Professional Documents
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Oficial Progress Report Yarek J
Oficial Progress Report Yarek J
English Department
ENGL 4021 – M03
MEMORANDUM
DATE: October 23, 2020
SUBJECT: Progress Report on students at the Finca Buena Vibra Ponce, Service Learning
Project
INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY
This report documents the work done by each student of this group toward reaching the
needs of Finca Buena Vibra at Ponce for the 2020-2021 academic year. We help clean areas
containing leaves, remove weeds, collect coffee cherries, and plant coffee trees during our time
working in this place. Also, we acquire knowledge about the entire coffee production process,
from when it is grown until it is packed in bags. Rafael Rodríguez, one of Finca Buena Vibra
owners, taught us several interesting planting techniques and made us aware of growing coffee
under shade. For this project, we completed four hours of community service on the farm
mentioned above.
BACKGROUND
Finca Buena Vibra is a family agribusiness dedicated to the cultivation of Arabic coffee
that follows agroecological practices and coffee planting in the shade. The farm is located at
PR-511 Km. 14.3 Barrio Real Anón. 00780 Ponce, Puerto Rico. Rafael Rodríguez and his sister
Alexandra Rodríguez Rodríguez are the owners, and although the farm belongs to both of them,
only Alexandra is the one who has the agronomist certificate, obtained from the College of
Agronomists of Puerto Rico. She studied Agricultural Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico
and was part of the FFA Association (Futures Farmers of America). Subsequently, Alexandra
obtained an MBA (Master of Business Administration) at the Universidad del Turabo. Finca
Buena Vibra began five years ago by planting 2,000 coffee trees, but coffee is not the only
thing collected because they also have beehives from which they obtain their honey. The
Rodríguez family are the ones who manage and work on their farm. They only have one
employee who works three days a week and does community service from different parts of
Puerto Rico and the world. Finca Buena Vibra keeps its doors open to the general public any
day of the week without specific hours.
MAINTENANCE HOURS
Being a family farm, they have no set schedules or maintenance routines. However,
they take care of everything related: cleaning, planting collection, cultivation, among others.
WORK PLANNED
As a group, our goal was to choose a farm in Puerto Rico, where we could enjoy and
acquire new knowledge about what it takes to maintain a farm and the different techniques
used. After researching various farms, we decided that the best farm for us to learn was Finca
Buena Vibra at Ponce. Initially, our goal was to learn how to plant coffee trees, harvest coffee
cherries, and acquire knowledge about the entire coffee production process, from when it is
grown until it is packed in bags. Also, we were excited to carry out beekeeping.
WORK COMPLETED
Despite being aware of how difficult it is to develop a farm in Puerto Rico due to
monopolies and corruption in the government, Finca Buena Vibra has managed to create an
effective system in both beekeeping and planting and collecting coffee harvest. On the other
hand, it was not possible to work and acquire knowledge regarding beekeeping because Rafael
Rodríguez, one of Finca Buena Vibra owners, did not want to expose us to danger due to a lack
of equipment for the entire group of students.
MATERIALS
1. boots
2. repellent
3. cap
4. mask
5. long jeans
6. long-sleeved shirt
FUTURE PLANS
Currently, Mr. Rodríguez dries the coffee leaving it exposed to the sun. It is not a highly
recommended technique because if it rains and the coffee bean gets wet, it is damaged. As
future plans, Rafael plans to build a type of greenhouse by converting the process into a drying
under shade. This way, he does not have to worry about picking up the coffee bean every time
it rains.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
During our community service at Finca Buena Vibra, we found several problems.
While we were going towards the farm, we observed that the road did not have a direction to
facilitate reaching our destination. Further, we found many nettles plants, which we touched
and got welts and irritation on our skin. Another problem we found on the farm was the soil; it
was wet, making our planting procedure more difficult.
RECOMMENDATIONS
● Since the location of the farm is not easily found, we recommend marking the path so
that people can arrive without problems. Also marking the path to the planting areas.
● Wear gloves.
● Make a warning sign for people allergic to bee venom or pollen.
CONCLUSION
Community services help us connect with communities or organizations' needs to
provide help, be it monetary or specific tasks. This farm aims to promote domestic agriculture,
producing food like coffee, cocoa, yucca, yam, pineapple, honey, among others, that the family
consumes. Together with Rafael, we had the opportunity to cultivate the coffee tree, learning
various techniques that were not familiar. We collected coffee cherries for the first time and
used a pulping machine to obtain the coffee beans. Thanks to this family farm, we learned
about the coffee harvesting process from planting to consumption. This experience was very
educational; it helped us understand the importance of community service and can help us in
our professional careers by teaching us to have a dedication at work and to collaborate with a
large group of people.
Appendix A: Photos
Figure 1. Yarek J. Vega Olivera, Doliany K. Velázquez Rivera, Amanda J. Toro Santos,
Cydmary N. Torres Montosa, and Yaidelis Rodríguez Avilés arriving at Finca Buena Vibra.
Photo taken by D. Velázquez, October 2020.
Figure 2. Cydmary Torres, Yaidelis Rodríguez, Amanda Toro, Yarek Vega, and Doliany
Velázquez before collecting coffee cherries with Rafael Rodríguez. Photo taken by C. Torres,
October 2020.
Figure 3. Yarek Vega with Rafael Rodríguez, owner of the Finca Buena Vibra, depulping the
coffee cherries. Photo taken by C. Torres, October 2020.
Figure 4. Yarek Vega planting a coffee tree. Photo taken by C. Torres, October 2020.
Figure 5. Cydmary Torres collecting coffee cherries. Photo taken by D. Velázquez, October
2020.
Figure 6. Cydmary Torres planting a coffee tree. Photo taken by D. Velázquez, October 2020.
Figure 7. Yaidelis Rodríguez planting a coffee tree. Photo taken by C. Torres, October 2020.
Figure 8. Doliany Velázquez preparing the coffee tree to plant. Photo taken by C. Torres,
October 2020.
Figure 9. Doliany Velázquez and Yaidelis Rodríguez planting coffee trees. Photo taken by C.
Torres, October 2020.
Figure 10. Amanda Toro planting a coffee tree. Photo taken by C. Torres, October 2020.
Figure 11. Amanda Toro collecting coffee cherries. Photo taken by D. Velázquez, October
2020.
Appendix B: Progress Report Minutes
Appendix C: Service logs that evidence the work performed by all
members