The Coffeelands Trust continues to provide much needed resources for a wide range of rehabilitation services and economic opportunities for victims of conflict in coffee growing communities.  This holiday season, we invite you to show your support for coffee farmers through The Coffeelands Trust, and to share your support with family, friends and colleagues.  With each tax deductible donation of $12.00 or more, you will be providing important resources for coffee farmers, and you will have some nice gifts too!

Cup of Hope

1 lb of Dean’s Beans Holiday Roast
$12.00 Donation

Once again Dean is roasting up a special blend just for The Coffeelands Trust.  This coffee is rich and soulful, and 100% of the proceeds go to the Trust.

Plant the Seeds of Hope

Provide Plants to Farmers
$15.00 Donation

When a coffee farmer is unable to tend his plants because of a disability,  the plants can die and leave the farmer with nothing.  Rehabilitation often means a farmer must temporarily move away to be near health facilities.   To help, each $15.00 donation will purchase replacement plants for farmers returning to work.

Pewter Coffee Bean Key Ring

$25.00 Donation

Display your love of coffee and support coffee farmers!  This beautiful pewter key ring was custom designed for The Coffeelands Trust.  A unique and perfect gift for the coffee lover.

Give All 3!!

$45.00 Donation

Can’t decide?  Get all 3!  Coffee, key ring and one plant for a farmer.

Please allow time for shipping.  If donations are made after December 18th, we cannot guarantee items will arrive to shipping destination before December 25th.
Donations for the 2009 Holiday Fundraiser for The Coffeelands Trust are being processed by the Polus Center for Social and Economic Development, Inc.

A wheelchair should be designed to meet the demands of the area where it will be used. This chair allows the user to deal with the lack of curb cuts, unpaved roads and rough terrain - conditions that exist in most of the coffee growing regions of the world. Photo courtesy of Whirlwind Wheelchair International

Without the ability to get around, a person quickly loses access to the social and economic opportunities that keep them from being further victimized by financial, educational and political impoverishment. Being with family and friends. Going to work. Shopping at the market. The basic activities of day-to-day life. These are at the foundation of social well-being.

By donating funds to build a wheelchair, you can assist a landmine victim to remain part of community life.

Sound expensive? It’s not. A high quality wheelchair can be built for 225.00 USD.

The wheelchairs provided to landmine victims by the Coffeelands Landmine Victims’ Trust in Central America are made by PLUSAA, a locally run, locally staffed wheelchair workshop in Leon, Nicaragua.

Each wheelchair built is customized for the person who will use it. The design and fabrication of the chair takes into account the unique physical needs of the user, and the conditions under which the chair will be used. Unpaved roads and pathways and the lack of ramps and curb cuts mean the wheelchairs need to be built to last under tough conditions.

People have asked us why we don’t use donated wheelchairs. There are several reasons. Donated chairs most often do not fit and are not suited to the individual users needs, and are expensive to modify. They can, if improperly fitted, pose a real hazard to the very people they are intended to help. They are rarely up to the demands of the rough terrain where they will be used. Donated chairs have to be transported at a significant cost, and often need frequent repairs.

In addition to providing high quality wheelchairs, PLUSAA also provides employment opportunities for people with disabilities in an area where unemployment is high. PLUSAA staff are wheelchair users themselves, and they understand what makes a good chair. PLUSAA also provides repair and maintenance services, and educational support on how to care for and repair a wheelchair at home.

Julio Vallejo Returns to Work. With his wheelchair, Julio Vallejo can work at the mill. Photo by Stephen Petegorsky.

In places where getting back to the wheelchair clinic is difficult, these are important skills to learn. PLUSAA also purchases manufacturing materials from local companies, and thus contributes to the local economy. The advantage of locally built wheelchairs are discussed in further detail in two articles that can be found on the web:

• International Wheelchair Donors and Producers Seek Common Ground in Global Hamlet; Disability World, 9/00
• It’s Not About Wheelchairs; Krizack, 6/03