Day 8 Global Business Day
Today Joyce and Aisha were the leaders of the day. After breakfast, we got onto the bus and went to the coffee plantation office. There, we learned about the coffee industry and how it works from the inside out. Robert the manager had coffee served to us that tasted great. Next, we talked to the café cultores (cultivators) who were Haitian and got insight on working conditions. In that moment, we experienced tension from the overseers. Keeping that in mind, we moved onto the coffee plantation by way of four pickup trucks which was fun, and we got to taste cacao fruit berries learn about the cultivation of coffee plants. There, we also spoke to the Haitian migrant workers in their native language, Haitian Creole. We wanted to get the reality without influences from Dominican overseers. It made us feel aware about our choices as consumers and how it affected people on a global scale. Then they served us lunch and gave us fruit to take back. Once we got to the hostel we quickly changed into our teacher attire for English tutoring and walked to our classes. And after the classes we returned to the hostel and had dinner which was comprised of spaghetti, meat sauce, and fruit. We reflected on our day and then had our nightly meeting to bring our powerful day to a close.
During reflections we discussed the pro and cons of the coffee industry and came to the conclusion that it’s not a clear cut issue. We realized that because we had firsthand experience on the effects of fair trade it made it more personal, and consumer choice was something we could recognized and exercise here in the U.S.
In conclusion we realized that there is a lot to be done in all aspects of globalization so that we can sustain resources and provide all people with dignity and respect that we all deserve. We also took away the fact that education is the key to making global business equitable to all people in all places.
