Portrait of one of the youngest coffee professional we have met along our journey into the world of coffee.

Roxana Lopez, 19 year-old, was born in the farm El Platanillo, department of San Marcos, Guatemala. Her father is one of the permanent worker that live on the farm. She has grown in the farm and is now following the path of her father.

Last year, thanks to the support of Stuardo Coto (owner of the farm) and Jorge Mansilla (manager), she integrated the Bachillerato for Coffee Production, an educative programme provided by Anacafé's Foundation (Funcafé). Since 2010, the Bachillerato trains youg people to innovative tecniques of coffee farming with a focus on quality and pest management, intnegrating both theorical and practical trainings on the farm.

After uptaking this course, Roxana has integrated the staff of El Platanillo. She's in charge of pest and disease monitoring. Her daily routine starts every morning at 5:30 am. She starts collecting samples of coffee leaves in the parcel assignated, each day a different one. From this sample of 100 leaves, she identifies the ones that show a sign of disease or defficience and then controls the bush and the roots of the tree. She then reports the diagnostic to her supervisors.

"Everything about coffee fascinates me!"

Roxana loves coffee and as she says, everything about coffee fascinates her. She regrets that young people don't share the same interest.

As far as we're concerned, we've been thrilled by her enthusiasm and passion for coffee. We wish her a lot of success in the coffee world.