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In this episode of the Pre-Hospital Care Podcast, we're joined by Sarah Edwards to explore the most frequently encountered paediatric emergencies seen in the field. Sarah Edwards is a Consultant in Adult and Paediatric Emergency Medicine and the RCEM Learning Chair. She is Senior Editor for the Emergency Medical Journal, RCEM Learning Chair and Honorary Secretary for ASME. She also teaches on the Master's of Medical Education course at the University of Sunderland.In this wide-ranging conversation, we examine respiratory infections to asthma exacerbations to gastroenteritis, dehydration, febrile illnesses, and seizures. We unpack the presentations that paramedics and pre-hospital teams face on a daily basis together with some of the red flags for each disease. We'll discuss how to identify and prioritise care for these conditions in the often-challenging pre-hospital environment, using practical strategies to deliver safe and effective interventions. Sarah shares key insights into assessing sick children, highlighting subtle clinical signs, red flags, and common pitfalls in decision-making under pressure.We also examine trauma in children, including how injury patterns vary across age groups and what immediate management steps are most critical. Finally, the episode touches on the vital role of caregivers and parents in the assessment process. Some useful links that Sarah mentions in the episode include: https://spottingthesickchild.com/The Westley Croup Score: https://handbook.bcehs.ca/clinical-resources/clinical-scores/westley-croup-severity-score/The Big 6 The Most Common Conditions That Children Present With For Urgent Care:https://www.improvingme.org.uk/media/1141/childurgentcaredocument2020.pdfThis podcast is sponsored by PAX.Whatever kind of challenge you have to face - with PAX backpacks you are well-prepared. Whether on water, on land or in the air - PAX's versatile, flexible backpacks are perfectly suitable for your requirements and can be used in the most demanding of environments. Equally, PAX bags are built for comfort and rapid access to deliver the right gear at the right time to the right patient. To see more of their innovative designed product range, please click here:https://www.pax-bags.com/en/
E108 The Fifth Court Dr Thom Mohr on Hugh Kennedy, first Attorney General of the Irish Free State and law reformer who had some radical ideas in his time. This is a most entertaining episode, including details of little known attempts by Hugh Kennedy to disrobe judges and re robe them in the Brehon Law style (or what was his interpretation of such)Thomas Mohr is a distinguished legal scholar and educator based in Ireland. He serves as a faculty member at the School of Law, University College Dublin (UCD), where he teaches jurisprudence, evidence law, and the history of public law. His research primarily focuses on legal history, and he has contributed extensively to the field through various publications. Dr. Mohr is an active member of the Irish Legal History Society, having held positions such as Honorary Secretary from 2009 to 2017 and Vice President since 2018.His cultural recommendation is a book, 'A century of courts, The Courts of Justice Act, 1924'Niamh Howlin, editor (Four Courts Press) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As part of our 'Community' series, we're launching a new series called the Emerging Leadership Management (ELM) Network, hosted by Professor Rob Brooker, Professor Thorunn Helgason, and Professor Pen Holland. The new BES ELM network is born out of a shared vision to help and celebrate researchers' transitions into management and leadership roles. In this episode, they interview Yadvinder Malhi, a former BES president and Professor of Ecosystem Science at the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, and Senior Research Fellow at Oriel College. Tune in to hear Yadvinder discuss transitioning into a leadership role and the key aspects of managing and leading a team. ELM Network | What leadership looks like with Professor Yadvinder Malhi By British Ecological Society is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Host Rob Brooker, Head of Ecological Sciences at The James Hutton Institute and Honorary Secretary at the British Ecological Society. Host Thorunn Helgason, Chair in Ecology, School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh and Board of Trustee at the British Ecological Society. Host Pen Holland, Deputy Head of Department (Education) at the University of York.
