Our work
Programs
Three active programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bolivia, plus a decade of completed work in Ethiopia, Mexico, Palestine and Nicaragua. Each one started with a request from the community that led it.
Active
Programs running today
These are the programs your gifts support right now.
Active program
Gender Equity in the DRC
South Kivu & Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo
Since 2015, year-round gender equity programming with Congolese women coffee farmers and their husbands.
Active program
Project Back to School
Democratic Republic of Congo
Tuition, uniforms, and supplies so Congolese students — especially girls — can stay in school.
Active program
Cooperative Lending Program
Bolivia & the Democratic Republic of Congo
Pre-harvest solidarity loans so cooperatives can pay farmers the day they deliver their coffee, not six months later.
Historical
Past programs
These community-led initiatives are not currently active. We keep these pages so the results, the partners and the communities' own priorities stay on the record.
Past program
Field Schools in Chiapas
Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico
Clean water, agronomy field schools, and alternative income with indigenous farming communities.
Past program
Education Access in Ethiopia
Hase Gola and the Yirgacheffe coffee highlands, Ethiopia
Four community-built schools serving as many as 4,200 students, plus a library, latrines, and school lunches.
Past program
Rebuilding Nicaragua's Coffee Fields
Estelí, Nicaragua
With the women of Las Diosas, replanting rust-resistant coffee and diversifying income after la roya.
Past program
Empowering Women in Palestine
West Bank, Palestine
Microloans for female entrepreneurs, a rebuilt women's center, and replanted olive trees in the West Bank.
Also underway
Musical Ambassador Program
Through strong ties to coffee communities in several countries, On the Ground's Musical Ambassador Program has created media content and provided financial and material support to community arts centers.
The program began with the Run Across Ethiopia, when Northern Michigan duo Seth & May of Earthwork Music joined as On the Ground's first Musical Ambassadors, collaborating with Ethiopian jazz musicians and performing in local schools. They later released the two-part album New Flower, with proceeds supporting On the Ground's ongoing work.
Fund the next request
Communities bring us the project; donors make it possible. Every gift goes to our active programs in the DRC and to the Cooperative Lending portfolio.