A builder with compassion as wide as his building skills is going to put the two to good use in Ethiopia.
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — Marty van der Burg is leading a group of 24 volunteers on a Habitat for Humanity project that will provide homes for people living in poverty.
The four-week trip leaving on September 24 will also be used to highlight social issues facing Ethiopia.
The location was chosen because it was the source of some of the world’s best coffee, tended to by impoverished farmers who don’t receive a fair price from overseas buyers.
Mr van der Burg will meet with the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative to learn more about fair trade coffee and the plight of coffee growers.
“You can choose to make a difference by being aware of something simple like fair trade coffee.”
He says there is a 2000 percent markup on coffee from its source to the coffee shop.
“The poor and oppressed need a voice, we need to challenge corporates who keep the wages low,” he says.
“It’s about how we can improve the lot of the coffee grower.”
To extend their humanitarian effort, they will be taking 300kg of clothes to a local orphanage.
Mr van der Burg is also helping to turn the life around of a teenager in trouble with the law by encouraging him to join the team.
He had to gain permission from the courts for the teenager to be bailed to his supervision and the project will form part of his community service sentence.
One of the team members, Flat Bush resident Scott Pepler, a coffee development manager and a world coffee judge.
The joint focus on coffee as a social issue will complement Mr Pepler’s extensive knowledge and interest in coffee.
He says he can’t wait to go, and rather than having any nerves or hesitation about doing strenuous work in a Third World country, he says he is excited about making the contribution.
Mr van der Burg has raised $79,000 towards the group’s costs.
“I wanted to create an opportunity for everyday New Zealanders to be able to give,” he says.
He says there is a great cross-section of ages and backgrounds of the volunteers on the team.
He is already planning two more trips to Ethopia next year.
“I have such strong energy in my heart to help,” he says.
It is a feeling shared by Jack Johnston, 72, who will be returning to Africa after providing labour for last year’s project.
“He was our hardest worker,” says Mr van der Burg.
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