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Genevieve's Travel Report
Genevieve Paquette - initially an "experimental intern" before becoming a beloved employee.. and now a dear, recently departed staff member - worked at Cooperative Coffees' sister coop, CoopSol, in Montreal, for two years. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University, she requested a 4-month leave of absence to travel to Mexico and Central America. It seems like such a good idea. She would have the chance to visit some of our producer partners, practice her Spanish and get additional on-hands experience.... little did we imagine it would also lead her to the man of her dreams and a sudden return to live and work in Oaxaca, Mexico! Of course, we are delighted for her and wish her the very best! The following is a summary of her 2008 producer visits.
Arriving in Mexico City, I soon found myself following a winding road up
into the hills of Oaxaca. The region' s scenery, extremely arid and with an incredible amount of cactus and agave, can be stifling to someone accustomed to the cool forests of Quebec. In Oaxaca, I visited our
producer partner Michiza (click here to read the account of that leg of the journey). The visit coincided with their general assembly, during which a
representative from nearly each of the 42 communities that make up the coop was
present. An American group called Family Farm
Defenders visited Michiza at the same time as well.
I then continued my way down to the south of Mexico, working my way up the mountainous road to Chiapas. In San Cristobal de Las Casas, I joined a delegation organized by Chris and Jody from Higher Grounds Trading Co. This group included, among others, some curious customers wanting to learn more about the coffee they drink, some student activists, and a few employees of other roaster member of Cooperative Coffees. The group went to visit the Cooperative Maya Vinic (learn more about our Maya Vinic visit by clicking here).
Once in Guatemala, I joined another delegation organized by Bill Harris, the founder of Cooperative Coffees. Together we went to visit Nahuala (click here for details), Apecaform (details here), and Transcafé (more details here).
Exploring new borders -- borders between countries, between cultures, between economies and between people -- has been an incredibly enriching experience. Fair Trade allows those borders to be not only opened, but crossed.
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