Saludos desde Managua, Nicaragua! I have just finished participating in a workshop with CRS agro-enterprise, management quality, and evaluation staff from our Latin America region. These folks are about to embark on a CRS project designed to improve the livelihoods of more than 7,000 small scale coffee farmers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua.

The majority of my time here, though, was spent in a hotel conference room. I know that doesn’t sound very exciting: spending hours on end discussing the opportunities for and barriers to market access from the perspective of coffee farmers in four very different countries with markedly similar problems. But to find solutions and to take advantage of new possibilities, thoughtful planning and consultation is key to being effective. Plus, whenever I meet with CRS country staff I am always impressed by their commitment, their competence, and their patience with my severely flawed Spanish language skills!

However, I suspect a blog reader doesn’t really want to know the results of small group brainstorming sessions. So, let me borrow from another CRS colleague, Fr. David Garcia, who recently visited Nicaragua as part of our Global Fellows program. Fr. David was fortunate to meet with some of the members of La Fem, a women’s led cooperative that CRS-Nicaragua accompanies in the Matagalpa region. Here are some of his reflections, and you can read more at the CRS Blog.

“While we visited [La Fem] they showed us a new wet mill, which is a machine that separates the coffee bean from the fruit pulp. CRS provided it and we were asked to bless it, as they looked forward to a more efficient processing of the coffee crop this year. The women now have a growing business selling Fair Trade organic shade-grown coffee, which is among the highest quality possible. They have paid back the initial loan and their children are now dreaming of going to the university. It was impressive how much they are aware not only of good business practices, but also marketing, prices, organic methods, and preserving the environment. These women never had much chance at formal education and now are changing the future for their entire village.”

What Fr. David witnessed was the result of long-term Fair Trade commitments. In addition to working with CRS in their home communities, La Fem is a partner of U.S. based CRS Fair Trade partner Just Coffee in Madison, WI. In the photo above you can see Fr. David and La Fem farmers with a bag of Just Coffee. Without technical assistance on the ground and export opportunities in the marketplace, coffee farmers are less likely to have their futures change for the better.

Whether in a field, a hotel room, or a coffee roastry, Fair Trade is changing lives. With a three-day weekend upon us, perhaps you’d like to take a moment to honor Fair Trade laborers, whether their cooperative be in Nicaragua, or Madison or in some place you’ve visited!