Produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications
A new quilt coming to the Stamp Student Union celebrates the resilience of women in coffee-producing communities around the world—and Terps’ connection to them.
“Threads of Empowerment,” created by fiber artist Aisha Lumumba, is composed of fabric pieces contributed by members of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA). Margaret Moose Swallow ’75, a former executive director of the Coffee Quality Institute, recently won an auction for the right to display the quilt for a year. She selected her alma mater, where it will be dedicated at 9 a.m. Friday.
She began her career at Procter & Gamble in 1979 as a brand assistant for Folgers coffee, and after her 2002 retirement began leading the IWCA, a nonprofit that, among other projects, has helped the 30% of coffee farmers in developing countries who are women to produce higher-quality beans. That, in turn, has translated into higher prices and more economic prosperity.
Through her work with IWCA, Swallow was instrumental in establishing the University of Maryland’s Alternative Break (AB) program in Guatemala. Since 2010, over 100 UMD students and staff have traveled there for an annual 10-day immersive experience focused on sustainability and community development in the community of Los Andes, whose school, health clinic and solidarity association are fueled by its farming operations.
She continues to support the program through mentorship, advocacy and the Margaret Moose Swallow AB Scholarship Fund, which enables students with financial need to participate in service-learning experiences.
Among the fabrics stitched into this quilt is one from a farm she knows well and that the students on the AB trip visit: Finca Los Andes. Others come from IWCA chapter members in El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Burundi and Ethiopia.
The quilt represents shared purpose, connection and the power of women-led change. It will be on display in the Leadership and Community Service Learning area of the Stamp, “where so many of our students do exceptional work in the community and world, including those on Alternative Break experiences,” said Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, director of the Stamp.
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