The other day I found a great blog on the website of Christian charity, Compassion UK. The blog shows people and communities in some of the countries they work in and some of the issues they face in a very positive, uplifting way.

I loved the video (here) of the Ethiopian coffee ritual, and it added a new dimension to my own coffee ritual. As I poured some of Traidcraft’s Ethiopian coffee for Andrew and I on a quiet, cold Devonshire afternoon, I couldn’t help but feel connected to the people who grew and ground it in a country about as different from where we live as you can get. That morning we had snow and rain, and the landscape outside was green, dotted with the yellow of daffodils, primroses and gorse. In Ethiopia, from what I can gather, the weather is hot and dry, the landscape dusty and brown. Nevertheless, we have in common that sense of community which seems to be present wherever there are people.