This quarter brought with it many international travels for Mausi and Eddy. Being away from the business for so long normally brings with it the insecurity of what is happening while you're away. The good old saying of "While the cat's away, the mice will play" could often be on your mind. Yet, while being away from the farm for over three months, this is seldom, if ever in Eddy and Mausi's mind. Why? Because of the management style they have adapted and the amazing enthusiasm and seriousness that the workers take in their assignments.

The management hierarchy at Selva Negra is essentially flat. There is Mausi, Eddy and their daughter Vickie who are at the top; aside from them, each team has a leader. The team works together, and gets their assignments done. The decision-making is left for the front line workers, who are in charge of their operations.

Take the farm laboratory for example; it got started from the interest of a handful of workers who had an idea on preventing certain pest attacks. They asked for permission to conduct some experiments. They were given a small room and time to figure things out on their own. They came up with such amazing results, they continued to other testing, then they started visiting other farms to learn what they were doing and even traveled internationally to attend conferences and meet with university scientists to brainstorm some of their ideas. They now have a new building and a much bigger crew to perform their experiments. Mausi and Eddy and not the only ones at the farm with foresight and sustainable goals!

Another example is the new sausage and cheese businesses which were a concept initiated by Vickie, but has since then been taken over by enthusiastic personnel who wanted to learn more and get into this new business. They now oversee all the tasks of these new businesses and manage the daily details on their own. Many of these workers were working in other sections of the estate and moved on to other opportunities that interested them. With so much going on at the farm there is often an opportunity to explore other jobs and find the right fit.

Aside from giving the worker the responsibility and ability to do their job properly, another thing that contributes to the pride of working for Selva Negra is internal hiring and promotion. All positions in the estate are filled from within the estate itself, this goes above and beyond the typical hiring from because we're hiring and promoting generations of families.

The structure at a coffee farm in Central America is very different from the average company. It is not only a work place, but it also encompasses the homes, education and healthcare of the people who work in it. Their lives are entirely intertwined with the estate. We have families who have lived and worked on the estate for generations. These families are the ones that make Selva Negra who it is.

Part of the Selva Negra schooling system includes trade school where the students work side by side with the electricians, plumbers, mechanics, masonries, sausage makers, organic laboratory workers etc... And they eventually take on jobs at the farm in these fields, as do their children after them. Selva Negra has few, if any, external professionals handling any aspects of the farms. They have all taught each other their professions and learned from visiting other farms or from the professionals visiting the farm.

This concept trickles down even to the new hydro turbine that is generating the power to the estate. No big professional company was hired to set up and install the system. A professional in the field was hired as support and guidance in the installation but he visited only on occasion to discuss some work. The work was performed entirely by the crews of Selva Negra with the guidance of Eddy and Mausi. There were roadblocks that were encountered, and mistakes that a big company would have avoided, but our crew is that much more prepared and professional for the future projects that Selva Negra will have. Who knows maybe we'll install our own windmill too!

If there is one thing above all others that Selva Negra is proud of; is its workers.

• The workers make the quality of the coffee possible by caring how the job gets done.
• The workers make organic living possible by cleaning and caring for the plantation one tree at a time.
• The workers make organic coffee production possible by searching for better ways to prevent and control pest and weed control.
• The workers make sustainable projects possible by taking charge and accountability for their chosen field of interest.
• The workers make Selva Negra a wonderful place to live and work.