It was a great opportunity to be chosen as one of the representatives of the Philippine coffee industry to participate at the Specialty Coffee Expo 2023 held in Portland, Oregon last 21-23 April 2023. As President & CEO of Coffee For Peace (CFP), I’m grateful to the efforts of the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) in bringing coffee industry stakeholders from the Philippines to this international coffee exhibition. By participating in this premier event, Filipino coffee industry players like me were able to showcase our products and connect with the international decision makers in the industry, gaining exposure to global markets and expanding our business opportunities.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/04/27/cfp-is-represented-at-the-specialty-coffee-expo-2023-in-portland-oregon/
Coffee for Peace (CFP) was chosen as the lead enterprise among other business enterprises in Davao Region to support skills and competitiveness training for their employees. This is part of the Asian Development Bank’s SkillsUpNet Philippines (ADB-SUNPh) program, an innovative skills-delivery scheme led by employers in select locations. Under SUNPh, grants ranging from PhP1 million to PhP4 million were awarded to five networks of enterprises in five priority sectors. CFP-led “Kapehan Sa Davao” (Coffee Gathering in Davao) is one of the five networks in the country who received such grants. The 10-month SUNPh Program will allow CFP and the other enterprises in the Kapehan Sa Davao Network to provide training to their employees on new coffee roasting and brewing techniques, as well as on customer service and marketing skills.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/04/14/cfp-leads-kapehan-sa-davao-agribusiness-network-in-an-entrepreneurial-skills-development-program/
Last 30-31 March 2023, the folks at iDEYA — the Center of Innovation and Technopreneurship at the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) — invited Lakan, Joji, and Tala for a two-day focused discussion group. Together, they worked on developing a Social Entrepreneurship training program framed in Indigenous Knowledge System and Practices (IKSP). During the meetings, they reflected on their experiences and reviewed their notes on Indigenous social entrepreneurial practices which they learned from the Talaandig Tribe of Bukidnon in the past year. They also planned two features of this project: (a) the production of an IKSP-framed training manual; and, (b) the Impact Day when IP entrepreneurs will present their social business and products to concerned government agencies, business corporations, and non-government organizations.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/03/31/academic-partners-journey-with-us-in-developing-iksp-framed-social-entrepreneurial-incubation/
16-19 March 2023. The Inclusive Development Team (IncluDev Team) of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace, Inc. (CFP) was invited by the Mandaya Coffee Producers Association (MaCoPA) to conduct a leadership training among their officers. This two-day seminar and workshop included a review of the technical aspects of coffee production, from crop to cup. It also included psychosocial and legal aspects of organizational development. This activity was done in partnership with TriPeople Development and Service Foundation. While PBCI focuses on the community development, CFP is committed tobuy one ton of coffee cherries per community during their first harvest and to link the farmers to local, national, and international markets when the quality and quantity of supply is sustained.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/03/20/mandaya-coffee-producers-association-completes-leadership-training/
The Arrupe Office of Social Formation — the social formation arm of the Ateneo de Davao University — invited Joji and me as one of their resource speakers last 28 February 2023, for the event entitled “Love Stories: Paano Umibig sa Panahon ng Ligalig? The Way of Love in Troubled Waters”. This event is one of the activities in commemoration of the 32nd death anniversary of Jesuit Father General Pedro Arrupe. Our talk was part of a series of short talks and performances inspired by Fr Pedro Arrupe’s “fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything” and is grounded in Christ’s most fundamental teaching: love. Joji and I were so grateful for the privilege of sharing our harmonious view of love — that of loving the Creator, loving our being, loving others, and loving the whole creation.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/02/28/the-ateneo-de-davao-university-invited-us-to-share-our-love-story/
A group of civil society organizations consulted me and asked me to facilitate a seminar on how to understand the current conflict they are facing as they do their peace and development work. These organizations have been in dialogue with us since April last year. So, last 20-21 February 2023, I went to Zambales province and continued our partnership talks by listening to them and by seeking to understand their context while immersing myself in the community for a couple of days. Based on the needs I saw, I introduced to them basic conflict transformation and conflict mapping skills. These organizations are walking in solidarity with certain Aeta Indigenous communities in Zambales who are experiencing land-based conflict with certain powers.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/02/22/we-shared-conflict-transformation-and-conflict-mapping-skills-to-our-zambales-partners/
As part of our inclusive approach in peacebuilding, I and one of my Field Operations staff members, Arafat ‘Toto’ Balono, participated in a military-organized conversation on counterinsurgency, peace, and development in Davao Region. It was held last 24 January 2023, 0830-1300PHT, at the headquarters of the 10th Infantry Division (10ID) of the Philippine Army, Datu Balunto Hall, Camp General Manuel T Yan Sr., Barangay Tuboran, Municipality of Mawab, Province of Davao de Oro. We listened to the military reports and conversation between civil society leaders and Philippine Army officers. When given the chance, I shared our perspective on justice-based peacebuilding beyond the box of the counterinsurgency campaign of the military.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/01/30/pbci-shared-justice-and-peace-concerns-of-civilians-at-the-armys-10th-infantry-division/
