Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
My name is Fatima Lopez.
I work for the cooperative Prodecoop in Nicaragua.
I am the daughter of a small-scale coffee farmer,
and my job at the cooperative is quality control.
I have worked for Prodecoop for 7 years
and its has been a valuable experience full of many opportunities.
Recently I took my Q-grader exams, and I passed!
For me this is something really significant.
It’s not just a certificate that will stay as is,
I have to keep learning and improving.
This world changes qickly and we have to learn new things every day.
I am not just a cupper to be a cupper,
now I really understand the reason why I cup coffees.
My career is something really important to my personal growth as well.
To integrate myself into society.
Coffee is a world of men. It’s not a world of women.
But I have trusted in myself,
I have had the support of many people who had faith me.
I have been a young person -- it’s not like I’m in my forties
with 20 years of experience.
that I have finished with that.
I was more like a child, coming with nothing of experience.
I am 25 years old. More than anything,
as a woman, my experience was very valuabe,
this experience I had to be with many people
from many different countries and cultures.
We were not many women in the course --
4 or 5 women compared with 15 men.
The same thing happened to me at the Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence.
There were 14 men and simply me as a woman. This is a challenge for me,
to stand up and say “Here I am. And I am here because I merit being here.”
I am here because I really know what I am doing and my work is important.
Yes, it’s the same. I earned this certification not because I am Fatima Lopez
and I come from Nicaragua, but because I passed the exams.
I expected a lot of myself.
I was relaxed, but I knew that I had to exceed.
It was a personal challenge,
but there were also a lot of people expecting success from me.
Sustainable Harvest, Prodecoop, my family.
They knew that I had to pass, and I did it!
Let’s Talk Coffee has been very valuable for me.
It’s a chance to learn new things and meet other people from different countries.
Not only this, I have participated in Let’s Talk Coffee since it’s first year.
so now I arrive and I see people that I practically consider family.
Really, we are kind of like a big family.
I know what to do, the opportunities I have to talk with clients.
This helps me always learn more of my role in quality control and why I do that work.