Life in San Miguel Escobar, Guatemala is quite different from New Jersey or anything we could have imagined. San Miguel Escobar is right in the heart of coffee country, which is where we had the opportunity to work with De La Gente, our alternative break partner organization. De La Gente was created to provide economic opportunity for farmers and give them all of the profits from sale of coffee. De La Gente literally translates to “for the people.” This alternative break encompassed education, service, understanding of culture, and most importantly insight into the lifestyle that the farmers of Guatemala. The experiences that we took part in and the emotions that we shared were unlike anything we could have ever anticipated.
Culture and Lifestyle
Every single family’s lives were directly or indirectly related to coffee. Parents work hard each and every day on the coffee fields in order to provide for their families, keep food on the table, pay for healthcare, and pay for their children’s education. Each day, the farmers would spend approximately 8-10 hours on the farm (during season) and consistently work in the hot beating sun, only taking breaks for meals. It put in perspective the importance of family and community, a concept that I feel sometimes gets overlooked in the United States and sometimes taken for granted. Many of us students could never even imagine the kind of struggle that these families had day in and day out, but it was even more difficult to understand how they were able to maintain such a positive attitude in the midst of so much struggle. It was absolutely incredible.
There was quite a bit of language barrier for our group when trying to connect with the farmers and locals in San Miguel Escobar. We had students who were able to speak Spanish fluently (as best as possible) and sometimes, it made conversations difficult.
“At times it wasn't easy to get a message across in talking alone. When those moments came, there was usually someone who could speak on behalf of others, or we would resort to smiling and making eye-contact, and that could be enough get a warm message across.”
Sometimes the language barrier didn't matter. Sometimes it was nice just to be having a conversation where body language and smiles could hold an entire conversation. As the trip progressed, however, more and more of us were able to understand what was being discussed in conversations and we did our best to give input and try to relay any relevant information. We had conversations with so many different farmers and their families at the dinner table: Gregorio, Mercedez, Armando/Lesbia, Timoteo and Eduardo, just to name a few. These conversations were an intimate opportunity to learn more about life in Guatemala, the infrastructure of the corrupt government, the changes that De La Gente has made to the community, and what their families lives were truly like. It was also an opportunity for the farmers to ask us any questions they had about the United States.
“My most memorable moment of this break was being able to talk to the farmers, particularly Timoteo aka "El Tigre", as if he were one of my guy friends from back home. It was awesome to see how down-to-earth he was, despite the fact that he was so much older than me (and did not seem it). His stories were funny and sometimes shocking, and it just added so much to my experience. It's one thing to learn about the hard work that goes into making a product such as coffee, but it's completely different when you get to experience the humanistic side behind it.”
Major Cultural Differences:
These differences were based on what we noticed in San Miguel Escobar and are not necessary an entire representation of the country as a whole. Life in Antigua and Guatemala City, much more touristy areas, were quite different from where we specifically stayed.
Education is viewed quite differently from us. In Guatemala, there is less emphasis on formal education and more on what skills would be necessary to make ends meet on the farm to be most productive. A lot of the time, there was inadequate access to uniforms, school supplies, books, transportation, and even proper facilities that were not provided to rural areas like San Miguel Escobar. Because of this, children choose to do whatever they can to help sustain the family.
Drinking alcohol is vastly different in Guatemala than it is here in the United States. As far as we were exposed to, drinking is only done for major parties or celebrations, not just casually with friends or with dinner. It is typically not talked about unless someone truly has a drinking problem. That being said, it seemed that there was general consensus that many of the farmers really liked whiskey, because instead of saying “cheese” while taking pictures, they told us to say “WHISKEY!” Some of the other farmers told us they also enjoyed tequila.
“One of the most shocking things in this trip was seeing the meat hanging in the market, not refrigerated and not in a container. As a nutrition major, all I could think of is the endless amounts of food borne illness that could arise from this extreme lack of food safety. As someone who is not particularly fond of the FDA, it did give me much appreciation for the food safety standards we have here in the U.S. It also gave me much concern for the general public of Guatemala, as well as an urge to educate them on the severity of refrigerating meat.”
Food safety was just an interesting observation that we made. None of the farmers or families refrigerated their eggs, they were simply left out. The concept of not taking the proper precautionary measures to avoid cultivating bacteria or disease was completely foreign to us. That being said, foods in Guatemala are most likely less affected by factory farming the way that much of the United States is.
Education
When you’re at the register about to purchase another cup coffee, do you ever stop to think where exactly your coffee is coming from? Or where the money goes? On this trip we looked beyond the register and had a hand-on experience learning not only how coffee is processed but where the every cent paid for it goes. We first learned about those who control major factors of production which includes the Famers, Exporters, Shipping/shippers??, Roasters and last but not least Retailers. Each role plays a significant part in making sure we get our delicious coffee. Farmers plant the coffee beans while exporters harvest and process the beans. Shipping of course entails delivering the beans where they need to be delivered. Roasters, such as Nestle or Starbucks, roast the coffee and deal with the packaging of the coffee. And retailers advertise for you to buy your coffee at their vendor. Lucky for us we got to see most of the steps for processing coffee since most of the farmers apart of De La Gente farm and process their own coffee! The harvesting part was already done since the coffee was planted a season before we got there. The beans first have to be separated from the cherry through this pulping machine.
After that, they are fermented and washed. After being left out to dry for a day or so they must go through another machine that rips off the dried parchment. And then they must be sorted by hand, which is where we came in. We all sat at a long table covered with green beans ready to be separated as “defected” or “trash.”
