As I rode the world’s longest wooden roller coaster this past summer (The Beast pictured above) it struck me as a perfect illustration of our faith journey in business. It also reminds me of an exciting adventure that is currently unfolding to create direct relationships to import coffee, tea, and moringa for the purpose of sustainable change in under-developed coffee/tea growing regions.

In our 11 year journey with business we have spent a lot of time slowly building one step at time like the beginning of the roller coaster ride on a steep incline. We’ve had fast drops like closing our shop during COVID. We’ve had dark tunnels where we weren’t really sure where we were going, and as seen in the illustration there have also been lots of exciting twists and turns.

I would have expected to be further along in our business by now. As a Mom-preneur I feel the constant tug-of-war between the needs of family and the desire to grow our business. As I approach my 50th birthday in September I have wondered if it is time to get off this crazy ride?

At the same time as we have contemplated this decision we have also had some of the most amazing open doors for the BIG God sized dream. Beginning in 2005 since I was a campus pastor at the University of Zambia I have carried a big dream to import coffee and tea, to partner with locals who are leading transformative projects, and to do coffee and tea tours.

Imagine drinking your daily cup of coffee or tea and actually knowing who made it and that you are helping them make a difference in their community with your beverage. What if you could actually go meet them and participate directly with their efforts for community transformation.

These doors are beginning to open and you can hop along for this amazing ride with me!

Open Doors in 2024

• • • For 10 years I’ve been connected with my friend Ronda Pierce who is the Tanzanian Country Representative for Sister Cities International and on the board of directors there. Through Ronda I met Tanzanian Ambassador Kanza to learn how we can partner on her initiatives for economic development through importing coffee and tea. https://sistercities.org/
  • • Also through Sister Cities I met David Robinson, a coffee grower in Tanzania for 30 years. He happens to be the son of the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson who first integrated professional sports. His vision is to have an African-African American coffee line. My hope is to help make those connections for his coffee SweetUnityCoffee.com.
  • • My hope is to bring coffee shops in the area together through our wholesale coffee and tea sales for a direct relationship with growers as a catalyst to empower them in their own community development programs.  
    • I met the owner of Kazi Yetu Tea company in Tanzania, Tahira, also through Sister Cities. She is helping bring Tanzanian teas to the world market with an extensive tea co-op and a predominantly female run company. We are exploring the possibility of a direct relationship with her and helping her distribution in the US. https://kazi-yetu.com/ .

 

An Opportunity to go to Tanzania for Importing

I am very excited for the opportunity to make this Big Dream a reality by attending this Tanzanian Economic Development Summit in March. My goal is to create avenues for direct farm to cup  relationships with other coffee and tea shops, organizations, and like minded individuals.

You can join this exciting adventure with me!

There’s lots of ways you can participate:

1. Follow my blog and please pray for God’s provision, wisdom, and open doors.
2. Buying our coffee and tea online and in the shops listed on our front page Somscafe.com.
3. Connecting us to any friends, businesses, churches, or organizations that can buy our coffee, tea, and bottled teas. Especially Wholesale.
4. Giving financially to my Go Fund Me for the trip to Tanzania: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-direct-trade-coffee-tea-for-social-impact
5. Donating Airline or hotel miles.
6. Connecting us to other likeminded partners.
7. Working with us in the business either as a volunteer, employee, mentor, investor, or business partners.