Bonswa nan Jakmel, Ayiti!

As I write this from Haiti, we are aware of the devastating effects of Sandy in the Northeast. There are visible effects of the ravages of Sandy here in Haiti too. Driving over the mountain from Leogane to Jacmel Monday, we passed through narrow, one-lane sections of the road. Mudslides had wiped out parts of the road. As we entered Jacmel, the river was wide and swift and had wiped out houses along the side. The river is so fast, deep, and wide that Jacmel is cut off from La Montagne, which means that Verbo is cut off from his parents and family.

Yesterday, we had planned to go to Kap Wouj, a high place in the mountains where Haitian Bleu coffee is grown. We had to change plans. The road up to Kap Wouj, a challenge even during good weather, was impassible. So we went to Marigot, planning to go to an area called Fond Jean Noel, a fertile region of great coffee in the mountains east of town. But when we got on the other side of Marigot, the river we wanted to cross also was impassible. So while we were disappointed by not being able to speak to growers or cooperatives Tuesday, God showed up in an angel -- a former Haitian-American war vet from upstate New York. He met us as we got back to our trucks. He asked what we were doing, and we told him that we were looking for coffee growers and sellers. He took us to a man, a Canadian, who has actually spent the past five years trying to understand the coffee industry, actually trades in coffee, and shares the same values we do. He is a missionary. Late Tuesday afternoon we found another coffee marketer in Jacmel who exports 60 to 100 tons per year.

So what in the world are we doing in Haiti exploring the coffee industry? We are on a mission to invest in people in a way that brings hope, sustainability, and dignity to the Haitian people, and especially the children. The finest coffee in the world grows as Arabica Tipica Haitian Bleu in the high mountains of Haiti. Once, the coffee industry here could claim its product as the major export of Haiti, but it has fallen on hard times. One reason is that the coffee farmers have been exploited over the years. The second is that the US embargo of Haiti in 1994 crushed much of the industry. Since exporting was not an option, many farmers stopped growing. Many farmers moved to the cities looking for paying jobs. The art of coffee cultivation and agriculture got lost. What grows in Haiti now is the finest coffee in the world, as well as some of the most awful. Sorting it all out, walking with farmers to train them in better growing methods, and giving them a fair price are all part of the vision we have.

HTF already is engaged in education, poverty eradication, leadership development, and community based development. Now we are entering into economic development. We believe that the path to a new day of hope, sustainability, and dignity is along a path that must include economic development. The HTF team here with me includes a marketing expert in Frank Ditore (who also happens to be a coffee connoisseur), two fabulous HTF board members from Colorado who also are successful entrepreneurs, and a coffee agriculturist from South Carolina - a Clemson grad - who has successfully done coffee projects in China and the Philippines.

The coffee initiative we are imagining will create hundreds of jobs. It will bring economic impact to poor mountain villages and coffee cooperatives, who will be able to depend upon a buyer to always give them a fair price for their coffee. With a year-round source of income, a trade to perfect, and the many wonderful byproducts that happen from a successful coffee plantation, it is possible that schools, health care, and infrastructure could come to these villages. On top of all that, we will be a part of helping US Americans, especially Lutherans, have access to the best coffee in the world.

I'll see you Sunday!

Pou tout moun kapab gen lavi! (That all might have life!)

Pastor Rick

pastorrick@epiphanysuwanee.org