The origins of coffee

On Wednesday morning, the trailer was rigged up to carry two benches and we rode open air from the camp up to a nearby coffee plantation. Dona Vini and her daughter Angela who worked in the kitchen at Camp Shalom lived at the plantation and arranged to show us around. We saw the beds on which they dry out the beans, the plants and the device she uses to roast the beans. It was clear that the process of growing, harvesting, drying and processing the beans was an arduous one, yet the wages they received were small by comparison. I guess few in the developed world really spend much time considering where their cup of coffee has come from, but perhaps more would think about drinking coffee that was fairly traded for if they did.

I was grateful that after lunch Tommy mentioned that he had found some paint suitable for the front gates. Alistair and I returned to paint the bits that needed doing and we were joined by Maureen and Hilda, who were fed up of cracking nuts (a task which I later tried - it was indeed tedious and I still carried the scar from my attempts over a week later).

By dinner that evening, we had the first coat complete, although it was clear that a second coat was going to be required. Before dinner, we took a swim in the pool during which the logs for the playground arrived. There was much joy!

After the swim, I had a shower, did my Bible readings and then decided to ‘rest my eyes’. Unfortunately, this ‘rest’ turned out to be more of ‘deep sleep’ than a rest, and when I eventually did wake up, I had missed dinner. Whoops. Still, I rejoined the group activities for devotions and then supper before returning to my bed for yet more sleep.