“I have seen many of my family members fail when trying. (...) I want to try too, but differently!” Mamy Dioubaté is the founder of Macenta Beans and a visionary. He has been building West Africa's first coffee washing station for three years. In the rainforest of Guinea, not far from the Liberian border, the coffee is processed to high quality and thus saved from exploitative middlemen. Mamy doesn't eat, he sleeps a maximum of 4 hours a day, pulls his own tooth and gets malaria 3 times in one season. Why does he do this? At first glance, Macenta lacks roads, electricity and water supply, but if you ask Mamy, it is trust and hope that is missing. Hardly anyone here believes in a self-determined future – but he does. In First Taste, we see Mamy in his life's work to change the entire agricultural system of a country. He visits 131 villages in Macenta and hands each farmer his coffee. For the first time, the local people are transformed from producers to consumers. We experience surprise. Disappointment. Pleasure. Disgust. Shame. And above all pride. Mamy puts all his eggs in one basket – especially his own hope. What would it mean for him if he fails with this vision?
