Financial independence empowered by coffee
To have a sustainable and long-lasting impact on the lives of the people, there needs to be a change in the income-structure. Financial independence instead of daily struggle.
To have a sustainable and long-lasting impact on the lives of the people, there needs to be a change in the income-structure. Financial independence instead of daily struggle.
Through collaborations with different organizations, schools and coffee professionals worldwide we will implement educational courses to support Guatemalan people in becoming coffee professionals.
Guatemala suffers from a high poverty rate due to a lack of access to the educational system and the job market. Many young people do not finish high school and start working in the informal sector to support their families as much and as early as possible. But a steady income is necessary to be able to care for their loved ones and their future.
Therefore our educational project will provide vocational trainings in the form of nationwide workshops for people interested in the coffee sector.
The goal is to provide access to a professional and certified qualification, which will help them to establish themselves in the local and global job market and become financially independent.
The textile industry is one of the biggest employment sectors for indigenous women in Guatemala. We want to support women communities working in textiles by providing access to the global market through our coffee network.
Women often lack access to education as many families, especially in the rural parts of Guatemala, are still very traditional, not letting them go to school or drop out very early. As a result, most families depend on the man’s income as he is the main breadwinner. When this is not enough or no longer existent, women do everything they can to support their families.
Focusing on the textile industry as one of the biggest resources of the country, we want to connect indigenous women with a global market, offering their handmade products the coffee community worldwide.
In our starting project, we focus on a women community from Lake Atitlán that produces hand-stitched patches for roasters in Europe.
The talented women behind the products:
Elena Tzina Sosof is 39 years old and has three children. Her husband was diagnosed with schizophrenia a short time ago. As a consequence he has no steady job and Elena turned out to be the main breadwinner. As she was not allowed to finish school, she dedicates herself to any job opportunity possible to feed her family. Besides domestic work, helping neighbours with washing clothes, shopping activities or house cleaning, she works in a sewing project and is now happy to be part of the “Coffee meets fashion” community. This allows her to have an additional income and support her family.
Rosalia Cali Boron is a woman of 44 years, who has two daughters and one son. She is elaborating different handicrafts with beads like keychains, small bags and belts. Additionally she works as a weaver and is also part of a sewing project. As she is dedicated to handmade products she is now glad to have another opportunity which brings some of her products to clients all over Europe.
Elena Chicajau Quic is the third women of the group, 38 years old, with two younger kids and one son of full age. When she was 16 she got married to her husband, who works as a fisher man in the town. Elena sells the fish at the market. Furthermore she owns some chicken and also sells different handmade products such as embroidering and sewing. Now she can complement her activities with our project doing what she is passionate about.
You are a roaster, a coffee professional or a coffee lover with interest in our projects? Then become part of our journey!
Find out more about the different options to support our social projects in Guatemala.
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