Earth Keepers

Northern Michigan University students Sarah Swanson and Lisa McCarthy stand near the mouth of Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. Members of Lutheran Campus Ministry, the students were with a group of Americans participating in a Lutheran World Relief study project.(Marquette, Michigan) - While Upper Peninsula residents endured an arctic blast, two Northern Michigan University students started the New Year learning about Fair Trade during the peak of the coffee growing season in Nicaragua.Three videos of the student's presentation about their Nicaragua trip were produced by Lutheran Campus Ministry at Northern Michigan University and the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, MI.------- Video #1Role of faith communities, Nicaragua coffee farmers, and coffee cooperatives in Fair Trade movement; Northern Michigan University students talk about work that goes into growing coffee including wet mills, dry mills and the process of quality/taste testing called “cupping.”Video #2The Fair Trade movement efforts of Lutheran World Relief, Equal Exchange and the Center for Global Education.A look at Fair Trade Principals including prohibiting child labor, protecting the environment, the need for fair wages and help the entire community (not just coffee farming families).The students describe staying with coffee farming families in a small village in a mountainous area, interacting with the children and some of the interesting and inspiring people they met.Video #3The students describe how the women of Nicaragua are treated with respect, the importance of families and the environmental protection efforts of one Nicaragua’s organic farmers.-------(Photos at St. Mark's Lutheran Church by Greg Peterson) Since their return on January 12, Lisa McCarthy and Sarah Swanson have begun a series of presentations at U.P. churches to encourage Americans to buy Fair Trade coffee that ensures poor Nicaraguan farmers don't lose money in the labor-intensive industry of coffee production.From staring into the mouth of the Masaya Volcano to traveling narrow mountain roads to stay with coffee-farming families to picking beans and participating in all phases of coffee production, the trip was a myth-shattering experience. The students are the latest of hundreds of faith community representatives traveling to Central American over the last decade with Lutheran World Relief (LWR) to get a quick course on Fair Trade while erasing misconceptions about Nicaragua's hard-working low-income farmers who take pride in their coffee.Known for loving a strong cup of hot coffee, U.P. residents are the perfect audience for the two students who were impressed by the work ethic and friendliness of Nicaraguans.The Fair Trade movement was born during the "coffee crisis of 1990s" when prices "really imploded - it was terrible," said Swanson, 20, an NMU junior majoring in speech language and hearing sciences.The fluctuating market price for Nicaraguan coffee in early January 2009 was $1.13 per pound, said Swanson, who is a native of Rapid River, MI.Both students are members of NMU Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) and their trips were funded by U.P. parishes and donors. The students met with other groups involved in the Fair Trade effort including Equal Exchange and the Center for Global Education."Equal Exchange was the first Fair Trade distributor of coffee in the United States," said McCarthy, 19, an NMU sophomore majoring in photography.Citing the Underground Railroad run by churches during the American Civil War and sanctuary for refugees during the war in El Salvador, Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette said the Fair Trade movement was started by "churches to create an alternative economy to the one that was oppressing small farmers."It's a part of the church's work, part of the faith community's mission and a part people don't know about,' said Magnuson, who is the NMU LCM campus pastor."Sarah and Lisa are going to be encouraging churches to sell Fair Trade coffee and chocolate in their basements," said Rev. Magnuson.Some U.P. Lutheran churches have been on board for years."Fair Trade Coffee sold at Messiah Lutheran Church in Marquette is sold at cost," said Messiah member John Carlson of Marquette. "This is a ministry for helping this program of Fair Trade.""During the coffee crisis they had to bring it (the coffee) through Canada," said McCarthy, a native of Greenville, WI. "They had to go through all these measures to get it (the coffee) here."The students said Nicaraguan coffee producers seek respect for their heritage, and want foreigners to understand what goes into growing that coffee they love each morning.Nicaraguans hope emissaries like the NMU students will spread the word about Fair Trade far and wide thus getting people to only buy coffee originating from democratically-run cooperatives that represent the farmers.Lead by his children, a Nicaraguan coffee farmer carries a heavy sack of beans on his shoulders. They are on the way to his local democratically-run cooperative.(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)"One thing we can do is respect them," said McCarthy during a recent presentation at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Marquette that was attended by residents from 18 to 80 years old and as far away as Rapid River. "It was really great to go on this trip because it's hard to respect a faceless thing."You buy the coffee and respect Fair Trade but going there and seeing that and knowing the work that goes into one cup of coffee - brings it home," McCarthy said. It's important for Americans to know "the amount of work that goes into everything."LWR "really stresses the accompaniment model that they use with all their programs - They are not just throwing money at them,"Swanson said. LWR works with Nicarguans "to find out what these farmers want and the things that the need" to accomplish their individual dreams.Americans sometimes mistakenly think that Nicaraguans "want all the things that we have," said Swanson."Most Nicaraguan farmers have never tasted their quality coffee because it's way more beneficial for them to ship it out, than for them to drink even a cup," McCarthy said. "They drink the bad quality stuff.""One of the new projects" for the farmers is "trying to get people in Nicaragua to buy high quality coffee because that's a whole other market they haven't touched."The students received a history lesson on Nicaragua and assistance from employees of the Center for Global Education in Managua including program coordinator and interpreter Juan Carlos Lopez and study abroad facilitator Joe Connelly.Lopez and Connelly, who host numerous ecotourism study project coffee tours each year, "came with us on our trip and added to our experience by sharing with us what they know from working there," Swanson said.(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)McCarthy and Swanson were happy to learn that "women in Nicaragua are known as being strong women." Something they learned first hand and was more impressive to the pair than even the current status of women's rights in the U.S.Instead of receiving an expected lecture from men at the co-ops, the students were greeted by a female co-op board secretary, who "spoke to us so passionately and with such great knowledge, that is just blew me away," McCarthy said. "I saw in-person that it's not a factor if you are a man or a women."(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)"Even though it has been fought for here (in the U.S.) it's still part of our culture that the man is the alpha male," McCarthy said."Just seeing that and seeing her was one of the more impactful things for me," McCarthy said, adding she was impressed with "how proud they (women) are of the co-op."A Nicaraguan woman is raking the coffee beans for even drying at SOLCAFE(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy) LWR stresses respect for the Nicaraguan farmers who are not looking for a handout rather a fair wage for their hard work.‘They envision a world where all people live in justice, dignity and peace," said Swanson, who told the story of a young women repaying a $200 loan used to buy a home."You could see how this was helping her maintain her dignity because she was paying is back," Swanson. "She wanted to buy her house - they don't want it to be handouts from people.The students visited the SolCaf