January 22, 2009
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BERTHA GARCIA
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was in the 4th grade when she began with Fotokids, an organization committed to educating the poorest of children in Guatemala. Bertha was curious and fearless in the photos she took of post civil war injustices and assassinations in her community.
In 2005, Bertha nearly lost her life in a mud slide caused by Hurricane Stan but was able to escape by crawling out of a window as the mud filled her house. Over 600 died that day in her town.
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Now 21, Bertha is working on her law degree and works for the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission. With the support of Fotokids and Pura Vida, Bertha has become a community leader and recognizes that the highest aspiration is being of service to others.
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Support others like Bertha, buy our coffee today!
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Thank you for supporting Pura Vida Coffee and our effort to Create Good!
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Sincerely,
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Sam Snyder – Program Director
January 8, 2009
Undergrads Design Study Service Trip to Guatemala – August 2008
Shown left to right: Jessica Madding, Mike Niconchuk, Marcus Cheek, Katy Simon, Kathryn Taylor, Chloe Rousseau, Tomas Valdes, Krista Morris, Ekaterina Titova
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Nine Tufts first year students and a junior designed their own study trip to Guatemala that enabled them to meet with senior officials and set the basis for ongoing work with a coffee cooperative.
The group, one of four organized this summer under the Tisch Active Citizen Summer International program at Tisch College, spent five weeks in the Central American country. They traveled as part of the Building Understanding through International Learning and Development (BUILD) program, sponsored by the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts.
Focusing on sustainable development, earlier BUILD groups worked in Nicaragua and had a primary goal of cultural immersion. Wanting to focus more on community engagement, the group decided to organize their own trip rather than be sponsored by an NGO.
“We knew we wouldn’t have a lot of time, so we wanted to make the most of it,” said Kathryn Taylor, who organized and led the trip with Mike Niconchuk and Toby Bonthrone.
Also participating in the program were Katy Simon, Chloe Rousseau, Tomas Valdes, Marcus Cheek, Ekaterina Titova, Krista Morris, and Jessica Madding.
On arrival in Guatemala City, the students spent the better part of a week meeting with representatives of the UN Development Programme, the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, the local office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Guatemalan Congressman Oliviero García Rodas. The meetings provided a context on economic conditions and the pace of development in the country since the armed conflict ended in 1996.
The group then split the remaining four weeks at the Santa Anita and Nueva Alianza coffee cooperatives, both in Quetzaltenango Department in the country’s Western Highlands.
During each of those stays, the students worked mornings, clearing brush in the jungle, gathering firewood, and picking and shelling macadamia nuts. Afternoons were spent conducting interviews on economics, education, and other community development issues, all with a focus on sustainable development. They lodged in former plantation houses that have been converted into guest quarters.
“We wanted to learn what the community members felt they needed most,” said Taylor. “Working beside them in the morning helped establish the relationships that let us have good interviews.”
Each of the Tufts students speaks Spanish, albeit it at different levels, with three being fully fluent.
Based on their experience, the students decided they want to continue to work with the Santa Anita cooperative, which has not yet established the same level of international contacts that Nueva Alianza has in place. That work will likely focus on helping the cooperative establish contacts with key sources of expertise.
According to Taylor, the Santa Anita cooperative needs to restructure its loan with the Fondo de Tierra, the government organization that facilitated the sale of land after the peace accords were achieved, and it needs more administrative expertise to manage its business. Resolving these issues, among others, will help persuade more members of the 32 families that form the cooperative to stay and work, as opposed to seeking employment in Guatemala City, as now happens. The cooperative also needs a nursery to cultivate coffee seeds so it won’t have to buy them elsewhere at a substantially higher price.
The students followed up their trip by conducting related research and then publishing their findings through the Institute of Global Leadership at Tufts. Their findings included a detailed development plan for Santa Anita. They are currently implementing that plan with the leadership of Santa Anita.
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For more information about the BUILD program at Tufts please visit http://www.tuftsgloballeadership.org/programs/build
January 1, 2009
Elizabeth Lara Nuñez
is 16 years old and is working against all odds for a bright
future. She lives in San Jose, Costa Rica and even though the
violence of drugs and alcohol surround her and gun fire can
often be heard throughout her neighborhood, Elizabeth
presses on with optimism. Recently she was given the
“most determined student of the year” award by her peers
and teachers.
Elizabeth credits Funda Vida for much of her determination
and positive attitude. She finds needed help and resources
through the nutrition and computer centers which are
supported by Pura Vida and made possible because of your
support.
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Thank you for supporting Pura Vida
Coffee and our effort to Create Good®!
Kindly,
Sam Snyder – Program Director