Unlike other assignments where I had to focus and concentrate, the contemplative practices were about taking a step back to see where I stand from the world. If I must pick one among all, the third lesson with the video clip of Ivory Coast Cocoa Farmers was the most memorable contemplative practice for me.
Chocolate is one of the most loved products in the world, especially in the developed countries, like Europe and the U.S. It is hard to find a desert section without chocolate in it. Although, we live in such a busy world that “eating a chocolate” is simply perceived as “eating a chocolate.” I, too, never pay attention to the commodity chain nor the labor put in to the main ingredient of chocolate, cocoa. I never knew about the cocoa farmers in Africa, nor did I care about whether the farmers have tasted the final product, chocolate or not.
After the contemplative practices, I still cannot forget the faces of the cacao farmers who tasted chocolate for the first time in their life, when they harvested cocoa for their whole life. At the same time, it was my first time seeming the farmers harvesting cocoa for the first time in my life, when I ate chocolate for my whole life.
The contemplative practices have widened my perspectives and understanding, and the chocolate does not seem to taste the same as it did before. Now, every time I have chocolate in my hand, the hands of the Ivory Coast farmers are overlapping. “Eating a chocolate” is no longer the same for me.