He also got a end of season bonus, along with other farmers from the station, from Bean There Coffee for producing such great coffee.

This seasons crop: This year Benjamin is producing less coffee. Most farmers are producing more. He doesn’t know why this is. He thinks his trees will yield about 500-700 kilos of coffee cherry this year. Because the NYC price has dropped, Benjamin will only make 465 Burundi Francs per kilo this year ($.33 kilo). At best, Benjamin will make about $230.00 this year.

June 18, 2012

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