Ana Bendaña McEwan — General Manager

Ana Bendaña McEwan, MSc, BHSc, RN — General Manager, El Quetzal Coffee Co.

My life has unfolded in seasons — tending beginnings, honoring endings, and learning to listen closely in between. I began my career as an L&D RN, welcoming new life into the world, and later, walked and companioned those nearing life's end. Years of service in the USA and Nicaragua taught me that care is quiet work, rooted in presence and respect.

Today, I return each morning to the land that shaped my family's story. Our heritage coffee plantation is a place of red earth and slow rhythms, where patience matters and nothing can be rushed. Farming, like caregiving, requires steady hands, humility, and trust in what grows unseen. Alongside this work, I gladly accompany and care for my elderly mother — another lesson in devotion and grace.

Our coffee is born from this way of living: grounded, intentional, and deeply connected. Each cup carries the scent of the soil, the weight of legacy, and gratitude for all that is tended with care.

Grown from the earth. Guided by care. Shared from the heart.

A Career of Service

Labor & Delivery RN — Where it began: welcoming new life
Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO) — Nine years overseas, responsible for the health of 200+ Volunteers
Executive Director, Operation Smile Nicaragua — Three years leading local and international missions, returning smiles to patients with craniofacial deformities
Master of Science in Thanatology — The study of death that encompasses life
Executive Director, Hospice & Palliative Care — Eight years advocating for patients' rights at end of life at local, national, and international levels
General Manager, El Quetzal Estate — Continuing a four-generation family legacy in the highlands of Matagalpa, Nicaragua

The Bendaña McEwan Family

Ana is the eldest daughter of Dr. Frank Bendaña Radzevich (Don Paco) — the first Nicaraguan to hold a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology, who founded El Quetzal Estate in the 1960s and pioneered sun-grown coffee farming in Nicaragua.

Read the full story of the Bendaña McEwan family — four generations of Nicaraguan coffee production since 1947.

Written by Ana

Ana shares stories from the farm, the harvest, and the rhythms of coffee life in Matagalpa:

A Little Slice of Heaven — Life at El Quetzal Estate in the highlands of Matagalpa
A Brief Recap — Updates from the farm and the season
Post Harvest — What happens after the coffee cherries are picked
The Mighty Coffee Bean — The journey of a single bean from tree to cup

Read all posts from the farm →