Tag: Burundi coffee washing station

  • 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!

  • Happiness Is My (New) Old Beat Up Land Rover

    Happiness Is My (New) Old Beat Up Land Rover

    I’m not entirely sure why buying a car with only one working door, a ridiculously torn interior, a Flinstone-esk floor, a broken backseat and the roar of a tractor has made me so happy. This week, because of all our trips upcountry to work on the coffee washing station, we finalized the purchase of an old Land Rover Defender. She (yes, that’s right, it’s a girl) had me at “hello.” Yesterday was my maiden voyage upcountry with the Land Rover. My three year old sat on the back seat until I realized that not only are there no seat belts, but the back seat isn’t latched to the floor and so it launches it’s passengers into the front whenever we hit a rough bump… which in Burundi happens about every two seconds. Hmmm… that’s not ideal. We’ll get that fixed and put some seat belts in, I promise.

    Burundi roads are… unique. The road to the coffee washing station is full of potholes, motorcycles, massive trucks, people, goats, chickens, bike taxis, vegetable sellers… the list goes on. Bikers hang on to the back of semi trucks to get a ride uphill. These hitchhiking bikers are great because they act as “wingmen,” signaling the cars caught behind the truck they are hanging onto when it is safe for to overtake or pass. Do you trust these wingmen or not? That’s always the question! Generally I do, but I kind of squint my eyes and scream “eeeeeeeek” as I hit the gas.

    Once I got the three year old safely latched down, he slept and I thought not only about how amazing it is to drive a “tractor” but also about how thankful I am for this coffee washing station project and the good that it is doing not only the coffee farmers, but also me.

    Yeah, it’s going to help 2,500 coffee farming families and all… but being on the land and watching it take shape has been like something out of a really great dream. It’s this wanna-be-farm-girl’s dream come true… and now I even have the “tractor” for it.

    I took this pic from the top of the coffee washing station land. Beautiful “tractor,” beautiful hills…. what more could a wanna-be-farm-girl ask for? Not much. Hey, and forgive me but these are all iPhone pics. I have had 3 cameras rolling on the building of this washing station, so WATCH OUT more coming your way soon.

  • Day 1: Building A Burundi Coffee Washing Station

    long miles coffee projectWe 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!

  • 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

     

  • Let’s Build A Coffee Washing Station!

    Let’s Build A Coffee Washing Station!

    long miles coffee project

    long miles coffee project

    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!”

    long miles coffee project

    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.

    long miles coffee project

    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.

     

    long miles coffee project

     

    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

     

    long miles coffee project

     

    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.

     

     

scroll to top
error: