Growers First Blog

Not long ago Rito and his teen age daughter started a vegetable nursery for dark green vegetables.  Rito had learned that his wife and daughter as well as most of the other women in  his village suffer with iron deficiency.  So with the encouragement of the leaders of his Coffee coop, he insisted that his solar drying house be used as a vegetable green house when coffee drying season  finished.  What a great idea Rito!  Not only does the new emphasis on iron rich food make great sense, it offers several young ladies the opportunity to raise a crop that will find not only personal use, but a local market which helps to diversify potential income. Pictures should be forth coming soon!

Rito has experienced dramatic improvements in his family's quality of life over the course of his five years with Growers First, and this winter he was able pay the transformation forward to his neighbors.

Leonzo "Chavelito" Benitez, his wife Maria, and their eleven children live just a stone's throw from Rito in the village of La Cayentana. Until recently, they had been living in a home with a dirt floor. Rito, who was in the same position when we met him five years ago, wanted to help. He coordinated with Growers First and acted as foreman to install a cement floor in Chavelito's home, volunteering his time and labor to help pour the floor and leading a team of Growers First board members and their families as they assisted in the project. Rito's wife, Maria, served the group coffee in her home as they relaxed after the hard work.

In addition to helping Chavelito, Rito had the opportunity to share some of his family's heirloom seeds with a local orphanage, which will allow them to plant yellow, white, and blue varieties of corn. He is also coordinating with Growers First to use his solar drying facility as a nursery to raise organic vegetables for his community.

When we met Rito 5 years ago, he had just sold his coffee crop for $95. His house had a dirt floor and his family had no access to clean water so his kids were always sick. We could see how his family struggled to survive and how much Rito longed for a better life for them.

So we did what we could to support his vision. We helped him improve the quality of his coffee crop. We financed his efforts through micro-credit loans. And then we gave him the best price for his coffee by trading directly with his village co-op Rito’s hard work is paying off.

This year Rito made $1,500 from his coffee crop. His house has a solid cement floor and a well that provides clean water. His family is healthy. His son Selvin just started 9th grade—one of two kids from their village to have made it that far. Our friend has hope.