Guilt free and green.

• Author: Stalker, Ian

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Teaching foreign tourists about coffee production in Guatemala is translating into increased schooling for some Guatemalan children.

Guatemala-based tour company Viaventure has teamed up with charity "As Green as it Gets" to offer the half-day "Cup of Coffee" tour, promoting sustainable tourism and what Viaventure calls "'guilt free Guatemala." Those who participate in the tour will work side by side with small-scale coffee farmers near the community of San Miguel Escobar. joining them, if they wish, on every step of coffee production, from picking the coffee beans to roasting them over an open tire and grinding the coffee by hand. They are then invited to sample a cup of their own steamy handiwork.

The tour, available throughout Guatemala's November-to-March coffee season, gives the visitors a "real sense of understanding and renewed appreciation of what goes into a cup of coffee and some of the international issues linked to it," says Viaventure's Becky Hatos, who worked in Colombia and Peru with international charity Save the Children before relocating to Guatemala.

As Green as it Gets assists small independent coffee producers, promoting environmentally responsible agriculture in a country where deforestation linked to agricultural practices remains an ongoing problem. "Cup of Coffee" tour rates include a donation to As Green as it Gets.

Harris says the coffee farmers, who work in a place that has traditionally drawn tourists interested in the pre-Columbian and post-conquest history of Guatemala, welcome the curious foreigners and appreciate the interest they show in their livelihood. But Harris also notes the tours put money into farmers' pockets.

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"Coffee is a very important crop for the Guatemalan people and what is more important is that farmers understand how good it is to take it [coffee production] through the whole process--from growing the beans to harvesting, sorting, roasting, and then selling it in a nice bag," she says.

"This way, they make really significant amounts of money and that is already changing their lives. Farmers only two or three years into the program have nicer housing, are sending their kids to school, and have plans for other businesses."

Many Guatemalan coffee farmers simply sell raw coffee to larger...