High Wycombe: Ambassador for Costa Rica visits Highcrest Academy

Pupils and staff at The Highcrest Academy in High Wycombe welcomed His Excellency Rafael Ortiz Fabrega on Monday March 6.

The high-ranking diplomat from Costa Rica had travelled to Buckinghamshire to celebrate a Fairtrade partnership between Wycombe and Grecia, a Fairtrade community in Costa Rica.

The partnership was the brainchild of Mike King, the chairman of High Wycombe for Fairtrade steering group, whose campaigning helped give Wycombe Fairtrade status in 2014.

Mike King (left), ambassador Rafael Ortiz Fabrega (third left), Wycombe mayor Arif Hussain, Highcrest Academy's head boy Liam Guest and head girl Hiba Aslam (Image: Newsquest)

Thanks to the initiative, pupils at The Highcrest Academy have taken part in cultural and language exchange with their Spanish-speaking peers in Grecia, including letters and video calls.

Pupils and guests gathered inside the school hall to listen as Mr Ortiz Fabrega talked about the green Central American country, where more than 90 percent of energy comes from renewable sources.

The ambassador and High Wycombe mayor tasted the special coffee created by Gerrards Cross- based Roast Lab coffee roastery owners Sarah and Wayne Coetzee using beans from Grecia (Image: Newsquest)

He said: “One of the first subjects when we started was to initiate the programme with High Wycombe and Grecia.

“Seeds were planted of the ideas we share between our community, those seeds have flourished and they’re now a tree.

“It’s brought our countries closer.

The ambassador received the High Wycombe crest (Image: Newsquest)

“I hope many of you young ladies and gentlemen will have opportunity to visit Costa Rica.”

To mark the partnership, Roast Lab, a Gerrards Cross-based micro coffee roasters, had crafted a special single origin coffee made of beans produced in Grecia.

Mr Ortiz Fabrega added: “Coffee has brought us together.

“It’s wonderful to see how this friendship develops, it’s like a family. Thank you for producing our coffee.”

He gifted a commemorative plaque to High Wycombe mayor Arif Hussain, who in turn gave the ambassador the Wycombe crest and home-made apple juice.

Mr Hussain said: “Highcrest Academy have achieved so much, and I think it’s appropriate for the plaque to be presented in the hall of the school.

“It’s an amazing celebration for the school.”

Wycombe mayor Arif Hussain also gave the ambassador home-made apple juice from his garden (Image: Newsquest)

Mike King said the Fairtrade partnership with Grecia started in 2018 first with an agreement, followed by linking Roast Lab with Co-operative Victoria, a collective of thousands of farmers in Grecia, and the schools with each other to deepen cooperation and dialogue.

He said: “The school has been absolutely amazing.

“The young people are the future. Because they’re open to new ideas they can share cultures. We live in a global economy now.

Wycombe for Fairtrade steering group's international liaison Jhon Munoz and chairman Mike King (right) (Image: Newsquest)

“Costa Rica it hasn’t got a military, it’s got no army, air force or military.

“Everything goes into social and community projects, which is great.”