We are totally committed to all environmental issues and working hard to reduce our carbon footprint. We have to protect our environmental surroundings in order to protect our future. Easy words to say but we take this very seriously indeed & within our environmental policies we work with our supply partners & staff to deliver best practice.
Historically, coffee & art have always been linked. As part of our community projects in Rwanda with The Point Foundation, we have supported 145 students through university including 24 year old art student, Frank SETTO. Frank grew up in the Noel Orphanage having lost all adult family members during the 1994 genocide. Despite traumatic memories and enduring childhood poverty, Frank is a natural born artist & now designs & paints the artwork that is used on some of our coffee bags.
We work with another brilliant artist called Frederick Ndabaramiye. Frederick was aged 15 when brutally attacked by resistance fighters after the Rwandan genocide who cut of both his hands. Fredericks remarkable recovery is a triumph over physical limitations & his passion for life shows through the vibrance of his paintings. Fredrick is also a founder of Ubumwe Community Centre and works closely with the Point Foundation.
Both painters are commissioned by Caffe Praego who purchase the paintings & own the copyrights. These then form part of the colourful art, displayed on our range of coffee bags.
House of Children School is located in Giseyni in northern Rwanda by Lake Kivu & just 200 yards from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s border. Today 100 x special needs children are supported, of which 60 children are personally funded by Caffe Praego and 40 by Tea Pigs with funds raised through coffees & teas sold. Children are collected daily from outlying villages in old buses and taken to school. Funding pays for their transport, school fees, uniforms, shoes, books, morning milk & lunch. Buses then take them home in the evenings. We also help by contributing to the salaries of 4 x special needs teachers employed at House of Children School and have contributed to the purchasing of @ 7,500 schoolbooks and 100 x school desks.
Mwogo Vocational Training Centre is the largest of our projects, providing vulnerable and special needs youth with hope for their futures. Mwogo is located in one of the poorest areas in Central East Africa with approx 90% of the population unemployed, but sustaining a living by working on the land. Over 100 students are now studying Tailoring, Hair & Beauty, Culinary & Hospitality, Literacy and Barista training. Each student studies courses which are fully accredited by the Rwandan Vocational Training Board and on completing the yearlong course receives accreditation level 1 certificates. Funding is also provided for students wishing to form co-operatives to help purchase equipment such as sewing machines.
