On the drive there, Heleanna took us to a former coffee farm that’s now disused.

The area used to have coffee trees, but they’ve been replaced by khat (a plant with mild psychedelic properties), which is a quick source of income, but unfortunately, it depletes the soil of its nutrients, leaving the farm barren and unsuitable for coffee farming.

It is a tough situation, especially considering that we’re seeing a decrease in coffee farms, and farmers struggling to make ends meet.

As a coffee professional and as a person, how should we approach this?

I don’t have a clear answer to that question at the moment.

Despite this, we feel that it’s our responsibility to do our best to bring as much of this amazing Ethiopian coffee to consumers as we can.

I also visited a school supported by Moplaco.

I was touched by the children’s innocent expressions.

Being a Japanese-educated individual, I believe in the importance of education.We have experienced the values of education and the changes it brings. But Education systems in Ethiopia are not so well placed, as schools lack basic facilities and children lack the motivation to go to schools. There is a lack of basic school materials, infrastructure as well as distance; it sometimes takes 6kms to walk to the school under the rain and mud. Hence the drop out rate especially among girls that reach puberty is quite high.

What can be done to instill the value of education here? What can we do to encourage children to go to school? How could we contribute to this change?

As we traveled, it became clear that what’s considered normal in Japan is vastly different from what’s normal in Ethiopia.

We encountered numerous examples of this throughout the day.

Cars were almost non-existent there. All we saw were motorcycles and horses laden with hemp sacks.

As our car passed by, the people would wave at us, but I wasn’t sure if they were doing it because they truly wanted to welcome us. After slightly hesitating, I waved back at them.

Finally, we arrived at the coffee farm.

After passing through a hilly road dotted with wild coffee trees, we reached an area where cultivated coffee trees had been carefully planted on a slope.

Although most of the coffee cherries had already been picked, there were still few remaining on the branches.

It was the first time I’d ever eaten one. It tasted sweet, almost like a peach or plum.

The warehouse was full of large piles of hemp sacks, but it was well-organized and clean.

Through our conversations over the homemade lunch, I learned that the pickers I’d seen living along the road had been excited for us to come and see their coffee. This made it much easier for me to wholeheartedly wave goodbye to them on the way home.

While we were traveling, we decided to play a game where each car would be assigned a topic that the passengers would discuss among themselves.

We traveled for a total of about nine hours that day, and I had the fortune of riding in the car that had been assigned the topic of management. I don’t have enough words to describe the words of wisdom and knowledge I gained from traveling with Mr. Goto and Mr. Tomidokoro, two very accomplished executives. Thinking about it now still makes me thankful from the bottom of my heart.

I hope the other team members can take a turn riding in the management car soon so everyone else has a chance to experience that eureka moment for themselves.

This is my debut journey to Africa, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in the everyday lives of Ethiopians.

Everything is fresh and new to me here – the air, the scenery, and most importantly, the people.

My goal is to make the most of my time here, connecting with roasters from South Korea and Japan and cherishing every moment.