More Than Just Coffee

I found a place in Muldersdrift (west of Johannesburg) that sells green coffee beans (if you're interested, check them out - www.greenbeancoffee.co.za). Dan and I love to roast coffee - it's much cheaper than buying pre-roasted beans and in a way, it's an art form. It's taken us two and a half years to find a place that sells green beans here in South Africa, so I am pretty excited.

I made a trip there today to select my coffee. The woman who roasts, Iris, is truly an Out Of Africa lady. Her grandparents owned the first coffee plantation in Tanzania. She has been a pilot for over 30 years. She flew the first Red Cross plane into Rwanda after the massacres. She was attacked by Somalian bandits in the 1990's. She has flown former President Jimmy Carter, Audrey Hepburn, former UN Secretary Koffi Annan, and has received numerous civilian awards for her humanitarian work. And now she is in Muldersdrift, of all places, roasting coffee. Spending a few hours with her is like listening to a movie script. And she keeps you supplied with fresh, wonderfully roasted coffee while you're sitting in a garden overlooking a beautiful estate in rural South Africa.

Today I bought some coffee beans grown in Zimbabwe. Iris told me to enjoy them because the coffee plantations won't be there much longer. With farm seizures still being authorised by President Robert Mugabe, and the farms going to "war vets" who aren't really war vets and who don't farm, there won't be coffee coming from Zimbabwe much longer. This makes me sad. But it's not about the coffee beans, it's about the loss of everything in Zimbabwe - so much agriculture, so much beauty, so much culture, so much talent. These days, they say there are more Zimbabweans living outside of Zimbabwe than in it. And all because of politics.

I cry every time I drink this coffee. I feel like with every sip, a little more of Zimbabwe is gone forever.