My wife and I started the Safariland Café in order to introduce the excellent Kenyan coffee and tea to the Seattle residents. However, our café is more than a shop for selling coffee and tea. We hope to change and improve the lives and the economy of the coffee and tea farmers in our home area of Central Kenya.

The price of coffee in the World market is at present very low. This factor together with the existing layered marketing structure that depends on multinationals results in farmers receiving very minimal payment for the sale of their coffee. Our goal is to provide the small scale coffee and tea farmers in our home area of Central Kenya a direct outlet for selling their coffee without relying on multinational companies.

In most part of Kenya, primary and high schools have farms where they learn farming methods. Students grow crops such as bananas, maize, beans and coffee. We also wish to assist schools in our area market their coffee and use the cash generated to purchase school supplies and upgrade the school infrastructure.

Both of us come from the scenic coffee and tea growing highlands of Kenya. Like many other Kenyans, we started working in our respective family coffee farms at a very early age and continued to do so through adulthood. In this respect, we are very knowledgeable regarding the farming, processing and marketing of coffee and tea. Once we made the decision to open the Safariland Café, we took the additional initiative and learned how to brew and serve excellent coffee drinks, such as espresso, lattes and other coffee based specialty drinks. We hope that if you live in Seattle or are visitor, you will stop by our café and allow us to serve you.

You can help us achieve our goals by:

Visit our café regularly and purchase our excellent coffee, tea or other menu items.

Commit to purchase 1 pound of coffee every month for a period of 1 year.

We are also seeking donations of notebooks and pencils for the students of Kirere Catholic Church Mission (CCM) Primary school. With the introduction of free primary education in Kenya last year, the primary schools are overcrowded and students have virtually no supplies. If you leave within the Seattle area, you can donate the supplies by dropping them at our café, (254 NE 45th Street, WA 98105).

Contributors will be able to track the use of their donation through photos and information posted at our web site.

If you would like to make a donation to the CCM Primary School, please send a check to SAFARILAND CAFÉ, 254 NE 45th STREET, SEATTLE, WA 98105. Please mark on the check: Donation for CCM Kirere Primary school.