The following post features student writing.
As a group, we were given the opportunity to both watch the ASOMOBI documentary, “A Small Section of the World,” and to visit and learn about the coffee production factory this week. Not only was the experience interesting, but also touched our hearts, giving us a new appreciation for ASOMOBI (Association of Women Organized in Biolley). Both events taught us about how much hard work and dedication it took to create this organization. The endless bravery these women exerted to defeat all odds, including sexism, lack of experience, and little income, is truly admirable. As two young women growing up in a world where most opportunities are handed to us with no expense to us, hearing these women’s stories shook our perspective on life.
The ASOMOBI coffee factory experience taught us how difficult it is to run a business, more specifically a coffee production enterprise. Our guide was Julia, a German volunteer who has been working at ASOMOBI for the past year. She explained to us that the coffee business generates little income. Julia also explained that intense labor is required in order for there to be any profit at all. Workers must work year-round in very hot weather. She then showed us the steps necessary to create a cup of coffee, including measuring the coffee cherries brought to them by the coffee pickers, washing the cherries, separating the coffee from its shell, drying it, letting it age, roasting it, and finally labeling and packaging it. The overall process takes a lot of work and dedication. It amazed us how the people of ASOMOBI are able to do it.
The documentary about ASOMOBI gives a glimpse into the struggles the organization and its members encountered along the way. The film highlights the backlash the women of ASOMOBI faced from others (mostly men) when they were first starting out, as well as how they utilized the criticism to grow stronger. Also mentioned was the 2012 electrical fire, which destroyed the factory and the lodge that they had constructed themselves to host tourists. Not leaving a dry eye in the audience, the film focused on how the women would not let this tragedy set them back. At the end of the film, once the applause died down, we were all left speechless, as we were sitting in the very heart of the rebuilt lodge with some of the ASOMOBI women, admiring how far they had come since that fateful day. The film is one none of us will ever forget.
– Lily & Lila