Javier Alvarez

Sister Damon Nolan's niece Tara Nolan and I went to see Javier Álvarez this weekend to chat about the College's coffee project. Javier used to organize the coffee purchases from communities around the College. When Tara asked about what he is doing now, he told us part of his life story.

Javier and his wife studied at another campus of Catholic University on the Bolivian Altiplano, and Javier graduated with an associate degree in Agribusiness. Then he went to work for an organization that helped farmers near Carmen Pampa. Sister Damon encouraged him to get a licenciatura degree to have more skills and credentials, and make a bigger impact. helping farmers be more profitable and improve their quality of life. She offered him a job at the College while he studied.

He took her advice and worked on an agronomy degree. However, half way through his studies, he got in a motorcycle accident and was in the hospital for a year and a half. Even this could not discourage him from his dream: though a limp reduces his movement, he continued working toward his degree and finished in 2007, researching how the coffee plant water treatment works.

"Sister Damon was like a mother to me, and never let me get discouraged," he told us as we sat with his wife and daughter in the shade of a tree near his house. "Her vision carries us far, and will carry us into a future of dignity and understanding."



Sarah writes about what Javier is doing now on her blog Uchumachi.