Pay Day For Our Farmers
Last year I had a lot to celebrate; I had just graduated with a Business degree from a university in Thailand and I had found a new job! Pastor Isaiah asked me to be the farm manager for the first year we would be receiving the coffee cherries on the mountain. I was eager to use my education, as well as learn about the specialty coffee process. But when I arrived on the mountain, all I saw was a tent and a mat on the ground. It suddenly occurred to me, ‘Oh, so this is what entrepreneurial leadership looks like!’
The first few months were the hardest. Unlike Thailand, there was no 7-11 around the corner, the local market was a long way down the dirt road, and somehow all we were left with was a small pot to cook rice in for the whole team. The last straw came when I saw that we had to eat off a banana leaf every night! Now I know that many of the local people eat that way and I was raised on a farm in Northern Myanmar with very little myself, but after my comfortable life in Thailand, I found it very hard to be happy in my new job as “Project Manager.”
One day as I was weighing coffee cherries, a coffee farmer said to me, “Lai Yar, I can’t believe you paid me right here, right now for my cherries. Thank you.” A little shocked, I said, “Why would you be surprised? Pastor Isaiah promised you when we came to visit your farm that we would pay you upon delivery.” Then my friend sat down on the log next to me and explained, “You see, there was a big name coffee company that came to this community last year. The manager promised to pay us a good price for our coffee after we had delivered our coffee to him. The community worked very hard, we delivered the coffee to him just as we promised. The company took away over 10 tons of our coffee cherries. The company manager said, “don’t worry, we will oversee the sorting process and give you a good price.” The farmer told me, “We really trusted him and the coffee company. We never thought they would be dishonest with us, but after he went away with our whole harvest, we were not able to contact him. It took almost 4 months before we were able to finally reach him on the phone. I was so angry. I demanded an appointment and the payment for our coffee!” But the company manager said, “Once we examined your coffee, we realized that it wasn’t good enough for our standards. So we just threw it away.” I was crushed. All the farmers that sold their coffee to this man were crushed. We had worked very hard preparing our harvest for this company.
The farmer continued, “I know its really difficult getting up this mountain and that transporting our beans back down the mountain can be dangerous too. Its not easy living up here. So when Lighthouse Coffee told us that they would like to buy our coffee beans and you came to live in our community, I must confess, I didn’t trust you, Lai Yar.”
“But then you paid us cash immediately upon receiving the cherries. I was shocked. You also taught us not to strip the coffee tree of all its fruit but to only pick the ripe cherries for the best tasting coffee. The way you spoke to us and treated us with dignity gave me hope!”
That night as I ate my rice on my banana leaf, I could still see the smile on this farmer’s face. It was at that moment that I knew that my small hardships living on the farm were worth it all.
Some days I still want to complain that there is no internet and that I have to cook my meals over a wood fire. But this is really why I love my job at the Lighthouse Coffee Farm; it brings dignity and hope to hard-working, discouraged farmers and their families.
I would like to encourage those who are reading this blog, with this saying, “Each of us are like a tree in the forest. We all must stand alone. Yet together, we add great value to the forest. If you get knocked down, don’t worry, your seed will not be lost. It will remain in the ground. At the right time, you will get back up and grow again! Remember, keep fighting on!”
Lai Yar measuring the coffee cherries’ moisture content to ensure proper drying.
Our leadership team exploring Lai Yar’s home region, where we have planted hundreds of coffee seedlings as we plan our next coffee co-operative.
