By Michelle Shaw
I recently returned from my third travel trip with One Bigg Island in Space. On this adventure, I had the privilege of traveling not only with Bob and Michelle Fish, but also with several beautiful humans connected to BIGGBY COFFEE in one way or another. Our merry group of eight were visiting one of the OBIIS Farm-Direct partners, El Recreo Coffee Estate, outside of Jinotega, Nicaragua.
Truth? I’ve LOVED every opportunity to travel with OBIIS. This trip? Super special.
What made it special?
The coffee farm we stayed on is GORGEOUS! No matter where we were throughout the 360 acres of El Recreo, everything was:
- Lush | the plants, trees, flowers, birds, streams, and waterfalls are EPIC
- Vibrant | the tortillas are handcrafted in the kitchen every day beginning at 3 AM. These tortillas are just one component of the meals all workers are fed 3 times per day. The farm school is humming with laughter and learning. The health center is stocked and staffed. The chapel is a place of refuge.
- Socially responsible | the farm operates on solar power; the regenerative farm practices are visible everywhere: worm composting, repurposing invasive bamboo, and much, much more.
Special Place, Special People
All that said, it’s the PEOPLE who made this trip so memorable:
- We shared meals with the Administration Team who manage the farm. Lenin, Sixto, Walter, and Marvin are incredible. They have so much knowledge, but they also have so much heart. The pride and the passion put into everything done at El Recreo is visible in each and every detail.
- We served lunch, coffee, and cake to the workers in honor of birthdays happening in June and July. We even sang Feliz Cumpleaños (Happy Birthday) for the crowd.
- We were taught how to make fresh corn tortillas in the kitchen that serves all of the workers (Mine didn’t look so pretty, but served hot off the griddle, it was pretty delicious!)
- We met all of the children in the farm school and watched them delight in our gifts. They even wanted to show off their English and counted to 10 for us. (Yes, we did count to 10 for them in Spanish as well.)
- We helped distribute bonus packages to workers who have been on the farm more than 3 months and more than a year. These bonus packages include items such as toilet paper, cooking oil, rice, dried beans, toothbrushes, etc. that help supplement wages.
A Sense of Wonder
But it wasn’t only the Nicaraguan people who moved and inspired me. Time with my fellow traveling companions blew me away.
Watching some of the BIGGBY COFFEE crew experience their first OBIIS travel trip? Pure joy.
Imagine. People who work hard in the coffee industry are finally getting to connect with coffee in its earliest form. As a plant. Or, even a seedling! The excitement about seeing coffee at every stage from soil to cup was palpable. It’s sort of like when we were kids. Can you remember back to being so curious about everything around you? Back to a time when you were genuinely excited because everything was new and interesting?
As adults, we don’t often get to experience that sense of wonder.
But when you visit an OBIIS Farm-Direct partner with a group from BIGGBY COFFEE? It is indeed full of childlike wonder. In the absolute best of ways.
It’s challenging to explain how it feels when you see the people who nurture and grow the coffee, meet the people who actually buy, prepare, and serve THEIR coffee. In that moment, language barriers do not matter. In fact, anything that might divide us as humans simply dissipates into thin air.
BIGGBY COFFEE cups say:
We love our coffee.
We love the people behind our coffee even more.
I promise. This is not just a clever tagline for a marketing campaign. One BIGG Island in Space is traveling the world so we can ALL have a name, a face, and a place for every cup of coffee we drink.
Lucky for all of us, this translates into fewer barriers and lots more wonder. That’s the magic of connecting people who all care for their planet and their community.
Yep. Pour me another cup of that.
