Things I Learned Living On a Coffee Farm

Last year I had a dream of living on a coffee farm. I wanted to walk side by side with the farmers in order to truly tell their story. I was blessed with The Coffee Farmers Coop leading me to Finca Hamburgo in Chiapas, Mexico. In November I embarked on the journey to Chiapas. After 2 planes, and 1 VERY long taxi ride up a mountain, I made it to the farm. I was terrified to say the least. I honestly didn’t think I could do it. Sadly my trip was cut a bit shorter than planned but what came of the two weeks living there was beyond what I could have ever imagined for my experience.

I can still so clearly remember moments of this trip (almost like it was yesterday). I remember the first day, eating dinner in my new room and feeling afraid, worried I made a mistake, wondering if I did enough research. I remember the day a crisis happened and I witnessed cultural differences and violence in the flesh. I remember crying for hours, feeling guilty I couldn’t fix the problems I witnessed. I remember the day I chose to leave my comfort zone and visit one of the little neighborhoods. I remember falling in love with the sweetest little boy. I remember hearing the birds chirp SO loudly yet peacefully right outside my room. I remember hugging the woman who cooked my food every day and crying in her arms as I said good-bye. She’ll never know how safe she made me feel during my time there. I remember the long hike with two of the owners of the farm and thinking “Don’t pass out and roll down this mountain”. And I remember crying as we drove back down the mountain, not knowing when I would come back, when I would see the people again, if I had tried enough, if I had done enough.

My time at Finca Hamburgo was hard. So much harder than I expected it to be. I struggled to know where to help and how to overcome the language challenges. I battled with wanting to capture moments I saw without making the families feel uncomfortable. I struggled communicating with the family who owned the farm when we sat for lunch and Spanish was only being spoken (faster than my language capabilities could pick up). I’ve traveled to so many places, traveled alone on multiple occasions, and seen so many cultures but this trip was different.

I discovered something greater. I discovered joy in growing, harvesting, roasting, developing coffee. I saw families grateful and happy for all that they had there. I saw women excelling in new paths of the coffee industry. There was so much love and passion on this farm. There was so much good at Finca Hamburgo.

But, there was also such a lack of education and understanding of how hard people like the workers at Finca Hamburgo worked to give us coffee. Do you ever look at your cup of coffee and wonder why it smells or tastes the way it does? How it was made or even better, who grew it? What it cost a person to get the beans all the way to you? The answer is, you probably don’t - but that’s okay.

I came to Finca Hamburgo for a bigger reason than telling their stories. I came so I could know why I care so much and then, why I want you to care so much. If I can educate a few of you on coffee farming, the seed to cup journey, and the challenges farmers face daily then I’ve won. Because where you get your coffee and what coffee you choose to buy matters. It affects a human being every day.

Afterall, people make experiences worth it.