Nicaragua RPCV Max Boykoff establishes non-profit to sell coffee
Read and comment on this story from the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Nicaragua RPCV Max Boykoff who has established a non-profit to sell coffee from agricultural village of Duyure where he worked. Over the past four years, Max, 29, has delivered fair-trade, organic coffee to friends and colleagues in the UCSC Environmental Studies Department, and his wife Monica, a fellow RPCV, delivered coffee to colleagues at Amesti School where she teaches. The pair now fund scholarships for children of the village with a nonprofit they established to sell coffee. Read the story at:
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A coffee miracle
A hurricane shaped MAX BOYKOFF’s life.
Now a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz, Max was in the Peace Corps in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras.
The agricultural village of Duyure where he worked was hit hard.
Maxwell and other volunteers carried children piggyback across the rising water and up a mountain to higher ground where villagers huddled.
The village was cut off from the Pan-American Highway, and the world, by landslides and fallen bridges. A week later, a helicopter came and pulled out Maxwell and others, leaving the villagers behind.
But his sudden departure only deepened Max’s commitment to helping the people of Duyure.
Returning to the U.S. and marrying fellow Peace Corps volunteer MONICA MOORE, the two began fund-raising to help the town’s recovery.
The pair now fund scholarships for children of the village with a nonprofit they established to sell coffee.
Over the past four years, Max, 29, has delivered fair-trade, organic coffee to friends and colleagues in the UCSC Environmental Studies Department, and Monica delivered coffee to colleagues at Amesti School where she teaches.
Max’s brother and sister-in-law, JULES BOYKOFF and KAIA SAND, who live on the East Coast, also help sell the coffee.
Money from the coffee sales go to help families who must pay $150 for each child to go to school past sixth grade.
So far, the Cafe Adelante Scholarship Project has provided scholarships to 12 students, allowing them to complete their education and better their lives.
The hurricane also sparked Max’s interest in exploring the link between global warming and the growing number of natural disasters like Hurricane Mitch, which killed thousands.
His doctoral research explores the role of the mass media in shaping the public’s understanding of global climate change, said UCSC spokeswoman JENNIFER McNULTY.
If you want more information, or want to buy some of Max and Monica’s coffee, visit www.duyure.org or call 426-7389. More about Duyure Adelante
Duyure Adelante is a non-governmental and non-profit organization(501(c)3) formed in response to the devastating effects of HurricaneMitch, a class 5 hurricane that tore through Central America inlate October, 1998. This group's purpose is to provide charitable aid and assistance to the citizens of Duyure, in the departmentof Choluteca, Honduras.
By focusing on Duyure, the agency is working on a tangible, community level. The group first became incorporated under the name 'Duyure Relief Organization'. As the most urgent relief needs resulting from Hurricane Mitch passed, the group then expanded its scope to include other sustained modes of assistance.
What is Duyure?
Duyure (pronounced doo-you-ray) is an agriculturally based municipality of 2,500 people in the department of Choluteca. It is an isolated community in southern Honduras, bordered by the Choluteca River to the north and west, the border with Nicaragua to the east, and the municipality of San Marcos de Colon to the south. The municipality includes five satellite villages or aldeas, three of which were severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Mitch.
Café Adelante Scholarship Project
All of the profits received by the sale of this coffee go towards the funding of scholarships for young adults in the municipality of Duyure to continue schooling.
Click here for more information about the Duyure Adelante Scholarship Program
Duyure Adelante, in conjunction with Equal Exchange, is selling Fair Trade coffee in an effort to fund scholarships for young citizens of Duyure.
* By purchasing fair trade certified coffee, you help guarantee farmers a minimum price per pound, which allows them to invest in health care, education and community development.
* By buying fair trade certified coffee through Duyure Adelante's Café Adelante Scholarship Project, you are also helping provide three years of schooling to a young person from the community of Duyure, Honduras, who would not otherwise have the means to pursue a high school education.
Therefore, by purchasing Fair Trade Coffee from the Café Adelante Scholarship Project, you are doing two great things as you drink good quality coffee.
click here to place an order by filling out an order form
For those of you already drinking coffee, it is an opportunity to slightly modify your coffee purchasing habit for two great causes. For those of you who do not drink coffee, please consider a coffee purchase as a gift for someone, or make a direct donation to the scholarship program.
Coffee in 12 oz. or 2lb bags is available by contacting coffee@duyure.org, by phoning 831.426.7389 (west coast) or 301.737.1904 (east coast), or by mailing in the printable order form (click here for form). Currently we are offering the Organic Breakfast Blend (whole bean) - a blend of light and dark roasts from Peru and Nicaragua. Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Nicaragua; Service; Married Couples; Coffee
