Goats and Soda

editor's note

Dear readers,

For Meridah Nandudu, sipping a medium roast is symbolic of something more -- how the humble bean has transformed her life and the lives of many women in her village in Uganda.

"It is the gold that is seated on our trees," she says.

The daughter of coffee farmers, she had dreams of a career in the big city. She earned degrees in social work and project management, but the country's high unemployment rate left her jobless. When she was 30, her husband left her and their two children. She didn't know how she'd make a living.

Then it dawned on her -- maybe her coffee knowledge from her childhood plus her academic skills could enable her to turn her life around. Now she is the owner of a coffee company that has given her a new course and also inspired her to help women in the community find a way to earn a living through coffee farming, giving them independence from partners who were often controlling and even abusive.

Nandudu told NPR's Fatma Tanis that even though she grew up with zero interest in coffee, today the drink is a source of strength -- and enjoyment. "Medium roast is my favorite," she says, taking a deep inhale of her full cup. "It brings out the caramels, the body of the coffee, the chocolate flavors."

Read the story here.

Marc Silver,
Editor, Goats and Soda

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