Savor & Save
“The children of Uganda are asking for survival,
they are asking for peace.”
(Quote from the Invisible Children documentary film)
Boresha is directly donating a percentage of its proceeds to the
non-profit organization, Invisible Children, to help put an end to
the horrors of war. With every cup of Boresha coffee you too can help
the children in northern Uganda by giving them back their childhood,
their dreams, and their lives.
SAVOR A DELICIOUS CUP OF BORESHA COFFEE AND HELP SAVE A CHILD’S LIFE.
A Violent History of War
For the last 20+ years, a war has raged in northern Uganda,
forgotten by most of the world. Since 1987, a rebel group known as
the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been fighting for power against
the government of Uganda. The LRA holds no territory in Uganda, but
operates out of southern Sudan, conducting cross-border attacks in
Uganda. Abducted children have fought this war, primarily. It
is estimated that more than 30,000 children have been abducted and
forced to fight for the LRA. Currently, those abducted are estimated
to comprise 80 to 95 percent of the LRA's forces.
Innocent civilians are strung vulnerably in the balance between two
sides that have lost sight of the people. The government of Uganda has
failed to protect its citizens from this rebel militia that has abducted
thousands of children, subjected them to torture or sexual violence,
and forced them to fight in a violent guerilla army. And while peace
talks are currently underway to bring much-needed resolution to this
humanitarian crisis, the war still wages on, carrying with it the
devastating abduction of innocent children.
The Raw Reality
It is a grave, desperate situation where the children fear the night,
they fear to sleep at their own homes.”
(Quote from the Invisible Children documentary film.)
The Lords Resistance Army (LRA) is an army of rebels headed by
Joseph Kany and run from the jungles of northern Uganda. Its mission is
to overthrow the government of Uganda and it will stop at nothing, even
if it means forcefully abducting, brainwashing, and brutally killing
children. In a war that has been waging on for 20+ years, and where
people have long grown weary of supporting its cause, the LRA brutally
kidnaps children in a violently mad effort to continue their war.
Over 30,000 children have been abducted to date. The prime victims are
children from five to twelve years of age, because they are big enough to carry
weapons, but small enough to sneak into schools and steal more children.
The children are forcefully abducted from their villages by the rebels
and brainwashed into being soldiers, brainwashed to kill. They are taken
into the jungle and desensitized through violent indoctrination. Those
who are too weak to make the journey into the jungle are chopped up with
knives and left to die. They are taught nothing but to kill, to kill
through beating, knifing, and shooting. If they try to escape, they
are brutally tortured and killed, their limbs intentionally cut off
in front of the other children to instill horror and fear into their
minds should they even think for a second to do the same.
Instead of being able to play and go to school like normal children,
these children live in absolute fear. They have nightmares and dread
sleeping in their own homes, terrified that will be forcefully abducted
by the rebels and killed.
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In a desperate effort to escape from the LRA, the innocent children
of northern Uganda must sleep away from their families and commute as
far as 10 miles every evening into town centers and makeshift camps in
order to avoid being kidnapped. This tragic trend of "night commuting"
has increased, with up to 50,000 children now walking every night to
safety, to sleep in places where the space is limited and they must
sleep tightly packed together on the hard concrete floor, with just a thin
blanket to cover some of them.
The ones that miraculously manage to return to their villages are
severely traumatized. They have been forced to kill or have witnessed
somebody being killed. The children are abducted before they learn to
read or write. They do not have the chance to go to school and grow up
their whole lives in the bush, so all they know to do is to use guns,
to use violence, to kill. The result is children that exhibit high
levels of aggression, resorting to playing games of a violent nature, and
whose drawings are bloody depictions of abductions, weapons, and war.
These children live each day in a desperate situation.
Invisible Children
Invisible Children, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose mission
is to provide healthcare, safety, and education for the children of
northern Uganda.
With coverage on Oprah, CNN, the National Geographic Channel, and more,
Invisible Children was born from the wave of responses of people having
seen the documentary film exposing the effects of a 20-year war on the
children of Uganda, where children are both the weapons and the victims.
Invisible Children vigilantly strives to give each of these children
a name, a face, a voice, and an education.
Boresha is proud to team up with the Invisible Children organization
and donate a percentage of its proceeds to the children of northern
Uganda. You too can actively make a difference and help the children
in northern Uganda, one cup of coffee at a time.
SAVOR A DELICIOUS CUP OF BORESHA COFFEE AND HELP SAVE A CHILD’S LIFE.
Fair Trade Pricing / Sustainable Quality
Boresha is committed to enhancing the livelihoods of farmers by
purchasing coffee beans at fair trade pricing, and to contributing
to the preservation of the environment by establishing relationships
with organic coffee growers which adopt sustainability principles into
their farming practices.
Fair Trade Pricing
Fair trade pricing guarantees that the coffee was grown responsibly,
and that the farmers who grew the beans got a fair price for them. Paying
farmers a premium price for their products contributes to quality of
life for coffee growers and their communities by:
- Ensuring that they are taking home more money for their harvest to help support a better life.
- Creating direct trade links to farmers and their cooperatives, bypassing exploitative middlemen.
- Creating a positive impact on farmers and their communities by enabling them to put money back into their operation
and invest in training and education for workers.
Sustainability
Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the
human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future.
According to the World Commission on Environment and Development, assembled
by the United Nations in 1983, sustainable development is defined as
development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Organic farming protects farmers and the environment from unsafe
applications of fertilizers and pesticide, promoting a sustainable
environment and sustainable agriculture for future generations.
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