GENTLE MUSIC Captions by Pippa Jefferies. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 LILTING MUSIC It is one long journey from Auckland to Oaxaca. It's not for the faint-hearted, especially when you're travelling with a disability. At the moment we're in rainy season, monsoon season, so it's very hot, very humid and very wet. Gracias. Cuanto cuesta, senor? My name is Robbie Francis. Uh, I'm 27 years old. I'm from Hamilton, NZ. I'm the co-founder and co-director of the Lucy Foundation. Robbie is in Mexico to check up on her business. She's helping coffee farmers improve their yield with the goal of exporting coffee beans to NZ. We're a social enterprise, basically a bunch of young people who are really passionate about disability inclusion and coffee. This journey really began when I had the opportunity to intern for a human rights organisation in Mexico City. I began to see how people with disabilities around the world live their lives. Hey! Hey! You made it! It's so nice to see you. BOTH: Oh! I made it. I made it. I'll just leave that there. How was the flight? Hey! 'I was managing a cafe and venue a few years ago, 'and Robbie walks in and she told me about this amazing project and idea that she had and asked me if I wanted to see a business plan and a bit of a proposal of, uh, her idea. I can remember Jessica coming home and just saying, 'You won't believe who I met today. 'I met this` Do you remember Robbie?' And she was like, 'She's doing this amazing with disabilities and coffee, and it's in Mexico.' It was a social enterprise, and it was amazing that she approached me on coffee. What she didn't realise is that my sister has massive physical disabilities, um, so is differently abled, and my father's Mexican-American. Oh my goodness. Been waiting for you all day. Miguel, welcome to Mexico. 'I'm a coffee grower in Colombia. Robbie ` she said that if I would like to come and be part of the project, and I say, 'Yes, let's do it.' And here I am. Would you like a coffee? I'd love a coffee if you're putting one on. 'The idea came about where we were looking at how we could engage people with disabilities 'and people without disabilities in activities that brought them together.' And we also wanted to include coffee because in NZ, you know, we love drinking coffee. UPLIFTING MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES So, this is the third time we've visited the region, and we're working with a couple of families. We wanna ask how has their coffee been growing, what have they been doing since we last saw them? Certain steps need to be put in place to improve the health of the coffee plants. This is going to lead to the families being able to get a better product and being able to sell it for a higher price. Our plan is just` it's just a draft, really. We need to propose it to them, to put it to them and to get their feedback. Ola. Buenos dias. Como estas? PEOPLE SPEAK SPANISH Ola, Eduardo. Como estas? Bien? Nice to see you. Argh! LAUGHTER I'm nervous. I'm nervous. But I'm so excited. Like, this is it. It all begins now, and I don't know what's gonna happen, but bring it on. PEOPLE CHATTER Well, shall we get`? Shall we get started on the update, then? I mean` MAN: Yes. So, again, thank you, everyone, for coming out to meet with us today. For the last two or three years, we've been talking with you about what are your challenges, what are your strengths, what do you need? Uh, and we've also told you a little bit about what NZ is looking for in coffee. The good news is that we have a committed buyer for the coffee. (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SPEAKS SPANISH) The soil is the main concern to manage. (SPEAKS SPANISH) Miguel himself comes from a coffee-farming family. He is, uh, very innovative when it comes to exploring new ways of farming coffee, especially if it's organic and` and environmental. So he has his own coffee farm, um, in partnership with some people, and he already provides coffee for the NZ coffee market. He just has this wonderful way with people, um, very gentle, and, uh, yeah, people just get him. You have to be somewhere in between and make them understand why the people from NZ want to let them, uh, try to show them or try to, uh, pitch them, and as well all the different ideas or even fear that the people in this region have around producing coffee. As they are in a really tight set-up of mind, they are not easily moved from what they are used to. Now things are not working really good, so that's the possibility of our clique. I will try to come and show you how it could be better. I will do it with my bare hands. I will show you what I want you to do, and in that way they will see the difference of a healthy crop and a non-healthy crop. We want to work with you to figure out a system that means that you are not out of pocket on these days where you're working with the coffee. (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SPEAKS SPANISH) > A lot of these families are living in` in very difficult situations. They don't have a regular or secure income. Now, they would love to just work in coffee and just do that. That's their thing. But