"The Rwandan delegation landed at Agosto Cesar Sandino International Airport Sunday evening on the 29th of February 2004. Although the jet lag would occasionally catch up during this intensive exchange, the three-day journey from Rwanda, to Nairobi, South Africa, Brazil, Lima, Costa Rica, El Salvador and finally Nicaragua only seemed to stimulate the initial enthusiasm for what became a powerful vision trip and a spark in the rapidly evolving history of Rwandan coffee production."

Excerpt from Chris Bacon's article

"From February 29 to March 9, a delegation of coffee people traveled throughout the departments of Matagalpa, Jinotega, and Esteli, Nicaragua. We were a group of Rwandans, North Americans, and Nicaraguans; representatives of the Rwandan cooperatives COOPAC, Maraba, Karaba and Musasa, the PEARL project, Thanksgiving Coffee Co., a graduate student from UC Santa Cruz, and a British man, working for CaféNica.

"Our hosts were the cooperatives of Nicaragua: SOPPEXXCA, CECOCAFEN, Cooperativa Solidaridad, MiraFlor, and PRODECOOP. These are the cooperatives that produce the majority of the coffee that we buy, and they are the communities that our customers support. So while this is a reflection on a week in Nicaragua, this is also a glimpse of who and what you support with your purchases of Thanksgiving Coffee, and an example of the work that our partnership is helping to do in the world."

Excerpt from Ben Corey Moran's article