Smayah Uwajeneza has a story like many of us do. She wanted to save money for school, so she began working in a cafe, and then found her passion for coffee through connecting coffee drinkers in Rwanda, where she’s from and is currently based, with the women who grow their coffee. Along with being the Head Barista at Question Coffee in Kigali, Smayah leads tours of co-ops and helps folks make connections between what’s in their cup and the people that make drinking coffee possible.

Along with her work at Question Coffee, Smayah is a LEAD Scholar, a program led by the Specialty Coffee Association to increase diversity in leadership in coffee, also a full-time law student, and is passionate about promoting coffees from Rwanda and generating that same passion she has amongst coffee drinkers in the country. In this episode, we weave both Smayah’s journey in coffee with the history of coffee in Rwanda, and Smayah shows how powerful it is to bring these moments of connection closer.