that requires time. It requires effort, labour and money. So because they don't have those things to put in there, they're having to work in other jobs elsewhere around the town or even for other farmers. And so for them to bring it up and for us to have an idea of what we might do was a great way to test the waters and to see what they thought of it. BIRDS CHIRP Ola, Rogelio. Buenos dias. Como estas? Buenos dias. Bien? Nice to see you. I've heard so much about it for the last two years, since the rest of the team have been here, so I'm just excited to see how a farm that functions really well looks and what they're doing and just to get a` I guess, a vision. It's really chilled. There are a lot of Quercus. Can you see? Oh, the shade trees? Yes. The idea in our project is to become organic, but it's a process. You will get to be organic in the term of one year or two years. So the production of organic coffee in Mexico ` it's not really that hard. Thankfully, they keep their own shade trees, and they have a lot of, uh, canopy trees are really tall, and that will really help coffee` the production of organic coffee. So the reality is that in Mexico you can grow organic coffee with a little bit of help. The Pluma coffee ` it's really unique because it's a progeny that developed in this area. You cannot grow Pluma coffee in Colombia or in other places. It's indigenous and unique to this area. That's the importance of Pluma. And it's also because of the township called Pluma Hidalgo, the surroundings and all the environment, so it makes a unique place to try to save and to maintain. So this is, like, a beautiful plant, right? Yes. You can see the plants are really healthy, and it's because of the treatment. You put the microorganisms, uh, with organic matter with the cull so you level the pH, and everything, it's` as it starts good, it will keep on going good. Every knot has a lot of cherries. Yep. And this is just a young coffee tree of two years old. So you can see the change of a well sustained and a properly, uh, raised coffee tree. So potentially if we planted now, we could have something like this... Similar to this. ...within two years? Hopefully, yes. Awesome. That's the goal. So this is kind of the ideal situation? < Yes. Perfect. OK. He is one of our really good` Awesome. A really good farmer... < Yeah. ...from the region. We're only half away` half of an hour away from Pluma Hidalgo. < So there is hope. There is hope for Pluma coffee. (LAUGHS) There is. Fantastic. MAN SPEAKS SPANISH Well, Miguel, this is a bit bigger than the wet mill at your farm. BOTH CHUCKLE Can you`? Can you tell me`? At my farm I will have something similar, but in a different shape. Still, this is a really good wet mill where you can see a main pulper, where we'll remove the skin from the cherries. Yes. A floating channel where you remove the beans with less density ` will float ` and the bigger beans and the healthier beans will stay down. For this coming harvest, we need to start thinking about how we can ensure these facilities are accessible and how would someone who, uh` such as myself access the depulper, how would someone access the, um, you know, all of these different levels? We're focusing on the environmental aspect, the economic aspect of selling the coffee and also the social aspect of disability inclusion. When people with disabilities are included, it's not just good for them, but it is good for the whole community. People just really have no idea, do they? They sit drinking their coffee one after the other at a cafe. They actually have no idea the process. (LAUGHS) It's definitely not for the faint-hearted. MAN SPEAKS SPANISH I have to stop. (PANTS, EXHALES) My heart's racing pretty hard cos it's so high. Robbie's a tough cookie. (LAUGHS) She's really, uh, decisive. She's` When she decided to do the project, she went full throttle to it, and she's now here making an` not making but having people around her that are willing to come and take risks, like Ryan and Jess are coming to live here in Mexico to be part of something bigger than just earning money or having a happy life. GENTLE PIANO MUSIC PEOPLE SQUEAL I was born with a condition called phocomelia, which meant that the bones in the lower half of my body didn't develop properly before birth. I learned to walk on a prosthetic leg. And because I couldn't say prosthesis or artificial limb when I was a toddler, my leg became known as Lucy Leg, hence the name the Lucy Foundation. And when I was 12 years old, they amputated from below the knee to through the knee. PENSIVE MUSIC I know that I would definitely not be doing what I'm doing now if I hadn't had the experience of growing up with a disability. GENTLE MUSIC For many years I didn't identify as being disabled, and, uh, I guess I tried to hide it. I made a conscious decision to almost come out as a disabled person. I have been told that another amputation of my other leg is on the cards. I won't always be able to be as mobile and independent as I am, so gotta live in the moment, make the most of the now. BIRDS CHIRP (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SQUAWKS) METAL CREAKS BIRDS