River to River
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RCC helps provide for the education of roughly 1600 students on the remote and beautiful Coconut River in Nicaragua.
Established in 2015, Radford Coffee Company was created to impact lives locally and internationally. RCC donates money and time to our school project in Nicaragua (Project Ezra) as well as giving locally in Radford, VA. Every purchase educates! What is Project Ezra? Project Ezra provides education from kindergarten through 12th grade with 54 teachers. These schools are located in areas that have no electricity, running water, or roads. Run by locals, we and our partners help provide the financial support they need on the Coconut River (Rio Coco) in Nicaragua. “Project Ezra” was initiated in 1986 during a time of war in Nicaragua as a response to a desperate refugee situation. A war that erupted in 1980 along the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua between the Sandinista government and their Cuban, Russian, Bulgarian "advisors" and the local indigenous population of Miskitos, Suma, Rama, and Creoles resulted in over 60,000 refugees fleeing and settling along the Coconut River, which is one of the most remote corners of the Western Hemisphere, accessible only by air, boat, and foot. By 1986, most of these refugee children had been without education for five or more years and the Miskito people asked Mike and Laura Bagby (our partners at Rio Coco Beans) for help in starting a school for the refugee kids in Sawa (our largest partnering village). And the rest they say is history. Our teachers have a personal interest in this project as most of them began their education as first graders in Project Ezra schools in the 80’s and 90’s! This year, Project Ezra is educating over 1600 students, grades Kinder thru 12th. This is all possible through many prayers, and financial support through donations, sponsorship of children and teachers, and profits from Radford Coffee Company and Rio Coco Beans sales. Visit and explore our schools: Explore Our Schools |
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Our team had the opportunity to visit some of the schools along the Rio Coco River in Nicaragua during the spring of 2017. Below are photos captured during that trip!