DELICIOUS PEACE COFFEE
In the farms outside of my hometown of Mbale is a very special coffee coop called “Mirembe Kawomera” Coop, which means “Delicious Peace.” The farmers of Mirembe Kawomera are Jewish, Christian and Muslim.
They formed the coop in 2004 to enhance peaceful relations between them and to pool their resources so their collective coffee would be more profitable. With the help of an American organization called Kulanu (www.kulanu.org) and its Uganda coordinator Laura Wetzler, Peace Kawomera coffee was introduced to Fair Trade coffee roaster, marketer and distributor Thanksgiving Coffee Company in Fort Bragg, California, which partnered with our Ugandan farmers.
Recognizing both the beauty of the Mirembe Kawomera concept as well as the extraordinarily delicious taste of the product, interfaith organizations throughout the US are organizing around Mirembe Kawomera coffee, and the number of people drinking our coffee is increasing daily. In March 2008 our farmers and Thanksgiving Coffee Company will be awarded the Global Leadership Award from Tufts University. And New Jersey-based JEMGLO Productions is in the process of producing a documentary about Mirembe Kawomera which should be ready for distribution around the end of 2008.
I invite you to learn more about Peace Kawomera coop (www.deliciouspeace.com), order the coffee through Thanksgiving Coffee Company (www.thanksgivingcoffee.com), check out a trailer of the documentary (www.deliciouspeacegrows.com), visit Kulanu to learn about their work in Uganda (www.kulanu.org) and ask me to bring you to Mirembe Kawomera Coop on the outskirts of Mbale during our tour. I would be proud to introduce you to the farmers – some of whom are my relatives -- who are making the concept of peace into a reality.