The New York Times-Coffee, and Hope, Grow in Rwanda
I remember when I saw the movie 'Hotel Rwanda', I couldn't move from the chair for a while. I didn't know about the genocide in Rwanda and I was shocked and really ashamed of my ignorance.
In 1994, after the genocide that killed 800,000 people, Rwanda was literally like a hell. People couldn't have hope and the economy had fell down.
So what saved their life and hope? We can say coffee is one of them. Since the demands of coffee beans has expanded, A.I.D. has invested $10 million in helping Rwandans improve the quality of their coffee, mainly by providing farmers’ cooperatives and small entrepreneurs with financing for washing stations and training in their use.
“By improving the quality of their coffee, about 40,000 of Rwanda’s 500,000 coffee farmers have at least doubled their incomes. Coffee has played a crucial role in the positive changes in Rwanda” said Kevin J. Mullally, who runs the office of the United States Agency for International Development.
These days, coffee is the most main export product in Rwanda and they hosted "Cup of Excellence", the noted worldwide competition for the quality of coffee, in 2008 as a first host nation in Africa.
“My coffee gave me hope for a better future” said one farmer who runs small but pretty harvest coffee garden. This article makes me possible to believe that hope is always somewhere no matter where people are.
This article enables me to have a positive image about coffee beans made in African region. Since I had some bad images on African products such as cacaos or coffee beans in a point that some of them are produced by young children, it's somehow new to me to see the benefits of producing and trading between Africa and other developed nations.
ReplyDeletesorry about my poor English...X(
>Asami
ReplyDeleteYes, I totally agree with you. But sadly, we must also face the fact about the workforce of little children as you mentioned. They are forced to engage in coffee plantation to help their parents in a severe condition which isn't endurable for them. According to IPEC, the average working hours of children is 8-10 hours which depends on the season.
No, your English appears excellent to me! ;-)