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Coffee Kids Holiday Cards Available

Posted by Coffee Kids on November 25, 2009 at 6:31am

Looking for the perfect greeting card this holiday season? Thanks to Urnex for underwriting the printing, we have Coffee Kids holiday cards available. The cover features a beautiful image of a coffee plant by photographer Dorie Hagler from her photo documentary, Behind Every Cup.A set of ten (10) Holiday Greeting Cards costs $15 plus shipping and handling. (Inside message: Wishing you a peaceful holiday season and prosperous New Year!) Contact us to place your order at 505-820-1443 or info@coffeekids.org.

Executive Summit at Coffee Fest NYC

Posted by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 15, 2010 at 1:00pm

Join Coffee Fest in Meadowlands NJ March 4, 2010 for the Executive SummitCoffee Fest NYC Executive SummitThursday, March 4, 2010 from 9:00am-5:00pmWe are thrilled to make our Executive Summit a permanent fixture on the Coffee Fest line-up of events carefully crafted to help you build your bottom line. Held on Thursday, March 4, 2010, the Executive Summit titled Survive and Thrive in Coffee Today, culls from the industry's most respected professionals to bring participants a line-up of instructors and moderators who work as both guides and coaches -- directing you toward tools that will help you get the best out of your business. This day-long program serves up marketing and sales advice, techniques and stories to keep the momentum of your business rolling along.Executive Summit attendees will receive a complimentary copy of presenter, Ed Arvidson's new book, "Coffee Business, Success in a Turbulent Economy, Your Definitive Guide to Business Survival." Valued at more than $89, this book will become part of your business toolkit. The Executive Summit includes a lunch banquet. The summit is limited to the first 50 individuals and the cost is $249 -- a small investment for a big day.9:00 am – 10:00amBusiness Essentials to Survive the Economic FirestormLon LaFlamme – The BrandCoaches / Dillanos Coffee Roasters10:00am - 11:00amStrategies for Asset Protection, Cost Cutting and Employee Retention.Ed Arvidson - E&C Consulting11:00am - 12:00pmSocial Media How to Harness its Power to Build Your BusinessJeffrey Kingman – Chalkboarder12:00pm - 1:00pmLunch Banquet (provided)1:00pm - 1:30pmRound Table Networking SessionDebt management - Risks and Rewards of Various Financing OptionsModerator; Dan Bolton - Specialty Coffee Retailer1:30pm - 2:00pmRound Table Networking SessionCurrent Economic Firestorm, When and How will We EmergeModerator; Lon LaFlamme- Brand Coaches / Dillanos Coffee Roasters2:00pm - 2:30pmRound Table Networking SessionStaffing and Labor Management in These Challenging TimesModerator; Ed Arvidson - E&C Consulting2:30pm – 3:30pmSBA Programs and Case Studies on How SBDC designed to help small businesses grow and succeedVincent A. D'Elia, Regional Director – New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Bergen Community College3:30pm - 4:30pmA Fresh Marketing Strategy for This EconomyBruce Milletto - Bellissimo Coffee Info/Group

Coffee Kids on Google Earth

Posted by Coffee Kids on November 26, 2008 at 5:50am

Ever wanted to travel to see where Coffee Kids' partners work? Well, now you can... on your computer. All of Coffee Kids' partners in Latin America have been posted on Google Earth thanks to help from Winston Rost at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.Simply download Google Earth at http://earth.google.com and install the program on your computer. Then download the link below and double-click it to open up a list of all of Coffee Kids partners. By clicking on the partner's names, you can see where they are based, get information on how they're helping coffee-farming families, and find links to photos of their work.

CoffeeKids_2008-2009.kmz google earth interface

Coffee Kids' Partner Opens Training Center, Celebrates 20 Years

Posted by Coffee Kids on November 26, 2008 at 5:42am

By Kyle FreundThis past weekend (Nov. 21-23), I traveled down to Oaxaca, Mexico, to attend the 20th Anniversary celebration of Coffee Kids’ partner, CAMPO. They also dedicated their new training center, which they built with support from Coffee Kids. photo of CAMPO Training Center

The new training center teaches by example. It was built using an environmentally-friendly compacted earth technique. Similar to adobe, it involves building molds and compacting dirt to form a solid wall. A water catchment system below the building collects rainfall in two large cisterns. The thick walls keep the building cool in the summer and warm when the temperature drops. CAMPO also has a number of demonstration projects to teach visitors from throughout the state of Oaxaca about organic gardening, permaculture, composting, fish farming, grey water treatment and bee keeping.Over 800 people attended the celebration. Before dinner was served, I gave a few words about the importance of CAMPO’s work and presented them with a certificate from Coffee Kids on behalf of all of our supporters to honor their work improving the quality of life in the entire region. photo of Coffee Kids presenting diploma

After dinner I ran into Pedro Osorio. We’d met a year earlier when Coffee Kids staff visited the community of Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, a far-flung community clinging to a mountainside in the Sierra Mixteca. He told me about their efforts to develop a new cooperative for coffee farmers in the area and a number of their efforts to diversify local income. When we last visited the community, they were working on a small eco-hotel for tourists. Santa Cruz is in the middle of a globally-important nature preserve and many in the community have learned the importance of conserving their natural resources and how it can be marketed to attract tourists. Hope I can get back there for a visit some day.After dinner, Jose Carlos Leon Vargas and Jose Luis Zarate from our Oaxaca office and I interviewed Eduardo Torres Navarrete, one of the founders of CAMPO. We had a great conversation and it’s easy to understand why CAMPO has been so effective over the past 20 years thanks to his leadership. I’ll be posting excerpts from our interview with him soon.Thanks to all of our supporters who have make the projects we support possible. These efforts are making a great difference. If you'd like to see more pictures from the event, please visit our Flickr page. If you'd like to support Coffee Kids efforts, Coffee Kids donate page and make your contribution today.

