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Cooperation in Quality: East Africa |
By Ashley Symons, Writer/Editor
Cooperation in Quality is a seminar that focuses on creating a common vocabulary between quality personnel throughout the world.
For the fifth annual seminar, which was held in September, Equal Exchange invited cuppers from co-ops in Tanzania and Uganda to learn the protocol required for specialty coffee. “The seminar works to calibrate coffee tasters and create a common vocabulary through a series of workshops on sorting green coffee, roasting, and cupping,” said Equal Exchange Quality Control Manager Beth Ann Caspersen, who led the seminar. Participants also learn about the U.S. specialty coffee market by visiting natural food stores that sell Equal Exchange coffee and by spending time in the Equal Exchange Café in Boston to learn the art and science of making espresso-based beverages.
The two cuppers, Lydia Nabulumbi from Gumutindo co-op in Uganda, and Amen Mtui from KNCU co-op in Tanzania, stayed in the home of Beth Ann and Todd Caspersen, Equal Exchange Director of Purchasing, and their 16-month old son, Magnus. “Todd and I both feel very strongly that visitors should stay with us and be with us when visiting the United States,” Beth Ann said. “We want the visitors to become friends and family, and to feel welcomed and loved.”
Amen and Lydia stayed with the Caspersens for 12 days, during which they were able to learn about how a busy American family functions on a daily basis. “For me and my family, it is such a powerful experience to share our lives with two people that did become family,” Beth Ann said. “We would never have built that type of relationship if they had stayed in a hotel. Watching Magnus run to Amen for a hug and seeing Magnus laugh as Lydia played peek-a-boo with him - these are memories that will always be with me.”
Amen and Lydia agreed. “They are treating us like their own brothers and sisters,” Lydia said. “It’s much different than staying at a hotel.”
Here are some additional highlights from the two-week seminar:
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