We had the opportunity to visit Ethiopia and Kenya this past February. This was a life changing experience in many ways. Ethiopia is an incredibly unique country. Foreign businesses are not legal in ethiopia. This makes the experience there unlike any other we've had. It's quintessentially Ethiopian.We visited many factory operators to cup their coffees during our time in Addis Ababa. When we met Mahader Dumerso, we could sense her love for her community.

Mahader and her sister employ over 400 employees and purchase cherries from over 600 small farms in the region. They are a significant player in the local community. Along with job creation, they have built a local health care facility and give healthcare to all their employees. They've also contribute to social improvements like filtering water which is very big issue and has helped lower the rate of cholera. Their investment in power to run their station has also help the region as they can feed electricity to many neighbouring houses. It was evident to us that their passion lay beyond coffee.