The Complete Coffee Foundation

The Complete Coffee Foundation is proud to be associated with the Costa Foundation. We directly sponsor the Nutrition Programme at the Anatoli School and Minipi de Quijano School in La Mesa, Colombia.

There are at least 130 children in this region who were unable to go to school because there was no room for them in the old school building, which was also potentially dangerous in the event of an earthquake. With our support, the capacity of Anatoli school was increased by 68%, and we helped provide a library, an internet room, books, computers, furniture and a canteen. Supporting the whole family helps ensure children remain in school, and a food security programme has been developed on a plot of land alongside the school. Here, the coffee farmers and their families can grow crops such as maize, beans and other vegetables and raise chickens and fish.

Complete Coffee Ltd have supported La Rayuela for more than 20 years and visits the school and children whenever the opportunity arises.

La Rayuela is a community project run by the NGO Mundos Hermanos, based in the town of Chinchina in the coffee-producing region of Caldas. Through a comprehensive programme of individual and family support, education and vocational training, this initiative aims to prevent children from engaging in harmful labour, secures their basic rights and provides them with the education and training needed to find legal employment in adulthood.

Around 200 children, aged between 5 and 18, attend the programme on a regular basis. The academic support, which focuses on building literacy, numeracy and motor skills, aims to recuperate each child’s academic level, and when they are ready, sees them return to school. La Rayuela works closely with the children’s families and carries out follow-up visits to the children’s schools to ensure that this process is sustainable.

The vocational programme focuses on two main skills areas: bakery and carpentry. While younger children receive pre-vocational training, older children focus on setting up small businesses in these areas.

To date, older children have been able to attend courses in areas such as accountancy and food hygiene, carry out visits to flour mills and carpentry trade fairs, and have begun making a profit in the small businesses they run. The youth-led bakery business has designed a range of confectionary that promotes children’s rights using slogans on the product packaging.

If you would like to support Complete Coffee Foundation or one of our chosen charities then please contact Kristine Breminer.