Many people never think about where their morning cup of coffee comes from or how many people it took to cultivate the beans required for that cup of java. You might be surprised to learn that many of the people who work diligently to bring you your cup of coffee are actually women.

Lesley Chilcott, director and producer of “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for Superman,” recently brought this fact to life in an upcoming documentary entitled “A Small Section of the World.”

The documentary focuses on a small group of women working in a remote region in Costa Rica. It was this group of women who decided to break with tradition and make a better life for themselves and their families when the local men left their village to search for work. The documentary focuses on the perseverance and impact of these women.

After hearing of their story, Alanis Morissette, the Grammy-award winning singer/songwriter, was so moved that she volunteered to create an anthem for the documentary. Born in Ottawa, Canada, Morissette was actually an ideal choice to lend her voice to the documentary.

Over the course of her career, Morissette has become known for songs that embodied female strength and empowerment. As part of the creative process for developing “The Morning,” Morissette partnered with Carlos “Tapado” Vargas, who is native to Costa Rica.

In addition to Morissette’s rich voice, “The Morning” also features a variety of distinctive sounds unique to Costa Rica in the background percussion, including the sounds of coffee beans being sifted.

The International Women’s Coffee Alliance reports that 70 percent of the estimated 1 billion poor people in the world are women. Additionally, less than one percent of the titled land in the world is owned by women.

According to the World Bank, more than 500 million people in the world depend on coffee production for their livelihoods. 25 million of those people are coffee farmers.

Along with living and working in substandard conditions, coffee farmers often receive only a small percentage of the price for which their product is sold to the end consumer. Female coffee farmers face even more challenges, including gender inequality.

Morissette has stated that her goal in lending her voice to the project was to tell the story of the women of Costa Rica who worked so diligently to bring their village together and create a revenue source so that their family would no longer need to leave home.

The documentary opens on December 5 in Los Angeles and on December 19 in New York. “A Small Section of the World” will also be available on demand on December 16.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.