This posting is adapted from the email I sent out in October, 2014, acknowledging the many individuals who contributed time and talent to build the foundation of the CCP.

Please keep in mind that this is a work-in-progress and a lot is still going on behind the scenes to enhance the management and reporting system and to give users the options to customize the way they are kept updated as we progress.

Collaborating across continents – our team

Our geeks – the Zinger Systems crew (www.zingersystems.com): Fua Tse is their manager and team coordinator; Nelson Kana is the programmer and Bermond Yangye is our “look-and-feel” designer. They are stationed in Buea, South West Region of Cameroon, and they are all computer engineering graduates of Buea University.

The platform – when the decision was made that we would “crowd fund” this project, Denny Robert, then working for Cortez Coffee in Tempe AZ, introduced us to the Campaignify template which he had used in the past and thought would serve us well. Fua and his team quickly stripped it of irrelevant stuff and have since built it to be what we have today. We have to give thanks to Denny – it was his enthusiastic support that got us moving.

Kyle (right) with Goliath Coffee partner Andy Ngae (left) and Matti in Vancouver, BC Canada

The front end –

how different the CCP is today than just a couple of months ago, and this is thanks to Kyle McDonald of Goliath Coffee Company in Vancouver Canada (www.goliathcoffee.com). Kyle has had previous work experience in social media marketing and stepped up to design the format of this new face of the CCP website.

Financial Modeling –

Tim Dale Wood – Guildford, UK

the CCP is an economic empowerment program which should deliver tangible benefits for both funders and farmers. Key to this is the financial model in which we run our “what if” scenarios, and the frontline brains behind this effort is Tim Wood – Guildford, UK who is now crunching the numbers for our premier non-pilot campaign.

The content –

Roger and Matti near downtown Montreal, QB Canada – 2013

how do we present such a complex system in “sound bites’ and short phrases? We decided to use a Q & A section to preemptively answer questions that will help describe the progrom (and soon we shall add a section with our proprietary glossary of terms). Roger Ekuh-Ngwese of BLOOMTALENT, Inc (www.bloomtalent.com) volunteered to come up with the first draft of our Q & A which has since been edited to what we have now. I would also like to thank Ian Meredith of Ethical Addictions, Gloucester, UK (www.ethicaladdictions.co.uk) for a couple of the tough Q & A points. This page, like all CCP pages, is a work in progress and will be continually updated.

Logistics –

Tammy and son Ashton at Alongsi farm in Cameroon – March 2014

Spreading the word about the CCP also requires face-to-face meetings and work sessions and thanks to the hospitality of Tammy Leland, co-founder of Crooked Trails (www.crookedtrails.org) with her husband Babah Paco – Seattle WA; Michael and Emily McIntyre (www.catalystcoffeeconsulting.com) – Portland OR;

Emily and Michael McIntyre and daughter Eire with Matti in Portland – Sept. 2014

Ron Cortez (www.cafecortez.com) – Tempe AZ; Mike and Judy Spencer-Morris (www.ZeroCarbonPartnership.com) – England, UK; and, most importantly, family and friends in the US, UK, France, UAE and Cameroon we have been able to directly explain the program to individuals and coffee industry professionals  – laying a strong foundation for our post-pilot campaigns.

Azie inspecting site of a new coffee farm at Alongsi, Cameroon

Project “drivers” –

Going forward, CCP web and social media posts will be managed by Azie Foncha (www.mutana.com); Azie will gather information from the farms, our IT team, and industry “gurus” and ensure that our community is kept informed.

The big picture – As the saying goes “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” … we have have taken the proverbial first step of an epic journey that will span generations. This pilot phase of the CCP is what will point us in the right direction.

We are #WorkingTogether #ChangingOurWorld!