Farm(er) Friday, February 3rd, 2023
The Pérez-Funes Family — Some of the hardest-working people I’ll ever meet
The Pérez brothers, Máximo (Mancho) and Benito, have been sending coffee up to Wisconsin from their farm in San Jose de Las Moras in Comayagua, Honduras for many years. Benito is a bachelor, and it is easy to see why. He is shy and mostly just smiles. His brother, Máximo/Mancho, makes up for it by being confident and talkative. They work together and have some high-quality coffee.
This January, I visited their farm for the third time and got the full tour again. I appreciate coming back because I get to see change over time. When I visited for the first time in 2020, Sandra was pregnant with her and Máximo’s third child. This year, the boy (I’ll get his name and edit it into this story) was running all over the place and climbing up and down mountains that had me huffing and puffing.
The family has been through some tough times in the last couple of years. During a hurricane, their whole community had to be evacuated as dozens of landslides brought whole farms and houses sliding down the mountain. Their farm is above one of the biggest landslides, and if it had kept going, there might not be a farm to visit. In addition, the dreaded coffee rust has been decimating their crops and cutting the harvest down to barely subsistence levels. That is why it is so important for Farmer to Farmer to keep buying their organic coffee at high prices. If anyone deserves to get a high price for their coffee, it is the Pérez family.
When I visited, we hung out for a while talking about coffee rust and prices and the World Cup. Their middle child, Max Junior, got a few of us playing soccer, which is something of an international language. Fun times. While I played soccer, my friend Priscila talked to their eldest, Jesica, who has just graduated 6th grade and will need to leave home in order to continue her schooling. I could not believe that this little girl would be in 7th grade. Where did the time go? Farmer to Farmer will be providing her with some scholarship support (you can help — remember to specify that you want to help the students in Honduras).
Mancho joined us when we drove down to see another farm in Las Moras. He and Max Junior decided to ride on top. When I visit the Pérez brothers’ farm, Sandra is always there. Later, Alex (the coffee co-op president) told me that she is part of the co-op, too, and she has been one of the key people in the process to get their organic certification renewed. I realize that my expectations of a male-dominated coffee-growing co-op had clouded my ability to see Sandra beyond her role as a wife and mother. Oops. Part of coming back to visit the same families year after year is a chance to begin to see the quiet people, like Sandra and Benito, for who they are. It is a gift.
Meanwhile, back in Wisconsin, it was 20 below today and during the brief times I was outside, any exposed skin hurt almost instantly.
In writing news, this past week I published two Medium stories and one Vocal contest entry. One topic was ten of my favorite Medium writers about sex. It was a New Year’s resolution to write more stories that push me outside of my comfort zone and this one did, for sure. I also wrote another “Climate Minute,” about the role of new technology in combating the climate crisis. My vocal contest story is yet another attempt to earn back my yearly subscription fee to Vocal. I think they are on to me because I keep not winning. It does keep me humble.
And back in Wisconsin, we got a humidifier for our bedroom. The resulting humidity condenses on our window and freezes overnight when it is this cold. Appreciating the sunrise through the frost is a great way to wake up.
