October 2009 Coffee News

-Keeping Warm on Rainy Days
-Honduras Trip Reunion and Update
-Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship
-New Puppy

Keeping Warm on Rainy Days
Coming home from our son's rained out football game yesterday, all of us chilled to the bone as only cold rainy days can do, we decided to make "fritas." We have warm memories of crowding into the farm house kitchen in Honduras around the wood burning stove, sipping hot coffee and talking while the rain pours down outside -- Guillermo's mom or sister frying these hot treats that are a cross between fry bread and pancakes dipped in sugar. Whether it is the heat from the stove or the sugar/carb/fat combination or the family gathering together, it all serves to warm the body through and through.

Honduras Trip Reunion
Last week, we had another chance to remember the coffee farm when we gathered with many of the 17 people who traveled with us there in June. It was fun to share photos and remember stories of the trip. We are finally starting to compile photos of the trip and hope to have a slide show soon -- but unfortunately not in time for this email. We're also exploring the possibilities of putting together a 2010 calendar of photos from the farm. Before we take the plunge and order them, we want to get a sense of people's interest. Would you be interested in a coffee farm wall calendar? Does $10 seem to be a reasonable price or do you have suggestions for cheaper printing options?

Honduras Update
We wish we could say we are planning our next group trip to the coffee farm, but the political situation in Honduras continues to be volatile. The "evicted" President Zelaya snuck back into the country on September 21 and is still holed up in the Brazilian embassy in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. This prompted mostly supportive reaction from many world leaders who were gathered for United Nations meetings at the time; while the coup government responded with a harsh 26 hour curfew and more recently a 45 day suspension of key constitutional rights. Regardless of one's opinion on Zelaya's actions previously, these latest violations of human rights by the coup government are very disturbing and scary. The impact on our family is growing. Several teachers in the family haven't been paid since the June coup. People are afraid to travel or gather in groups of three or more for fear of being arrested as potential protestors. And still, folks are attempting to keep up with normal life as much as possible. We continue to hope for a peaceful resolution.

Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship
On a more positive note, we were honored to be invited to lead a seminar on Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship at a Rasmussen Business College Conference on September 18. Being new to the whole business world, we were a bit shocked that they thought we'd have something to offer, but we shared our story and did our best to offer some reflections on our unique business model. You can see the photo slide show we shared with them for yourself here and the simple outline and resources handout we passed out here.

New Puppy
Finally, we shared the sad news about the death of our dog Lobo last month. Not wanting to be without a dog, we started looking online at the dogs up for adoption with the Humane Society and decided we were ready to take the plunge with a new puppy. As you might imagine, "Barkley" has been a very fun and energetic addition to our family. It's a bit like having a toddler in the house again! You can see photos of the cute little guy (a black and white German Shorthaired Pointer) below. Since then, we've learned that the Humane Society is experiencing a overload of dogs. If you are thinking about adopting, you can check out some of the many animals they have available here.