In 1988, the Colombian guerrillas claimed Ernesto Buesacco's two sons. He could not accept this. He sold everything he owned, took his family with him and fled his home in Quindío, a state in the west of Colombia.
Ernesto is the founder and returning leader of La Amistad, but the road to San Augustin's idyllic mountainous terrain was both long and winding. When Ernesto started his family, he worked as a day laborer in Quindío, supplementing his income by buying and selling small livestock. In this way, he earned just enough to support his family and pay for his children's schooling.
- I was born in a reserve in Amaguer in Cauca, Colombia. In my youth, I worked as a coffee picker in Caldas. Every month was a struggle to make ends meet. In 1988, the guerrillas started to pressure my family. They claimed our two sons. In compensation, we were to receive one month's salary and three cows.
Ernesto sold everything he owned, took his family with him and fled his home in Quindío. With the help of relatives in San Augustin, they managed to escape the guerrillas. This gave them the opportunity to start a new life on the lush slopes of Huila.
"In 1988, the guerrillas started to pressure my family."
Ernesto Buesacco
- We had just enough to buy a small patch of land outside San Augustin. The roads were narrow and winding - only suitable for horses. Together with my sons, I started working on turning the plot of land into a small coffee farm," Ernesto recalls.
It wasn't long before he joined Junta de Accion Communal, a small group working on social initiatives and development in San Augustin. Among other things, I found out that we could apply for public funding to invest in initiatives that benefited the local community.
Ernesto first used the funds to buy equipment for the local hospital in San Augustin. During his time at the Junta de Accion Comunal, Ernesto also helped develop new road and transportation systems, as well as building drying equipment for coffee producers in the community. Three times he was elected as a local representative on the Comite Municipal de Cafeteros, a committee that helps coffee farmers in communities throughout Colombia. It was this same commitment that inspired Ernesto to start a farming community built on collaboration, quality focus and friendship.
"We had just enough to buy a small patch of land outside San Augustin. The roads were narrow and winding - only suitable for horses."
Ernesto Buesacco
A future in coffee
La Amistad was founded in 1994. Since then, we have worked closely to improve the quality of coffee among all our members - through gradual improvements in equipment, cultivation and processing methods. Thanks to this, we have also succeeded in creating a more secure future for many people in the local community. Together with my wife, I now have five sons. My hope is that the family - by working for better coffee quality in La Amistad - will continue to contribute to the local community for many years to come.