Help for Self-Help: Kolping Costa Rica supports coffee farmers
Help for self-help – this is how Kolping operates worldwide, also in Costa Rica: Francisco and Liliana from Bolivia de Platanares have six children and live in the mountains. They inherited about 1 ½ hectares of land to grow coffee there. However, the income they were able to generate through the coffee cooperative was by far not enough to make ends meet. Therefore, ways out were sought with Kolping Costa Rica.
First, the family was able to buy a used peeling machine. This machine then made it possible to depulp the crop every day, wash it, and dry it on grates. Then the green coffee was further processed by an acquaintance – the silver skin surrounding the pit was removed and the beans could then be roasted. This way, the coffee could be sold to the customers within a short period of time.
With the help of some friends from Germany, the equipment was recently completed. A device to remove the silver skin and a roasting machine were purchased. Now Liliana and Francisco can carry out all steps on their own, from cultivation, fertilization, harvesting, removing the seeds to drying, processing and roasting, and they can sell their organic coffee at a much better price.
Two of the children have already completed their education, one daughter is currently doing a voluntary service in Paderborn and the others are still in school. A strong family that is also committed to helping others in their local Kolping Family. What a success story: “Together we are strong”.
