STUDENTS at Quinnipiac University saw a problem - the villagers of Bawa in the African country of Cameroon had little access to health-care. The nearest health center is over 6 miles away from the tiny town of 300 and, with no modern forms of transportation available, many forgo medical care rather than attempting the journey.
13 Quinnipiac University students saw the answer needed to help the people of Bawa – the gourmet coffee market. The village sits at an altitude perfect for farming gourmet coffee beans, however in the past the lack of modern production practices have prevented the Bawa farmers from creating a dependable product.
13 Quinnipiac University students saw the answer needed to help the people of Bawa – the gourmet coffee market
Social Entrepreneurship at Work
The Quinnipiac students know, thanks to their entrepreneurship education, that without a dependable product, a dependable customer base and revenue stream is unattainable. Using their knowledge, they decided to help. They formed the social entrepreneurship non-profit Café Cameroon and dedicated all of its proceeds to the citizens of Bawa to build and operate a health center in the town.
Café Cameroon hopes to help the Bawa farmers update their methodology to incorporate new and improved growing, packaging, and distribution systems. These changes would allow the farmers to charge higher prices while expanding the demand for their product.
After the delicious coffee had been created, Quinnipiac students turned their attention to marketing and sales. Branding the 1 lb coffee bags with the name “Beans of Hope”, Café Cameroon has expanded sales of the Bawa coffee to include Connecticut, other northeastern states and will eventually extend to the whole United States.
Social Entrepreneurship Success
The success of Café Cameroon's social entrepreneurship has received much attention in their brief history; including being named to the Students in Free Enterprise’s (SIFE) international marketing campaign: "Products of Success.” You can find more information about Café Cameroon on its website http://cafecameroon.com/.