Coffee Kids Voice from the Field: Itzel Guadalupe

Posted by Coffee Kids on April 9, 2008 at 7:30am

Itzel Guadalupe is a member of a youth training group and the radio production workshop sponsored by AUGE, a Coffee Kids partner in Cosautlán, Veracruz, México.

"I have been a part of the youth training group since 2006. I began by participating in a survey that we conducted and other topics. Itzel of Cosautlan in the area of Teocelo. The idea was to learn what the youth enjoyed and liked to do, to know what they think, where they are from, what they study, what they see for their future, to learn why they emigrate or stop studying.

"After that, I got involved in other groups with the trainers including music, theater, painting and dance. I’m currently working in radio production and training. There I’ve had the opportunity to participate in the production of radio spots for a world campaign to prevent AIDS for which we won the UNICEF/OneWorld Radio Prize in 2006. We went to Mexico City to receive the prize.

"I have also participated in a Mesoamerican Network of Youth that they conduct every year on a national level. It was a wonderful experience and it’s interesting to participate in the workshops and meet other youth from other regions, states and countries that have similar ideas and a different vision for the country. And it’s rewarding to meet other young people who not only think about having fun, but also think of the future.

"Another part of the work I do at my school. As a part of my social service, I spend time teaching women from the savings groups in my community to use computers. That way they can track their savings and loans using Excel in the computer that AUGE donated.

"I have enjoyed working with AUGE because from them we have learned and had many experiences that will serve us well in the future."

Coffee Kids Voice from the Field: Miriam Canto Juarez

Posted by Coffee Kids on March 17, 2008 at 6:30am

Miriam Canto Juarez is a 13-year-old from the community Ocotitlan, Ixhuatlan de Café, Veracruz, Mexico. She takes part in programs run by Coffee Kids partner, Self-Managed Development (AUGE).

"I am part of the children’s savings group called ’Coral,’ this year with the help of Coffee Kids, our group has received training to help us become facilitators, or as we call them, ’promoters.’ We learned about the different types of leadership and other topics like drug addiction, domestic violence, sex education and alcoholism. Since I am also part of a group of women in the GMAS program called ’Las Americas,’ everything I learn with the Coral group, I share with my women’s group

"The ’Las Americas’ group is around 30 women. My mother and one of my sisters are also members. Doña Clara Palma, the coordinator of the GMAS groups and of the children’s savings groups, asked me to share what I learn in my children’s group with the women’s group because it is important to share what you learn. I enjoy this a lot and we use active lessons that are like games and so we learn with more ease.

"Currently, I am studying in secondary school and when I grow up I would like to be a teacher because I really like to teach. The topics that I like most are leadership, because I think that we women can also direct things. And I like to explain things related to the environment because they are very important and because we cannot afford to lose what we have.

"When the women in my group listen to me, I feel great because I don’t feel nervous talking in public. Before I was nervous and scared, but not anymore. I’m not paid for this work, but I gain confidence in myself and now the women in my group know that they can listen to children as well as adults."

Voice from the Field: Juana Sisimite

Posted by Coffee Kids on June 16, 2008 at 12:52pm

Juana Sisimite is an artisan project instructor working with Coffee Kids' partner Association for Sustainable Development of Paraxaj (ADESPA) on their Technical Work Training Program. Sisimite is teaching 26 women from the community of Paraxaj how to create 'fajas' or decorated belts that women in the region use as part of their traditional dress. This artisan project is part of ADESPA's larger goal to create economic options in the coffee-farming community of Paraxaj.

"I learned this work watching other women who dedicated themselves to this activity in the community of Patzicia and since it the work appealed to me, I decided I wanted to learn. In the beginning it was hard because no one was teaching me and so the only way to learn was to put the needle in the beads and begin with a line that took me almost a week. I was the first in my familiy to learn this work and afterward I taught my sisters, now we all do this work.

"Now we are teaching all of these women. I told them to take advantage o the opportunity to learn because you can make money in this business. We deliver our products to three places in the town of Chimaltenango, and in the festival season they sell very well. The type of embroidery varies depending on the community, each place has its own colors. For example, in some places the colors of red are used a lot and they don't use white, but this changes according to town and traditional dress.

"The 'fajas' we make can be sold at an average price of Q125 ($17); and to the public in the store sthey sell at about Q150 ($20). The materials to do this work are expensive and we buy them in the town of Patcizia which is about a half-hour away.

"I am single , but when I have my children, I'm going to teach them everything because my mother liked to work a lot and she made many things. She didn't know how to do this work, but we learned other things with her such as weaving and embroidery and other types of clothes."

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.