the coffee-drinking world has been missing out on this.
Burundian coffee doesn’t get the attention it deserves, and
Ben and Kristy Carlson intend to change that. For them,
coffee is not just a passion to be pursued. It’s a chance to
make a difference in the lives of a community, if not an
entire country. They started with a washing station for the
coffee, but as time went on, they formalized the project.
The birth of Long Miles Coffee Project was not only a
way for Ben and Kristy to get involved in the coffee
business; it was an opportunity to offer hope. Nearly two-
thirds of the Burundi population lives at or below the
poverty line,^9 and due to a lack of infrastructure,
middlemen take most of the revenues from coffee
production.^10 The goal of the project is to improve the lives
of local farmers through direct trade, helping them get better
wages.
These farmers are not some far-off cause to which the
Carlsons send money every month. They are their
neighbors. They see these people every day; their kids play
together. Because they work in one of the poorest countries
on the planet, it’s important to them to not only understand
the people they’re trying to help, but to experience life with
them.
When they first entertained moving to Burundi, Ben and
Kristy couldn’t comprehend the implications of their dream
and never would have anticipated all the battles they would
face while building a business in the developing world. But
they knew they had to find a way, and that determination