Coffee and Community of Hope in Atitlán
Coffee, the amazing brew that gets you going in the morning, is helping fuel an exciting new venture for us in Guatemala. That new venture is called Community of Hope, and it’s a brand-new transition home to be built in 2021 that’s designed to give young men (ages 16-22) who have “aged out” of Guatemala’s orphanages a new beginning, including vocational training.
Our prayer is that God will use Community of Hope to raise up Christian men for the benefit of Guatemala and its people.
So what does coffee have to do with Community of Hope?
First, here’s a bit of background about Guatemalan coffee. More than 80 percent of the country’s largest agricultural export is cultivated on small farms along the slopes of its dramatic volcanoes. Of Guatemala’s five volcanic coffee regions, Atitlán’s soil is among the richest and nearby Lake Atitlán keeps the temperature and moisture conditions perfect for coffee growing.
Santiago-Atitlán also happens to be the region where Community of Hope is being built. Thanks to the generosity of CrossRoads Community Church, in Chittenango, NY, 3.5 acres of land at Volcan San Pedro was purchased by Hope Renewed International (HRI). The site was selected for its potential to produce fruits, vegetables—and yes, coffee.
As part of their education, young men living at Community of Hope will have the opportunity to grow food and coffee for their own enjoyment, to sell at markets and to help sustain the community.
“I don’t expect many – if any – of these young men to go on to be coffee farmers. But I do expect them to gain the skills needed to live productive lives and become role models in their communities,” says Jeff Kubecka, an HRI board member.
“At Community of Hope, orphans who have never experienced the love of family will know what it’s like to be part of a loving community. Teenage boys and young adult men who have had no hope will see firsthand what it’s like to contribute to the completion of a project that can sustain them and push them forward to a better life.”
By helping with the production of coffee and other crops Community of Hope residents will learn:
How to plant, nurture, prune and harvest a variety of fruits and vegetables
How to be responsible for living, growing things
How to take care of themselves
How to get along with others
Psalm 128:2 says “You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands...
Since Community of Hope’s coffee plants are now well-established, residents will be able to enjoy a good-size harvest immediately. Coffee plants take about three years before they yield enough of the cranberry-size coffee berries from which coffee seeds are picked.
Thanks to Dani Quieja, Community of Hope Agriculturist, and about 20 volunteers the first fledgling coffee plants, 325 in all, took root here in 2017. Quieja transported the plants across Lake Atitlán in a dugout canoe. From there, volunteers, including Kubecka and his wife, Lindy, carried the coffee plants up Volcan San Pedro and dug a 2-foot x 2-foot hole for each plant.
“The topsoil is rich, but the volcanic soil beneath is harsh and unyielding,” says Kubecka. “It’s not rocky exactly, but the hole has to be large enough and the organic matter from the top has to be shoveled into the bottom of each hole to give the roots the nutrients needed to grow.”
...You shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you”
As expected, there was nothing to harvest from the coffee plants in 2017. In 2018, the promise of a few flowers and berries began to appear, but still nothing significant enough to harvest. But in 2019, a full year earlier than anticipated, a blessing appeared.
“We were delighted to give thanks to God when we were able to harvest about 500 lbs of coffee berries. From the sweet, mature berries, coffee seeds were hand-plucked, shipped locally for roasting and bagged for sales. That first year we sold about 30 bags of coffee and we were elated,” says Kubecka.
In December 2020, HRI’s Community of Hope harvested just over 1,000 lbs of berries, yielding 145 lbs of coffee to sell! Each year, for the next 12 years, we expect the plants to mature and flourish, increasing the bounty of our harvests.
Each bag of coffee sells for about $10 in Guatemala. Once the harvest is large enough, the plan is to export the rich Arabica coffee (similar to what you’d buy at Starbucks or other premium coffee houses) where it will likely command double the price.
“Coffee growing is just one of the many ways we hope to shape the futures of young men in the region,” says Kubecka. “Our prayer is that God will use Community of Hope to raise up Christian men for the benefit of Guatemala and its people.”
Planting hope, growing a community
To accomplish this, we need your help. Once the building is completed, our students will need beds, books, clothing and so much more to truly become a community. Please plant hope in the hearts of promising young men–orphans with no place to go–by making a donation today.