9
Nov
2009
Tierras de Vida 2009 – Agros Benefit
Saturday evening Dan, Minette (his wife), Jodi (my wife), and I all had the pleasure of attending Agros International’s annual donor banquet, Tierras de Vida. It was a wonderful event complete with a great meal, good company, and many Agros supporters (I heard the number was very close to 400). The atmosphere was electric to say the least. Everyone was talking, meeting new people and swapping Agros stories. Agros was so kind to allow us to put a pound of Camano Island Coffee on the table for each and every person attending. Also, with dinner they served our coffee to the audience.
The night kicked off with Agros’ founder, Skip Li sharing his vision that started the organization. The mic passed on to a couple more people through the night including the Executive Director from Chiapas, Mexico. He gave his first speech in English that night after working on the language for close to 5 years. He did a great job and was actually very easy to understand. He explained the desperate situations in Mexico and what was needed to start correcting the direction of the families in poverty there. The mic then passed on to Hanz Theyer, the new, Chilean born (and quite proud of it) President/CEO of Agros International.
As a side note, I had the pleasure of meeting Hanz a few months back when he was still extremely new to Agros. He is a great man with a very passionate vision for the future and direction of Agros. Saturday evening, he explained (in great detail) the way Agros works. It was a great refresher to hear each step of the 7 year village selection process through the successes Agros has had with the villages that have made it through that process.
Hanz then intro-ed a guest from Guatemala. Her name was Teresa Sánchez López. She had a wonderful story in store for us that I wanted to pass on to our blog followers. She opened up talking about her village. In the beginning (pre-Agros), her village had a lot of issues. The boys were forced to learn how to fight at a young age. The families had to endure many hardships. Then, when they became overwhelmed, they were forced to flee their area. Money was always difficult to come by but at this point, it was almost impossible to get. At the end of their rope, they went to Agros and asked for their assistance to get back on the right track. Agros walked them through the process of becoming a supported village. Agros then helped turn the village around.
Teresa then moved into how Agros had turned her life around. Through her village’s involvement with Agros, she was able to attend University. She obtained a scholarship from “Women’s Enterprise” and was able to graduate. She then told us (through a translator) that she was one of the only women from Ixil to graduate from university. This was met with a standing ovation by the entire group of attendees. She then ended by saying that she planned on taking what she had learned back to her village to further help improve their lives. This was, once again, met with a standing ovation.
The rest of the night was enjoyable and we drove home to Camano. I couldn’t help but notice how important it was for me to have that reminder of Agros’ mission. I highly encourage you all to check out Agros’ Gift Catalog on their website or support them through purchasing our coffee and gifts for the holidays.
I appreciate all of you as you help further CICR’s vision of helping these people see the success that Teresa and her village have seen.
Thanks for spending the time to read this and I hope your November is great!
Jeff – CICR
7
Oct
2009
Is it time to ReThink Your Organization’s Coffee Program?
ReThink Coffee – Sustainable Coffee Program for Organizations and Churches
We wanted to take this opportunity to announce our newest venture with Agros. ReThink coffee is a new way to look at your organization or church missions program. Instead of purchasing coffee that keeps people in a cycle of poverty and then giving money out to various missions, ReThink coffee offers a better way to do real missions work.
Many people do not understand that coffee is the second largest commodity in the world… next to oil. While we can’t make much of a difference with our oil purchases – we can all make a huge difference in our coffee purchases. If every coffee drinker were to be more responsible in their coffee purchases – poverty in many of the world’s rural areas would be overcome.
We use the term “The coffee that helps you sleep at night” because every time you purchase coffee… you know that you are helping third-world farmers on their path to sustainability. This work allows us to truly “Teach a man to fish” instead of “giving a man a fish”. When we help a family through loans and education to first own their own land this gives them the opportunity to have hope for their future and as a direct result of our support for the products they grow they now have life. When we give them a handout or a short-term fix, fear is created because they don’t know who to go to tomorrow.
As Americans, we must change our thinking from “is this the best price for coffee?” to “will this small amount of money be multiplied to create the most good in the lives of the people who earn it?”
For more information please go to www.agros.org and remember whenever you purchase your next package of coffee, make sure it is certified organic…shade grown…and fairly traded.
Thanks for coming along with us on this journey of responsible consumerism – and remember next time you are re-thinking your coffee selection…there is really a coffee that helps you sleep at night.
If you’re interested in getting coffee for your organization or you are looking for a new church coffee program, please visit ReThink Coffee’s website.
Jeff – CICR
11
Sep
2009
Trace Bundy – An Agros Supporter and Camano Coffee Drinker
A few months ago, we had a younger gentleman and his wife show up at the Camano Island Coffee roasting building to enjoy some coffee. As a geek, and a mac user (sorry PC people), I immediately smiled seeing both of them pull out Mac computers and iPhones. I walked up to them and chatted with them a bit. Turns out, they had heard about us (and tried our coffee) from Agros and they were Agros supporters. After the round of introductions, I found out that Trace’s latest CD was inspired from a trip he and his wife, Becca took with Agros.
Being the geek that I am, I looked up his facebook page and myspace page. Then I found his website. I totally fell in love with his music. Trace plays “finger-style acoustic guitar” and uses “digital looping” to create an effect similar to many guitars playing different parts all at once. The catch is, he’s is the only one playing. I bought his CD (from itunes) immediately and am listening to it as I type this post and listen to it frequently… it’s good music to work to!
