Coffee

In our time near Chiang Mai, we have and will be visiting 4 villages in the bush. In these villages live the Karen, Lahu, and Akha tribes. Led by Mike Mann, the Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) has brought clean water to 250 villages across Northern Thailand. Many of these villages have also been given household toilets, electricity, schools, medical clinics, churches, and been taught some sort of agriculture to help them become self-sustaining. All of these projects require total buy-in by the villagers. They have to do most of the construction work and sometimes even have to pay back a loan for something that's been given to them, like a couple of water buffaloes.

In the hill villages we visited, coffee is being grown in the woods (shade-grown coffee). It was pretty exciting to touch the actual coffee plants that are being made into La Mai coffee. We learned that one coffee plant will yield only 1 lb of coffee in it's finished form. The organization that Linda and I run in the states, HOPE World Partnerships, stores the coffee beans in Plano, Texas, roasts it at Mark's Brothers coffee in Plano, and sells it as La Mai coffee around the country. I can't take any credit for that part, though, because Linda has done the whole thing all by herself before I ever got involved.

Another cool thing we visited here is Starbucks Thailand. Not just because we got a little taste of home, but because they buy the same beans we do and sell it under their own branding as Muan Jai. It comes from the very same villages. ITDP has led Starbucks into helping the people in the hill villages. Starbucks helped to get one of the medical clinics built. By purchasing the village coffee at fair trade prices, the farmers can better take care of their families. But ITDP doesn't just buy coffee, they help with numerous physical and spiritual needs. It is a very holistic approach.

Finally, on the topic of coffee, we will be visiting the Lanna Cafe, serving ITDP's own brand of coffee. We wanted to see the whole coffee process from plant to cup. So tomorrow we will be seeing the end of the process: roasting and serving. Can't wait to drink a cup!