Estan en Todas Partes

“Development is the story behind the well.” That phrase says a lot. It’s shorthand for a critical principle I learned last year from Annastasia, who directs LWR Kenya. Her metaphor suggests that LWR’s influence goes beyond what can (and must!) be measured. Some of the impact resists any metrics, for example, the way we touch all aspects of a community’s life. While what grows in the field feeds a community, yet what dawns on the horizon because of what grows in a field is a future never before seen, undreamt of, never before deemed possible.

I arrived home yesterday from Nicaragua, where our LWR board meeting included monitoring trips to some projects. I heard transformative human stories unfolding behind what my eyes could grasp: behind the coffee farmer is a former contra fighter who has exchanged his weapons for a farm tool; we monitored the work of a skilled dry mill operator who several years ago was a man without the opportunity to go beyond a second grade education. See him now, standing with dignity, now that he can finally provide for his family.

LWR Executive Vice-President, Jeff Whisenant, during one meeting, posed a probing question to Fátima Ismael, “Gerente General” (General Manager) of SOPPEXCCA (Association of Small Producers and Exporters of Coffee). Jeff’s query attempted to uncover any unique benefit of a partnership with LWR from the point of view of a partner. Immediately, she replied: “Because of your long-term sustainable approach, you take the time for making an impact on the total community. Estan en todas partes--you’re in all things.” In this case, that’s the development story behind the coffee bean.

Photo, Fátima Ismael and LWR board member, Emma Graeber Porter.