David Cifuentes Velazquez, a coffee grower and member of the Just Coffee Cooperative, enjoys sharing with a visiting group how coffee is grown.
The personal testimony is so powerful. This past week, I was privileged to hear one personal story after another about how Just Coffee Cooperative was changing their lives.
David Cifuentes Velazquez was so excited that his son had returned from working in the States to Salvador Urbina, Chiapas, Mexico, where the family farmed coffee, due to the cooperative forming. David went on to tell about how his children lived next door to his home.
Every night we were there, the family all came together, singing long into the night. Many from the group that was part of a delegation to learn more about Just Coffee joined and sang along with them.
Each morning, the delegation would gather and review what we were experiencing. For example, one morning, Whitney Moss of Greer, South Carolina, said she had not laughed this much. She was touched by how everyone in the community enjoyed one another, and the conversations were full of joy and laughter.
As we walked around the community, the people always smiled at us and greeted us.
Joshua Ediger was one of the delegation participants. He is from Reedley, California, where he manages a local café. As we saw the coffee in all its stages, from growing, harvesting, de-pulping, drying, and roasting, Joshua could not stop commenting on how exciting it was to see and experience.
In his own words, Joshua talks about how this experience has changed him.
To order JustCoffee, go to their website www.JustCoffee.org.