Antigua

After leaving Guatemala City, the group of Ambassadors headed for Antigua, the old colonial capital in a luxuriant area on the banks of Lake Atitlán. The city is famous for its ancient ruins and natural landscapes, with fragrant coffee plantations on the slopes of old volcanoes.

In the next few days, they visited factories and co-operatives where the coffee is processed. Here, they tried their hand at harvesting the beans, as well as seeing the coffee bushes being pruned and the pulp recycled to produce compost. Most of the farmers in Guatemala are organised in co-operatives to facilitate resource sharing and the promotion of common interests. This is the case above all in small local communities, in which families continue to hand down their know-how and the cultural traditions around this precious plant, from generation to generation.

Local communities

The group also visited an area where a number of projects promoted by the Lavazza Foundation are active. One of the most emotional visits was to a school that opens during the harvesting season, offering the farmers’ children educational and recreational activities, as well as a safe place where they can be looked after while their parents are at work. And to a mobile clinic providing healthcare where the farmers actually work, so as to reach as many families as possible and also offer free treatment to people who wouldn’t otherwise have the time or be able to go to a medical centre.

The group spent three busy days watching various activities in the plantations and factories that process the coffee. But they also managed to find time to relax and explore the Mayan villages on the shores of Lake Atitlán and the town of Antigua, with its cobbled streets and typical pastel-coloured buildings.