Miguel is from the municipality of Masaguara, in the deparment of Intibucá, Honduras. He comes from a coffee-farming family. “My mother, a single mother, was able to support me and my seven siblings thanks to the income from our farm and the sale of her coffee through the organization, COAQUIL, a cooperative”.
Miguel’s journey wasn’t easy. He recalls the challenges of pursuing his dreams. “I began studying to become a teacher and worked as one for three years, often walking an hour and a half to two hours to get to school and back home due to the lack of transportation. Those three years were tough because I had to juggle both work and study. At the end of 2012, during my vacation, the cooperative offered me a job”.
That job offer sparked a turning point. “After my vacation, the cooperative proposed I stay on and not return to school. It was a very difficult decision because teaching was my passion. But while working with the cooperative, I discovered my second passion, coffee production. That’s when I decided I needed to learn more about the coffee industry.”
Miguel’s commitment and curiosity paid off. Rising through the ranks to head the cooperative’s quality control department, a key milestone that enhanced the cooperative’s bargaining power in negotiating better prices, he made the difficult decision to leave teaching and dedicate himself full-time to the cooperative. “While working at the cooperative, I proposed the idea of creating a coffee cupping school for children and young people”, Miguel recalls. This idea blossomed into Chapola COAQUIL, a school named after the term chapola, meaning a newly sprouted seed just beginning to open its first two leaves-a metaphor for the young students eager to grow and conquer the world. “The school has been so successful that the children are now well-prepared and have participated in various national fairs.”
Reflecting on his journey, Miguel says "Without my cooperative, I don’t think I would have been able to combine these two passions and serve my community.” He adds, “For me, coffee connects worlds, but cooperatives change lives.”
Негізгі бет Cooperative Member Portrait - Miguel Rivera
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