Conviction: Coffee for a Cause

Hey! For today, a total treat. After catching sight of Three Avocados on Twitter the other day, I realized it fell right in with what I'm posting about this month. So I sent an email through their website hoping to get an interview, and voila! Joe Koenig, a founder of the company, responded promptly to my questions. Here they are!

Real Fine Place: Please, tell us just a little about Three Avocados:
3 Avocados: Three Avocados is a non-profit coffee company, using 100% of our profits to provide clean water in Uganda. We were founded in February of 2010, and had our first coffee available for sale in April of 2010. Currently, Three Avocados focuses on Uganda, but the plan is to expand into countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Hondouras, Guatemala, and virtually any coffee-producing country that has a need for clean water.

RFP: What inspired you to start a company where you give all of your profits away?
3A: I visited Uganda in January of 2010 and saw great need. I was amazed at the number of people living without basic necessities, such as clean water. I saw how much I truly had been blessed with and felt called to do something. I wanted to find a sustainable way to make a difference. Something that didn't rely on donations, and something that could be produced in Uganda. Giving away 100% of the profit seemed natural - I truly have all I need, while others in the world are in great need.

RFP: How has your life changed since Three Avocados was founded?
3A: I am a lot busier :) Three Avocados is something I work on in the evenings and weekends in an effort to grow the organization. I am passionate about Three Avocados and truly believe it has the potential to make a significant impact, in Uganda, in the world, and in the business world, by showing what we can achieve when we place others before ourselves.

I definitely have a new perspective on life since visiting Uganda and starting Three Avocados. I am significantly more thankful and aware of all of the blessings I have been given. I certainly did nothing to deserve to be born with every opportunity placed at my feet, nor did anyone in Uganda do anything to deserve to be born into a life of constant struggle. That blessing also comes with a responsibility to do everything I can to help my brothers and sisters throughout the world. Three Avocados gives me the opportunity to do that, which is an amazingly gratifying feeling.

It's a neato story, but even more exciting -- it's just that easy for you to get involved. Maybe send your favorite uncle a nice bag of Ugandan coffee?
This is the cool thing about service. Once you see that there is so much you can do (you don't need to start your own coffee company! start smaller!) it's hard not to just start doing it.

If you want to know more about Joe's company, visit the Three Avocados' website, or find them on Twitter and Facebook. Muchas Gracias to Joe & the rest of the Three Avocados crew!

Whew! One week down. But that isn't the end -- see you tomorrow for more of our regularly scheduled programming.

Conviction: Clean Water = Clean Bill of Health

Just a video today, but I know that learning how things actually help and work are very interesting. Makes it a little more real, you know?

Come back tomorrow for an interview with Three Avocados, a non-profit coffee company!

Conviction: A Fighting Chance

We now know that HIV/AIDS is a disease that anyone could contract without proper precautions, and while once contracted it is eventually fatal, often, it's symptoms can be treated successfully for a long time. But a question still remains: Why do so many people still die from HIV/AIDS, especially internationally?

Here, in the US, treatment and prevention of disease is pretty closely tracked by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. You probably remember the CDC as a big player in the recent H1N1 shenanigans, but they also have records on things like HIV and AIDS -- keeping track of cases as well as providing educational information on the disease. However, a less developed country, like many in Africa, may be struggling to keep power, and disease control and prevention can be pushed to the wayside.

The only way to change this is education, learning! In the same way that I had to educate myself on HIV/AIDS, people everywhere need to be informed of just what HIV/AIDS is and how you contract it. By doing this, fewer people will get the disease, and the stigma that comes from ignorance about the disease can be relieved.



Another factor in the health and survival of people with HIV/AIDS is how clean their environment is: if they live in a clean environment, they are less likely to get any other infection or sickness. I know even in my dorm room, we have clean running water, a refridgerator to keep our food at a safe temperature, and oven to cook food and be sure that no harmful germs can get into our stomachs. Unfortunately, a lot of the rest of the world is in a different situation. World Vision lists this statistic:

"Worldwide, 884 million people lack access to safe water, and 2.5 billion lack basic sanitation."

That's rough. And again, I'm not writing this to make you feel guilty about your running water. Please continue showering on a regular basis. (That means you, Russel Brand!)

When you don't have clean water, it affects every facet of your life. You drink dirty water which leads to illnesses and often diarrhea, which will lead to dehydration. When you are too dehydrated to find your next meal, soon enough, without outside help, you have very little time left. Clean water can prevent all of that.


These are the big two, really. If people in less developed countries can be educated on the risks that can lead to HIV, and then we can do our part to provide clean water, the change would be remarkable.


Isn't it wild the things that are so easily changed? Stay tuned for some ideas coming up on how you can help, and who you are helping.