I may be a dietitian, but I love coffee (in moderation, of course…read my thoughts on caffeine here). You may remember Patrick’s guest post from earlier this year, and I’m happy to bring you an update.
Day 7: [better than] fair trade coffee
Patrick Hughes [read his guest post] once dreamed of a career as a mechanical engineer and a 9-5 desk job. When he realized that he was following the expectations others had for him instead of his own ambitions, he made the life changing decision to partner with some friends and form Unión MicroFinanza, a microfinance organization in Honduras [yes, as in Central America].
Instead of merely giving loans to coffee farmers, Unión MicroFinanza works to educate them on financial responsibility and better farming techniques. The extra effort has not gone unrewarded; Unión MicroFinanza has been extremely successful, with a loan repayment rate greater than 99%.
Despite his accomplishments, Patrick is still a pretty humble guy and not afraid of tedious tasks like putting 300 stickers on bags of coffee. He says one of the biggest challenges has been immersing himself in the Honduran culture while trying to induce positive changes.
Patrick’s passion for his organization and for helping others is infectious. He truly believes that hard work can land anyone a dream job. The other members of the Unión MicroFinanza team include:
Andrew Boyd, Manager of Business [special thanks for delivering Microloan Coffee to my doorstep on Thanksgiving!].
Michael De Wit, Manager of Development
Daniel Schwartz, Manager of Community Relations
Ways to help:
- Become a fan of Unión MicroFinanza on Facebook
- Buy coffee! [As a borderline coffee snob, I will say that this is the best coffee I’ve ever had].
- Make a donation.
I also had a really interesting discussion with Patrick about direct trade vs. fair trade…more thoughts on that to come.
- Where does your coffee come from? And does it fit into a sustainable lifestyle?
- How many of you are working your dream job?