After sorting the rest was up to them. In the end they even gave us a complimentary bag of coffee made just by them.
Even though them giving us a bag of coffee was a reward on our part, this gesture leads us to another pivotal learning fragment of our trip. It turns out that only a small segment of the money we use to buy to our coffee is given to the farmers. The profit of the coffee is split despairingly disproportionately through the production chain. You would think a huge chunk of your $2.35 coffee would go the farmers or the people who export the beans right? Turns out it’s not; of course the money is split between the factors such as Roasters and Retailers but most of the people who put in the manual labor get the shorter end of the stick. To fix this we should invest in what we call Fair or Direct Trade, both of which are very different. On the third day of our visit Andy, the man who started De La Gente, talked a little further about production and economics of producing goods such as coffee. Through Fair Trade you pay a little extra for your coffee and the money is then split equally among the farmers, shippers, retailers, and etc. But that only touches on the surface of our problem. However with Direct Trade, which De La Gente follows, makes sure your money goes directly to the farmers! They put in the most manual labor and even process and roast their own coffee. The money you pay to farmers through Direct Trade helps them tremendously in the long run. Not only do they have the income to produce better coffee but most of the money is invested to their family and education. When we sat and talked to the farmers at dinner each night they all shared how being a part of De La Gente has impacted not only their family but the community as a whole for the better.
Service
As part of our service we helped dig holes for the farmers to plant their next harvest of coffee beans. We trekked up the edge of volcano which took about an hour and half (these farmers walk up this trail every day as early as 6am). Once we made it to our destination Timo and Eduardo handed us hoes that we’d be working with. And for the next hour or so we dug holes into the ground with special technique that the farmers taught us. It was arduous but also exciting to help out the farmers. It was great to give them a break and to experience what they do for a change. What we did was only a fraction of hard labor they put in every day.
The bulk of our true manual labor was the two days after, where we laid down cement and cinder blocks to create walls. Our volunteers, along with the many other volunteer organizations that had offered their services to De La Gente, were constructing a community center that could hold all of the equipment, tools, and miscellaneous storage items that the community of farmers at the cooperative needed. It was difficult work to say the least, especially since most of us had not ever worked with our hands that strenuously before.
So much of our service was to be fully immersed in the culture and lifestyle, and understand how the coffee industry affects the local economies in rural areas of Guatemala.
“De La Gente has a very beneficial impact to the community in the sense that they help everyone else see the social and economic issues, as well as providing the farmers who work a part of De La Gente with great opportunities to work with exporters and people in different areas of the world. I think De La Gente is going a great job in educating others in a way where we want to go spread the word.”
“De La Gente helps farmers and artisans to receive better pay for their work and connects people in the community for a stronger economic system. They build trust and that makes the biggest difference of all.”
We were part of this community. We got to experience what life is like in San Miguel Escobar. Because we were part of this trip, we are now able to use the knowledge we have as service to carry it over into our consumer choices as well as educating our friends and families.
Understanding culture, lifestyle and being educated on the matters are just as important aspects of service as palpable service like manual labor and traditional volunteering.
Understanding culture, lifestyle and being educated on the matters are just as important aspects of service as palpable service like manual labor and traditional volunteering.
Tourism
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:
Reflections
Each night, after winding down from the day’s activities, we had reflections of the day where we talked about our highs and lows of the day and also what we learned. We asked a few of our RUAB member’s questions pertaining to the trip as a whole and here’s what we got…
“Before going on this trip, I simply expected to learn more about the coffee-making process and get some insight on Guatemalan culture. But this trip meant so much more than that. Our group guide, Jane, said one of the most important things we could take back is what we learned, and I couldn't agree more. Of course, we learned technical processing and had a taste of the labor required, but we also learned about the effects of this industry and the impact this coffee cooperative had on the lives of an entire community. Although there are pictures that may depict some of what we learned, it is truly up to us to spread the stories of the people we met: who they are, what they do, and why they do it.”
“This trip was very exciting and inspiring. It was a very good learning experience and I wish we had a longer time to be there in order to learn more about their community as long as providing more service, because the farmers were so kind and heartwarming towards us”
Aside from simply reflecting on our palpable experiences, we also reflected on the disparity between the United States and Central America. Aside from the initial culture shock from being in a foreign country, the first thing that opened many of our eyes was the constant correction of a misconception that many of us constantly verbalized. Many of us referred to the our native country as “America” but we were corrected by the staff from De La Gente that in Guatemala, we were also part of America. Central America was still America. The United States are simply one part of America. We reflected on this topic by discussing the meaning of “American Exceptionalism,” the concept of the United States believing it is vastly different from the rest of the world. This is clearly displayed by the difference in the distribution of wealth within the coffee supply chain. The retailers and roasters in the United States reap more than 80% of the profits within the coffee industry leaving the developing countries along the coffee belt struggling to support their families with their mediocre wages. It is simply unfair and lacks justice that must be served for these farmers.
After our trip had ended, our opinions of “America” had been changed forever:
“America is a land of freedom, diversity, and contains different social and economical values that shape various people who they are today. Guatemala is in "America" and saying we are only from America is politically incorrect… ‘America’, to me, means the continents of North and South America. "America" is the Western civilizations, including in the north, in Central America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and South America. That's ALL America to me. “
How has this experience influence now that you’re back in the US?
“This trip and experience has influenced me because I have learned how self-sustainable these farmers are and have really compared it to the life here. It has also influenced me in a way that I will understand the process of where coffee comes from and educate others in the sense that drinking this type of coffee does make a difference. The activity about supply chain of coffee really intrigued me because it was shocking to see how little farmers make”
