As I recall my time in Guatemala and look through my notes of all of the stories that I have heard of struggles and sorrow, I am happy to have two somewhat brighter tales for the end of my journal. My last weekend in Guatemala I had the opportunity to visit two amazing coffee farms. Finca La Florida and Santa Anita have very different histories, but similar struggles today.
Finca La Florida http://www.fincalaflorida.org/ was started by a group of campesinos who decided to squat a vacant farm. Originally there were about 40 families that started the squat. They were members of a labor organization that was attempting to get attention to the fact that it was becoming nearly impossible to find work due to the coffee crisis, and if they could find work they were either not paid, or payed less than what was reasonable. After a long struggle the people of La Florida were able to purchase their land at a reasonable price without interest. Today La Florida is a cooperative finca, one of the few in the country. The community grows coffee, and bananas. They also raise bees and have started growing macadamia nuts and bamboo to make furniture. They are completely organic and primarily sell their coffee fair trade to a company in Holland. They have started an Ecotourism project where people can stay on the farm and help with the crops and eat meals with a family in the community.
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| Grafting coffee plants at La Florida |
On our tour of the farm we watched people grafting coffee plants. Apparently the Caffea robusta is a larger coffee plant that produces a lesser quality coffee than the Caffea arabica. They graft the C. arabica tops onto the C. robusta roots so that the plant is more vigorous and grows a bit larger. The farm was beautiful and the feeling of everyone working together for the common good of the whole community was everywhere.
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| The hotel at Santa Anita |
The other finca I had the opportunity to visit was Santa Anita. http://www.santaanitafinca.com/. The finca was started by a group of ex-guerillas after the peace accords were signed. Part of the peace accords included a fund to loan money to ex-guarillas who wished to buy land instead of moving into the cities. 32 families live in the community. Each family has a house and a plot of land to grow food on, as well they are all involved in the production of the coffee and they have also started an ecotourism project that provides work for various women in the community. They also give tours and talks about the history of Santa Anita to bring in a little extra cash as well. It has been a struggle for the members of Santa Anita to pay off their loan, they are currently in negotiations to have the interest canceled on their loan to make it at leas somewhat more of a reality for them to keep their farm. The people of Santa Anita sell their coffee to Just Coffee http://www.justcoffee.coop/growerscoops.
The feeling at Santa Anita is very different from that of La Florida. All of the common buildings are covered in beautiful radical murals. They are not shy in talking about their history and the history of Guatemala. I asked if they taught about the war in the schools in their community because even though it was a 36 plus year civil war, it is not included in any of the history books in Guatemalan schools. Of course they do teach the history of the war at Santa Anita, they have different people from the community share stories with the children so that they can know the true history of their country.
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| Mural at Santa Anita |
Just a few years ago the people of Santa Anita finally got a clean water supply. Before they were hauling water to their houses from a creek for many years, then they had a pump system that workded sometimes. Now that they have gravity fed water life has become a lot easier for the community. I can´t put into words how beautiful the land is at Santa Anita, the people are equally as beautiful. Their lodge is stunning and the food is amazing.
It is an interesting conundrum that both of the communities of Santa Anita and La Florida are in. Since it is so uncommon for people to be paid a living wage (or paid at all in many cases) it seems like a good idea to form a cooperative and sell fair trade coffee. However, relying only on coffee as an export crop seems to prove to be a risky venture in this day and age. There are many factors that make it difficult. Growing coffee is agriculture, some years there is a bad crop, or some years everyone has a good crop and the price drops. Farmers that are fair trade and organic are able to get a better price selling their coffee, however they need to pay an insane amount of money to become certified, and then to maintain their certification.
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| The Che Guevera library at Santa Anita |
It is unfortunate that there is absolutely no incentive for coffee finca owners to become fair trade and organic. There are not many other options for people living in these places. Many of them have little to no education. The community of Santa Anita has built two schools a elementary and middle school that children from the community can attend as well as children that live in neighboring communities. I have heard numerous people in Guatemala say that the way to end the poverty and struggle that they face is through education. Middle and High School is not free in Guatemala, therefore many of the poor children are unable to afford to go to school. The mountain school provides scholarships to send children to middle and high school. They are also building a library for the communities of Nuevo San Jose and Fatima. It is difficult for children to study when they live in a tiny house with many people. They can not afford books, or the bus fair to go to Columba where there is a small library. If you want to donate to the library fund or the scholarship fund you can do so here... http://www.escuelamontana.org/projects_3.html Also I will be doing a presentation when I return home about my trip and will be collecting donations for these projects as well. I have been very fortunate to have my travels be a part of my school, I feel as though it is my duty to give back to the communities that have taught me so much.
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| My host family in Nuevo San Jose: Rony, Josefina, Fabiola & Angelica |
