Francisca Rivera, Malzincales Farm

This left me alone to care for our land. It was a time of hardship and working days from dawn until dusk, and then well into the night.

Luckily, I had learned to work the land when I was still a child. The best months of each year were harvest time. My father would take me to the farm very early, when it was still cold, and I would snuggle up to his warm, strong body whenever we sat down for coffee. By the time I was twelve, I could pick cherries faster than him, with my small fingers and nimble hands.

I left school after third grade; I didn't like it and preferred being on the farm with my father and brothers. So, when they all abandoned the land in desperation and embarked on the perilous journey through Guatemala and Mexico to reach the United States, I was as prepared as possible to take care of our coffee plantations.

Since then, several of them have returned, and my son now does most of the work I used to do. Now, I focus on drying and preparation, while ensuring that the best beans are picked at the precise moment when they have the lush, juicy ripeness of beans destined to end their long journey in a cup of specialty coffee.

But we haven't reached that point yet. We just had a microbatch that scored 84.25, so we're making progress and are hopeful we'll do even better in the near future.

I also take care of my granddaughter when my son has to stay away from home longer than expected. Although I didn't enjoy going to school, I'm very aware that the world has changed, and I'll do whatever it takes to give my granddaughter a better education. All the profit from the coffee shop goes toward her school uniform, supplies, textbooks, and everything else she needs to become a capable and well-educated young woman who will have the tools to achieve her rightful place in today's world.

Hopefully, at the end of the school year, there will be some money left over to invest in a solar dryer and prepare even better coffees for our roasters.