Let me start by saying that none of these 32 families are actually from Santa Anita. The signing of the Peace Accords 1996, brought an end to the civil war that plagued Guatemala for 36 years and killed 200,000 people, left 40,000 "missing" and internally displaced 1 million (Guatemala currently has a population of 13 million). The government and the guerilla forces fought each other over indigenous and equal rights to land, education, social programs and an end to racism. The atrocities that occurred during the war, especially the early '80s, are too horrific to write here. Entire villages were wiped out in the most inhumane ways. While the fighting stopped, many believe that nothing really changed. The government still discriminates against the indigenous people, is corrupt, and has not acted on many of the resolutions that are in the Peace Accords. However, immediately following the end of the war, the government did develop the Land Fund for displaced guerillas. The Land Fund was a loan giving entity that enabled communities of people to buy land and rebuild a life and home for themselves.
This is how Santa Anita La Union was formed. These families came together and created a coffee cooperative. Marissa and I were lucky to be the only two on the official tour that weekend so we got a lot of personal attention. The town was very quiet, and while you saw some children and women, there was not a whole lot going on. After our lunch with one of the women, in her house in town (a very very good cook), Guillermo took us on a tour of the farm. The farm is more of a forest and has two Miradors, with views of the valley, and a waterfall.
I knew the coffee process was long and hard, but I didn't realize it would be that long! Beans are picked october through december and carried to the "beneficio," the processing plant. The beneficio is in a central location, which means that you are putting a big bag of coffee beans on your back and walking it, possibly, a few km to the beneficio. Once the beans are there, you sort through to make sure that there aren't any unripe ones. Then, your bag is weighed so that the coop knows what share of the profits to give you. Your bag then gets poured into a vat of water where to sift out the good and bad beans, before it's sent to the depulper. When coffee is picked off the plant, it looks like a red berry. What we think of as the coffee bean, is the seed inside the berry. The depulper separates the berry from the bean. The pulp is used as fertilizer (organic coffee growers spend a lot of time the rest of the year drying out the pulp and then putting worms in it.) The coffee beans go through a series of washes before they are taken up to the town where they are laid out to dry. Those who are responsible for the washes have to get up at 3am to go to the beneficio so that they can spend the day working their own land. Once laid out on a giant patio, someone gets to move them around every hour so that they don't burn. The beans are then ready to be toasted, bagged and sold.
This whole process is just for when the coffee is ripe. During the rest of the year, each family works on their piece of land cutting back plants that aren't producing anymore, fertilizing the land, picking the bananas (there are also banana plants), making sure that the coffee plants are getting the appropriate amount of light, etc... For families that have no extra hands, this is an enormous amount of work that doesn't bring in a whole lot of profit. The woman who we ate our meals with had three boys ages 7,5, and 3. The saturday that we were there, the 7 and 5 year olds were out there helping dad. If we had not been there, and paying her to cook us meals, she would have been out there too. Sunday is their only rest day. While Santa Anita coffee is now sold on the fair trade market, which is how most of their profit is made (justcoffee.coop) they are not making money. The farm didn't really produce coffee for the first five years, and with a 12% interest on their loan the community struggles. They seem to have a good business sense (eco-tourism, selling coffee and banana bread in Xela, fair trade) but it's a tough business. Especially when there are big land owners who can afford more effective machines right down the road.
After an afternoon learning oodles about coffee and watching the documentary made about Santa Anita (you can watch it online at voiceofamountain.com, highly recommended), we were ready for bed! The next morning, we had a talk with one of the ex-guerillas who started the farm. He gave us a basic history of guatemala, the political parties, his own politics and gave us a little look into the life of someone who lived in the mountains for 17 years. Many families fled to Mexico and the male and sometimes female joined the guerilla forces. It was amazing to imagine this man living in the mountains surrounding Xela and in southern Guatemala for that long. Especially since this is the life of so many people here who are trying to rebuild their lives. The majority of young people, however often don't believe the stories and atrocities. But, I guess that's what happens when you don't live it, and those who did live it try to forget it.
I have a newfound appreciation for fair trade goods, the need to support local farmers and an appreciation for farming in general. It was a worthwhile, educational and impressionable weekend.
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