Coffee and education mix at the Lipa Coffee Academy

LIPA, Philippines – Something’s brewing in a province south of Metro Manila. Coffee makes its way into basic education. How is this possible?

Pia Ranada reports.

The smell of roasting coffee beans fills the coffee lab of Café de Lipa in Batangas.

It’s just another day for 20-year-old Vladimir who now works for the coffee shop. He is one of the first graduates of the Lipa Coffee Academy.

VLADIMIR EOLA, GRADUATE, LIPA COFFEE ACADEMY: Simula sa buto hanggang sa pagprocess hanggng sa pagtitimpla ng kape. Alam ko yung katangian ng kape, anong tamang timpla, kung anong characteristic ng kape ang gagawin ko halimbawa, sa latte, kung anong gagamitin. (From the seed until processing until blending. I know the characteristics of coffee, the right blend, what kind of coffee to make, for example, latte and what to use.)

He can tell the difference between varieties of coffee in the Philippines but one is close to his heart.

VLADIMIR EOLA, GRADUATE, LIPA COFFEE ACADEMY: Yung popular dito sa Batangas yung barako. Makikita niyo sa itsura pa lang, pinaka malaking beans sa lahat. Tapos, sa lasa naman po, pinaka matapang, tapos more on aroma, mabango. (What’s popular in Batangas is barako. It has the biggest beans of all. And it has a strong taste and has a nice aroma.)

The Coffee Academy is part of the pilot K to 12 program of the Pinagtong-ulan National Hight School in Lipa. It is offered to Grade 11 and 12 students.

The first Barako coffee tree was planted by a Franciscan Friar in the 1700s in this village. But an infestation of coffee rust crippled Lipa’s growing barako coffee industry.

NANCY NOVENO, SCHOOL COORDINATOR, LIPA COFFEE ACADEMY: Dito tinanim yung unang puno ng kape so ibig sabihin dito rin dapat matayo yung unang-unang Lipa Coffee Academy. So now, kailangan natin i-revive and bring back the lost glory of kape which is kapeng barako. (This is where the first coffee tree was planted which means this is also where the first Coffee Academy should be established. Now, we have to revive and bring back the lost glory of barako coffee.)

During the first semester, the students learn basic food and beverage servicing skills such as waitressing. For the second semester, they will be off to the nearby coffee plantation where students learn how to take care of coffee trees and harvest beans.

Café de Lipa owner Joe Mercado loves to share his passion for coffee farming to the students at his farm.

JOE MERCADO, COFFEE FARMER AND OWNER, CAFÉ DE LIPA: Pag tinanong ako ng what is your occupation, ako farmer and then tsaka yung businessman kasi I’m proud to be a farmer kasi diyan ako nagka pera eh. Ine-encourage ko yung mga bata na pumunta sa farming. (When people ask me what my occupation is I would say I’m a farmer and then a businessman because I’m proud to be a farmer and that’s where I earned money. I encourage the youth to take up farming.)

For these students– mostly children of farmers.. it’s a way to upgrade their livelihood.

JESSA ATINADO, GRADE 11 STUDENT, PINAGTONG-ULAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL: Para po magkakaroon na po kami ng yun pong, magkakaroon po kami ng gawaan ng kape. Ganoon lang po kasi ang gusto ko, magkaroon po kami ng negosyo na about sa coffee. Kaya po gusto ko po dito grumaduate. (So we can have our own coffee-making business. That’s all I want, for us to have a business in coffee. That’s why I want to graduate from here.)

Back in Café de Lipa, the Coffee Academy graduates whip up their barista skills, earning a living from Lipa coffee and promoting it to anyone who walks in.
Pia Ranada, Rappler, Lipa. – Rappler.com