Our annual trip to East Timor to study about Fair Trade Coffee was held from August 4th to August 11th, 2019.
The
students who took part in the study tour were all members of Blue Peco, an
active volunteer and service-learning group in our high school, which is
currently trying to support and promote fair trade coffee in Japan. During
the trip, students could witness first-hand the coffee production process in
the highlands of rural East Timor and experience the way of life of local
coffee farmers.
It
was impressive to see the farmers produce such high quality coffee at such a
high altitude and despite the lack of appropriate coffee production
facilities.
The
students met a boy who was the same age as them. He told them, I like coffee
work”. We felt like the boy represented the youthful hope of a country moving
forward after several crises and periods of violence.
The
students also played with local kids and interviewed staff of Peace Winds, an
NPO that supports coffee production. Every day, we discussed topics connected
to the following questions: “What does it mean to be a sustainable society?” “What
is wealth?” “What support is needed to help them get the future they want?”
After returning to Japan, the students have begun a series of fundraising activities. Every \100 that is raised is used to gift a young coffee plant to rural fair trade coffee farmers in East Timor.
