Oh, what a day! On Tuesday 9th July we warmly welcomed Marceline, founder of Rebuild Women’s Hope Coffee Cooperative (RWH), and Daniel, General Manager of Muungano Coffee Coooperative, to Mozzo World (the roastery). Travelling over 5000 miles from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it was Daniel’s first ever trip to the UK, and Marceline’s second only visit.
Marceline founded Rebuild Women’s Hope in 2013 to empower marginalised women of rural DRC through coffee farming. We started partnering with RWH in 2018 and in 2020 together we built Idjwi Island’s first ever maternity and paediatric clinic with funds from our C2C Fund™. Right now, we have come together again to take on the next crucial stage in improving Idjwi community healthcare - raising $60k to build an intensive care unit and operating theatre for the hospital. Doing so through our Life Saving Coffee campaign, we’re donating 100% profits from sales of our Rebuild Women’s Hope coffee collection.
Daniel is the General Manager of Muungano cooperative, in Kiniezire also in Eastern DRC. We have bought some of Daniel’s fantastic coffee which is due to land next year for us all to enjoy. Before this, we started working with Daniel in 2015 where Muugano was one of the first beneficiaries of our C2C Fund™. C2C contribution enabled infrastructure improvement for the cooperative, including new drying beds, internet via satellite and building their first cupping lab. With skills very clearly honed, this week Daniel lead us in an awesome cupping of RWH coffee samples, hand delivered by Marceline all the way from Idjwi Island.
From cupping to coffee making, Marceline also enjoyed some one-on-one practical barista coffee extracting and pouring some lovely Life Saving Lattes. Part of Marceline’s future vision for RWH community impact is to build a barista school to attract the young people of the DRC back into coffee. Marceline shared this vision with the Mozzo team alongside hopes to build their own drying mill and a village for women to feel safe and emboldened through education and financial autonomy - an immersive centre of empowerment where coffee is the vehicle to enable such positive action and change.
We were also all ears to hear of the community plans Daniel shared with us for Muungano cooperative, including investing in solar-powered electricity to help fuel their new drying mill as well as help power their recently built local community hospital.
Muungano and Rebuild Women’s Hope also collaborate together on a women’s literacy and economic skills project where women learn additional income-generating activities including sewing and craft projects.
Coffee is such a powerful medium to bring positive and lasting change to so many lives through connection and collaboration of all those involved in the value chain. That’s why we love coffee and that’s why we do what we do.
We’re so happy you’re a part of it too.
Watch this space for new Congolese coffee landing next year, in the meantime check out our current Life Saving Coffee range from RWH and be part of the remarkable project to keep saving lives on Idjwi Island.
COFFEE. COMMUNITY. CONNECTION
