Although most of my visits to coops in Sidama, Yirgacheffe, and Harar involved a lot of indoor meetings, explaining our quality improvement and marketing project to the committee members, there were some amazing moments like this one. This is the Bele Kara cooperative in the Wenago district of the Yirgacheffe region.
I actually shot a much longer video of these women singing, but I've edited it down here for size. Part way through you can see the men in the upper areas of the facility, carrying coffee and helping with the washing of the coffee. The women do most of the work of sorting and turning the coffee in the sun. At the end of the video you can see what a beautiful setting this is.
Since a couple people have asked me, yes, I get permission from people before taking pictures and videos. These people understood I was not a tourist, and that this video would ultimately go toward the promotion of their coffee in the United States. (I will be editing together a video of this trip to show when I host cuppings around the US featuring this coffee in 2010.)
Have a great weekend, and enjoy your coffee.
Daniel what a beautiful video and it also puts into perspective what is involved and who are putting their heart and soul into making that wonderful cup of coffee available to us first thing in the morning.
Great job and love your blog.
Posted by: Huli | November 20, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Thanks, Huli.
It was a wonderful moment. I have a few more like this, including showing how the men work, and will be posting them on here from time to time.
Posted by: Daniel Humphries | November 20, 2009 at 02:19 PM
Extra-ordinary. Thank you!
Posted by: M | November 23, 2009 at 07:58 AM