Recently, I received an email from Emily Bergstrom with Agros. I wanted to share a couple small excerpts from that email with you all:
“Trace and Becca Bundy said to say hello to you all and thanks for the coffee beans (which they plan to enjoy this great Sunday morning!)”
I checked out his facebook site and found a link for you to check out if you’d like to see about his upcoming concerts. “Note: brewing and serving our aromatic coffee was a great way to get folks over to the table and talking about village productive initiatives. Many took home the Camano Island brochures for future purchases, and many more wished they could have bought a bag on the spot… to consider for your future events 
”
Not only was Trace this really awesome musician I got to meet in person, but he is talking about CICR’s Coffee and our mission and supporting Agros. His support of Agros really makes him stand out from a lot of other musicians out there, in my mind.
That all said, I wanted to introduce you to him and encourage you to check out his music. I’ve linked to his sites throughout this article but wanted to provide a quick list of some great Trace Bundy links to learn more about him.
Website
Facebook
YouTube – Recommended MySpace
iTunes
Ok, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading and I hope you discovered a musical gem as we here at CICR have!
Dan – CICR
7
Sep
2009
Camano Island Coffee Roasters and Agros – New Video
We’re officially launching our new video into the wild! This video has a lot of thought put into it. Our main purpose was to really highlight the relationship between Camano Island Coffee Roasters’ Coffee Lover’s Club prosumers and the work Agros does through their support. We’re really proud of this video and the message it relays. Please enjoy it and share it with your friends!
Don’t forget, this month we’re including an empty sample bag for you to share some of your favorite coffee with a friend. If you give a little of your coffee up front, a brochure, and this video and it brings us a new customer, we’ll reward your efforts with a free shipment!
Thanks!
CICR
21
Jun
2009
Agros: Land, Hope, Life.
Most of our customers are aware of our relationship with Agros and they know that Agros is one of the ways the Camano Island Coffee Roasters is able to create hope for many around the globe. At the roasting facility, one of the questions we are asked frequently is, “What does Agros do to create this change?” or (slightly summarized) “How does Agros work?”. I wanted to take the time to share with you a very quick glimpse of the organization called Agros International.
Agros.org states what they are on the front page in a nutshell:
“Agros International is committed to breaking the cycle of povery for rural families in Central America and Mexico by enabling landless communities to achieve land ownership and economic stability. Having learned that the root causes of poverty extend across communities and are passed down from generation to generation, the Agros development model is holistic, sustainable, and focused on long term results. This commitment to the long-term sustainability of a whole community serves to break the cycle of poverty in all its forms.”
What makes Agros work is also what make their organization a perfect fit for our Coffee Lover’s Club members. Agros is NOT an organization that makes a habit of giving out cash, services, or goods to “help” a needy family. They believe, as does CICR, that that doesn’t solve anything. Instead that causes a dependancy that isn’t healthy and doesn’t promote self-sustainability.
Agros creates positive change for the long haul, not for the immediate moment. Their whole style is sustainability through land ownership. The land is purchased by Agros and then sold at cost to the families. This gives those families the opportunity necessary to create a lasting change, which is really what they needed.
“The Agros development process consists of six primary components, and requires an approximate 7-10 year investment.” The components are:
- Community Organization – “Help families define a vision for a new community and develop the local leadership required to create a self-sustaining, thriving community.”
- Land Ownership - “Work with families to identify and purchase agricultural land on credit and use their payments to purchase land for other new communities.”
- Community Education and Training – “Create opportunities for adequate healthcare, education, adult literacy and spiritual growth.”
- Housing and Infrastructure – “Implement community and individual construction projects such as houses, schools, irrigation systems, latrines, infrastructure and community centers.”
- Sustainable Economic Growth – “Develop agricultural production and support income-generating activities through microenterprise loans and technical training.”
- Passing on the Blessing – “Give other communities the opportunity to own land through repaid loans and empower them to dream of a brighter future for their children.”
read more in depth information here
We feel it’s important that our Coffee Lover’s Club customers know exactly what their purchases are doing to create hope for others. Please check out Agros at the following links:
www.agros.org, on Facebook, on Twitter and watch some of their videos on our YouTube channel or the video page on our blog.
Dan – CICR
30
Mar
2009
Charity vs. Sustainability
There is an old saying about teaching a man to fish vs. giving a man a fish. Although, we all have heard someone make this statement, few of us really know what it means.
The American concept of charity is to give to those in need, and yet with a little work, we can redefine charity and perhaps put much of our previously wasted dollars to work. While it is true that we must take care of short term needs (medical care, education, clean water), we must also work to educate and provide assistance to others. In a short period of time they will be able to stand on their own and make decisions based on the long term value to their community.
Please go to Agros.org to see for yourself how we have become a part of this change. As an Agros supporter, we have seen the results of the dollars invested in these communities and have been amazed that so much can be accomplished with so little. While giving a person money is generous, it is not always wise. When you help people with the proper training and give them the opportunity to own their own land -watch out- as the human spirit take over and change happens!
At Agros, they say “Land, Hope, Life” and at Camano Island Coffee Roasters, we say “Finally, a coffee that helps you sleep at night!” Every time you drink your coffee, you are helping Agros. We think this knowledge is the best medicine for a great night’s sleep!
Thank you for your help!
Jeff – CICR
