Grace Farms, Slade Architecture, and Ketiara’s leaders committed to this global building initiative – the Rest House Project – knowing it would be a bold undertaking.
True transparency in the building materials supply chain, especially in a project spanning continents and cultures, requires close collaboration, extraordinary effort, and the courage to challenge the status quo.
Courage that entrepreneur Ibu Ramah, Chairwoman of the Ketiara Cooperative, shows every day.
Ketiara grows and exports organic, Fairtrade-certified coffee from lush highlands surrounding Takengon. It is a vital partner to Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, supplying the beans for the Certified B Corp’s Indonesian Roast, River Roast, and collaboration coffee with JPMorgan Chase, Blend 270. Under Ibu Rahmah’s steady leadership, the cooperative is proof that certified organic and Fairtrade supply chains can honor dignity, create equity, and foster human rights. The Ketiara Cooperative is 1,700 farmers strong, and 1,100 of them are women.
The Rest House Project would reflect Ketiara’s example. But even with close collaboration, unwavering effort, and a wealth of courage, it was still impossible for anyone to plan for what challenges came next.
Sharon Prince, Tiara, Adam Thatcher, Ibu Rahmah, and Loli at Grace Farms for the Grace Farms 10 Year Celebration on October 11, 2025
In October, Rahmah and her team traveled to Slade Architecture’s New York City office to meet with architects Hayes and James Slade, Grace Farms Founder and CEO Sharon Prince, and Grace Farms Tea & Coffee Co-Founder and CEO Adam Thatcher.
They discussed uses for timber native to the highlands, the community’s cultural, social and environmental norms, indigenous architecture, and how local practices should best be utilized in the project. Invigorated by their recent visit to Sumatra, Thatcher, Hayes, and James shared the possibility of a promising site for the Rest House, not far from Ketiara’s headquarters, just outside of Takengon.
Across the table, empty coffee cups, once-filled with the bold Indonesian roast, sat amongst papers brimming with ideas. To honor Ibu Rahmah’s entrepreneurial spirit, Prince underscored the importance of a Rest House that also served as a one-of-a-kind center for learning, inspiring a new generation of women leaders.
With the metaphorical foundation laid, The Rest House design phase was poised to begin.
Then, on November 26, 2025, Cyclone Senyar struck Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
These cyclones were the worst natural disaster to hit Sumatra since the 2004 tsunami. The destruction wrought by this exceptionally rare storm was immediate: farms were decimated, homes were destroyed, and two vital road-access bridges had washed away, isolating villages and cutting off access to food, clean water, and electricity.
Overnight, Ketiara’s farmers were faced with the loss of their livelihoods.
Rahmah and her family sprang into action before a state of emergency was even declared. With communications down and roads inaccessible, Rahmah was stranded in Takengon with land access cut off. But her daughter, Tiara, managed to send word to Thatcher. She described how electricity and internet were out, and due to limited fuel to supply power, her connectivity through Starlink was sporadic and unreliable. Tiara also shared photos and videos of her once-verdant region now flooded, muddy, and impassable. She asked for prayers.
What followed was immediate solidarity.
Grace Farms Tea & Coffee committed $25,000 to Ketiara.
$10,000 in humanitarian aid would go directly towards emergency disaster relief. An additional $15,000 was pledged as a pre-purchase — a promise of continued collaboration and community, ensuring that when the harvest returned, so would opportunity and hope.
Grace Farms Tea & Coffee also established the Sumatra Resilience Fund, inviting the public to join this urgent humanitarian relief by purchasing bags of the Indonesian roast.
With Grace Farms Tea & Coffee’s humanitarian donation, Tiara traveled to Jakarta. She purchased generators to restore electricity and power critical resources, Starlink internet access to break the isolation and reconnect the community to the outside world, and essential food supplies – including two thousand pounds of rice – to sustain the most affected and isolated farmers.
But the roads had washed away. Delivering aid would require close collaboration, extraordinary effort, and a little bit of courage.
Tiara’s father and Rahmah’s husband — a retired military general — mobilized his network and secured military aircraft to transport these supplies. In just two trips, these generators, Starlink systems, and food were airlifted into the highlands. Beyond that, life-saving generators and Starlink systems were eventually delivered to more than a dozen remote villages.
Ketiara’s headquarters became a literal and figurative beacon of light for more than 300 people in need of supplies. Power was temporarily restored. Communication reopened. Meals were distributed. Community gathered.
And like all acts of positivity and courage, this initial response created a ripple effect.
Fairtrade and international partners mobilized additional recovery efforts that aim to support both rapid relief and long-term resilience, creating a tapestry of forces willing to step in when their community was in need. And with a state of emergency declared, military and federal support has begun flowing into the region, helping Aceh rebuild.
As Aceh undertakes its rebuilding effort, Grace Farms and Slade Architecture remain committed to its promise to build a new kind of Rest House alongside Ketiara.
Despite the storm, The Rest House Project continues with a renewed purpose. Thatcher is planning a trip back to the region this spring. To honor the goal of using indigenous, sustainable, and ethically-sourced materials, the design team now looks to incorporate timber from fallen trees, after the damage has been assessed.
This project, which began as a promise of shelter, learning, and community, will be held together with the strength of hope and ethical partnerships.
The storm tested the foundation.
The foundation held.
And from it, something stronger will rise.
Grace Farms Tea & Coffee is partnering with Fairtrade America to contribute $5 from every bag of our Single Origin Indonesia coffee sold to support the Ketiara Cooperative. Learn more about the Sumatra Resilience Fund and make an impact today.
