Impact of our social projects since 2011

In February 2011 we were able to implement our first project together with the coffee farmers and villagers. Where there was previously no direct supply of drinking water, the construction of a well in the Ilketunjo cooperative now provides clean drinking water for around 2,000 people, which is also beneficial in helping to counteract many diseases.

Since the well is located near the primary school of the cooperative, the learning conditions for 1,200 pupils have also been positively impacted.

At the end of 2011 we implemented our second project and equipped the primary school of the Ilketunjo cooperative with basic teaching materials and furniture. Working with teachers from the school, attended by around 1,200 students, we purchased textbooks and exercise books from local companies that correspond to the current curricula. Through a book-loan system, all students benefit from this improvement. We’ve also defined the exact requirements for tables and benches. All furniture was made by carpenters in the provincial capital Jimma. We’re thrilled with these improvements and the possibilities we’ve helped make possible for the children of the coffee farmers.

A year and a half after the project was implemented, we carried out an evaluation together with the non-governmental organisation TechnoServe. The school in Ilketunjo now offers classes up to the 8th grade (it was previously only to 5th grade). The school drop-out rate has fallen from an average of 6 children to 2 children. It’s been a tremendous success! It is nice to see how the teachers and parents identify with the school and drive its operation forward with commitment. The local government provides the teaching staff and has increased the number of teachers.

October 2011 marked the opening of two new sports fields together with teachers and students of the Ilketunjo primary school. In a conversation half a year earlier, it was clear that most children wanted an opportunity to play sports.
While the majority of schoolgirls were in favour of volleyball, most boys preferred football. We were able to make both wishes come true by drawing on local resources. For us it was a sensible investment as team sports promote the mental and social development of children.

Together with a doctor and some nurses, we equipped the health station in Ilketunjo with basic instruments and medicines. We have received a commitment from the local government to ensure the provision and regular presence of medical personnel on site. In this way, the primary medical care of around 3,000 cooperative residents can be guaranteed.

In 2013, together with the coffee farmers and villagers, the local government and our partner Solar Energy Foundation, we completed the construction of a solar power plant in the coffee cooperative Wokito Medalu. In the future, the local health centre, which is responsible for 10,000 people, will be able to supply itself with electricity independently, which will enable blood reserves, medicines, and vaccines to be cooled and nightly treatments (including births!) to be carried out.

We finance an organic certification for the cooperatives Doyo and Alaga Sekala, which is carried out by the state-approved inspection body BCS Öko-Garantie. The coffees of our partner cooperatives have always been organically grown and farmers are completely free from exposure to pesticides and herbicides. However, only official certification will enable small producers to benefit from higher sales revenues. The result is local economic development and an important incentive to maintain traditional forms of cultivation!

The plan was this: Together with the coffee farmers and villagers, local craft businesses and the local government, we would expand and furnish the existing primary school in the Doyo Cooperative, which is responsible for 1,086 children. Because of the deteriorating conditions of the school building, including the interior, it is hardly possible for the children of the coffee farmers to receive adequate instruction. Things, however, do not always go as planned, but being transparent means reporting problems or events that cause changes in the course of our plans. On our blog you can read why and in which form we have adapted the project implementation of the „Doyo School Extension“ to the current situation on site. Find out why we decided to shift the collected donations from this project to our large-scale WaSH project and to what extent the 1,086 Doyo students still benefit from it.

Start of the Clean Drinking Water Project

Our current drinking water project was also launched in 2015. With a donation volume of € 680,000, we will supply more than 18,900 people in the Ethiopian coffee regions with clean drinking water.