Not Bad for a Cup of Coffee

Looking for a Job with Dignity
​​Author: Paul Kurtz

I could hardly believe my eyes - children were running around, and sounds of laughter rang. A dozen or more groups of 10-12 ladies were gathered in clusters all throughout the large greenspace in the center of the village. Flowers bloomed in pots on the front steps of simple thatch-roofed homes. Doi Chang had changed, and it was a dramatic change for the good.

​This was now two years after my initial visit to Doi Chang. It was an economically depressed region with very little hope of anything changing. The Hill Tribal groups were treated as second-class citizens, and many were not Thai citizens. Without

citizenship, you cannot open a bank account, own property, or be deeded and were often cheated out of pay when you did work. People left the little villages for cities to beg or work.

Phat had worked hard. Two years previously, Hemisphere Coffee Roasters had imported 10,000 pounds of fantastic coffee and we were now ready to begin discussing a full container of coffee (40,000 pounds). For Abonzo Coffee to gather a full container was going to mean adding farmers and growers to the small cooperative. There were now 30 families in the co-op, and the critical edges of poverty were being erased. Receiving a fair pay for their labor encouraged them to plant more coffee and creating more jobs. Phat had built a warehouse and had bought land to build a washing station. The infrastructure for world-class coffee production was in place, and I was pleased.

Because of the jobs in tiny Doi Chang, families had work. With earnings came taxes to the government. Because there was a tax base and many children, the regional school district put a school in the village along with several teachers. Phat and I went to the school my first morning back in Doi Chang. We spoke about the power of a hand up, a chance at success (as opposed to a handout). We encouraged the children to take this opportunity at an education very seriously. I learned later that the school had only been open for several weeks and was still doing an orientation of sorts for the children and their families.

I noticed that in the larger towns and cities, more and more coffee shops were opening. Thailand. Traditionally a tea drinking culture was switching to coffee. Phat and I spent nights dreaming about a small coffee shop in Doi Chang. Visitors were beginning to find their way to Doi Chang and he needed a place to welcome them and showcase this fine Thai coffee. That too was drawn up and included in the planning for the future.

The more we talked, I learned about life in this part of the earth, and I became aware of some of the underbelly of poverty and desperation. One day we were walking among the groups of ladies cleaning coffee. There were 80-90 ladies working and Phat told me it will take 8 months for 80 women to clean and sort a full

container (40,000 pounds). He said the majority (80 percent) of these ladies were sex trafficked in Bangkok. When they heard there were jobs in Doi Chang, they found their way home.

When you drink your Hemisphere Coffee Roasters’ coffee each morning, know that it is a product that creates jobs of dignity and joyful communities.

Available at Spotted Cow, Dees Brew, Yutzy’s Cheese House, Let’s Eat Cake, Mad River Market, Sweetie Pies, and other establishments in the County.

Since 2002, Paul and Grace Kurtz have been roasting coffee purchased directly from the growers and farmers. This was, and still is, an innovative approach to helping farmers in developing countries find markets and create thriving communities. This column will feature stories and experiences along that journey.

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For more information about their story and offerings, visit their website at www.hemispherecoffeeroasters.com.