CHIRP, PEOPLE CHATTER (SPEAKS SPANISH) The situation with Pluma coffee is sl... It's been a little bit dramatic because it's under threat. In Mexico what's happening is that the leaf rust has spread out really a lot, and it's spreading that much more because the soil is not that fertile any more. PARROTS SQUAWK The growers from Pluma Hidalgo were used to have really good crops without doing much about anything. They just let the coffee grow, and they will have a harvest. Now they need to work on their crop. (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SPEAKS SPANISH) ETHEREAL MUSIC ROOSTER CROWS MUSIC CONTINUES MAN SPEAKS SPANISH PEOPLE SPEAK SPANISH PEOPLE CHATTER ROOSTER CROWS BIRDS CHIRP So, Lalo's house should be somewhere up here, right? Yeah. Have you been here before? Nah. Nope. Uh, but there's a big hill. (LAUGHS) (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) OK. One of the most exciting things we discovered at the meeting was that Lalo, because he didn't have a farm, took this message during the workshop when we built a compost bin together and over the last year he has constructed his own. How high are we here, Miguel? 'Maybe this is a way that we can engage him in the business side of things 'by potentially purchasing compost off him for the others that do have coffee farms.' Lalo? Lalo? Hi. Buenos dias. (SPEAKS SPANISH) Como estas? Buenos dias. (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SPEAKS SPANISH) Lalo, we've heard that you've been, um, working on some composting. We're wondering if we` you could show us. (TRANSLATES IN SPANISH) Ah, si. DOG BARKS IN DISTANCE OK, I see. Here it is. It's OK? Esta bien? Ah, perfecto. (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SPEAKS SPANISH) Yeah. OK, perfecto. It's very helpful for us to know. How much do you think, uh, this might produce? It's based on what they have available or what they can buy to eat or what they have available to put into the compost. Mm. In the future we can advise him or assess him to go in a bigger volume by sourcing stuff from all the people or` The neighbours. ...asking to the neighbours, 'Hey, I can collect your peels. I can collect things like that,...' Yeah. ...and start creating more volume. Yeah. I think if we're gonna design something, uh, specifically for making compost, then we can use what he's got and make it grow` < Yeah, and strengthen it even more. Adapt it. Yeah. LALO SPEAKS SPANISH ROOSTER CROWS TRANQUIL MUSIC CHILDREN LAUGH, SQUEAL MUSIC CONTINUES (CHUCKLES) I'm just on such a buzz to see, um, Lalo take, um` take on board the advice and the guidance that we` we brought last time about composting and the importance of it and has done it himself. Like, that's` I don't think` That's the best outcome, I think, for us. Yeah. And` The most important thing is that almost he invested into the compost. He bought` He paid 100 pesos in things to build it. That's right. That's right. And that's` that's a lot of money for him. $10 is, um` is a day's work. What he's got is great for, I guess, learning the steps to making the compost. < Mm. Almost like a trial run, I guess, but if he wants to do it where he's getting food from the neighbours and the community, he's gonna need to be much bigger than that ` four or five times bigger. With a project like this, there is always a risk of coming across as, you know, the white saviour or the colonialist, coming in, changing the way they do things, especially with people who are very traditional in their approaches to, um` to life. It's actually up to us to learn from them. We're constantly asking, 'Is this OK? How would you do it?' and really taking that on board, not just asking the question but actually responding. TRANQUIL MUSIC I know that what we're trying to achieve here sounds like we've bitten off more than we can chew, and there's so many unknowns in front of us that sometimes you think, 'What the heck am I doing?' You know, we could be leading a pretty comfortable life in NZ and not worrying about these things. REFLECTIVE MUSIC At the start of this week, I was feeling a little nervous, a little anxious. Ola. Buenos` Ola. Buenos dias. What was gonna happen? I had no idea. GENTLE MUSIC But it's falling into place. PEOPLE CHATTER PEOPLE SPEAK SPANISH A couple of years ago, I actually read this really beautiful proverb, a Mexican proverb, and it said, 'They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds.' You know, throughout history, people with disabilities have been treated as second-class citizens. We have been buried, but we are the seeds. GENTLE MUSIC And this is just the start. This is just the beginning. We are going to plant the coffee and watch as it grows. REFLECTIVE MUSIC MUSIC QUICKENS Captions by Pippa Jefferies. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 We're closing in on the 2016 Attitude Awards. This is our ninth year, and we've mixed things up. Get ready for new categories and fresh ideas. We're striving to make this year's awards bigger and better than ever before. You'll experience unique stories of Kiwis achieving, mixed with phenomenal performances and a full three-course dinner. UPLIFTING MUSIC