Delegates from 175 countries met at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee - INC-5 - to develop a historic and international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. Debates centered on reducing plastic production and managing waste, but did resistance from fossil fuel-producing nations stall progress? We find out what happened at this critical meeting from Wong Pui Yi, a Research Consultant at Basel Action Network, and Mageswari Sangaralingam, an Honorary Secretary from Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Chief Executive at the Consumers' Association of Penang, who were both at the talks in Busan.Image credit: Seunghyeok Choi / Break Free From Plastic, Uproot Plastic CoalitionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Delegates from 175 countries met at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee - INC-5 - to develop a historic and international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. Debates centered on reducing plastic production and managing waste, but did resistance from fossil fuel-producing nations stall progress? We find out what happened at this critical meeting from Wong Pui Yi, a Research Consultant with the Basel Action Network, and Mageswari Sangaralingam, an Honorary Secretary from Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Chief Executive at the Consumers' Association of Penang, who were both at the talks in Busan.Image credit: Seunghyeok Choi / Break Free From Plastic, Uproot Plastic CoalitionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Health Ministry wants to expand private wings at public hospitals as part of a hybrid model termed “Rakan KKM” to address the financial sustainability of public healthcare. Critics argue that this could undermine universal healthcare which the government assures won't happen. Anwar Anis, Honorary Secretary at the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia shares his insights.Image Credit: Shutterstock.com
Mr. Yomesh Rao brings over 22 years of expertise in India's real estate and construction sectors, starting at Mumbai's Raheja Group as a Site Engineer. With a Bachelor's in Engineering and advanced law degrees, he excels in technical due diligence, project approvals, and compliance across cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, and Goa. As Chairman of CVSRTA and Honorary Secretary, he champions industry standards and client advocacy.In this episode, you'll learn about the workings of approval processes in various government schemes and how to streamline them effectively. Discover insights into SRA, BMC, and MHADA operations, delve into cluster redevelopment in Mumbai, Corruption in the real estate sector, Explore Singapore and Mumbai's market growth stories, and amenity open space criteria. 00:00 Introducation 04:05 Background 08:04 Journey of Approvals 16:43 About different Schemes 29:24 Cluster Redevelopment 48:01 Corruption in the industry 55:15 Mumbai vs Singapore 01:04:24 Amenitie open space criteria 01:10:25 Conclusion People in the podcast- #krishjain Host of the Speaking Real Estate Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakingrealestate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551195292538 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krish-harish-jain/ #YomeshRao Website:https://www.ymscl.in/index.html Tags: #architect #architecture #mthl #mumbai #india #Development #construction #realtor #developer #realestate #bombay #SRE #speakingrealestate #indianrealestate #dharavi #adani #broker #realestateinvesting #investing #india #indianrealestate #funding #fund #capital #raisingmoney #money
On episode 6 of Season 3 of our podcast Talk in the Town, we spoke to R. Gyaneshwar Singh and H S Dharmendra, core members of the Ramsons Kala Pratishtana (RKP), Mysuru. RKP is a non-profit organization which supports the conservation of indigenous craft traditions such as paintings, dolls, and indoor games in and around Karnataka.H S Dharmendra is an art historian and curator. He is the Head of Research at RKP, where he designs artifacts, dolls, traditional game boards, and leads research on traditional crafts of Mysuru.R G Singh is a prominent art collector and cultural revivalist. He is the Honorary Secretary of RKP, and has been instrumental in reviving traditional Indian arts, organizing iconic exhibitions like Bombe Mane and Kreedaa Kaushalya.Since 2000, Mr. Singh and Mr. Dharmendra, along with Dr. Dileep K.C.R. Gowda, together have researched traditional Indian board games, teaching them to thousands through workshops.
We have a great new episode discussing the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty from the view of Break Free from Plastic advocates here in Asia. Our guests today have been working for decades to reduce plastic pollution at its source. Just a brief tip though… if you haven't tuned into previous episodes in this SEASON you might want to … it will catch you up on where we are at with the plastic treaty negotiations!Well, the third meeting of the Global Plastics Treaty - otherwise called INC3 - ended last November and the Revised Zero Draft of the treaty is out… But there wasn't a lot of progress during those INC3 meetings. For this episode, we are partnering with Break Free from Plastic (or BFFP) to get their members' views as we gear up for the next treaty negotiations at INC-4 in April. BFFP has more than 12,000 organizations and individuals around the world working together to demand reductions in single use plastics and advocate for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. Guests: 1. Arpita Bhagat - Plastic Policy Officer, GAIA Asia Pacific - based in India. GAIA is a network of more than 1000 organizations from 92 countries, whose vision is a just, zero waste world free from the burden of toxic pollution, where resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped. 2. Semee Rhee - Global Policy Advisor with BFFP in Korea. Semee represents BFFP in the plastics treaty process. 3. Mage-swari Sanga-ra-lingam is the Honorary Secretary at Sahabat Alam Malaysia based in Penang and is a research officer with the Consumers' Association of Penang for the past 32 years. She represented Sahabat Alam Malaysia - or Friends of the Earth Malaysia - at the INC-3 plastics treaty meeting. Production credits:Host: Marcy Trent LongProducer: Carol MangIntro/outro music: Alex MauboussinSign up to find out when new Sustainable Asia seasons are launched!We have partnered with Break Free From Plastic (BFFP), headquartered in Asia, to produce this series. BFFP has numerous resources on their website about the Global Plastics Treaty:You can also refer to: GAIA's treaty page and GAIA's Asia Pacific treaty pageAnd check out CIEL's paper on UN procedural tools used to block plastic treaty progres.
As we bid 'arrivederci' to the month of March we are glad to be joined once again by the International Editor of Steve Bannon's WarRoom, Ben Harnwell. Ben has his finger on the pulse of all that is happening and has even been making headlines himself, which we will cover in this episode as we look at some of the news and talking points from the past seven days including... - Big Win for Ben: Steve Bannon wants to open MAGA 'gladiator schools' after Harnwell wins a legal battle in Italy. - It's time we talked about the fall of Kyiv. - Gaza: Security Council passes resolution demanding ‘an immediate ceasefire' during Ramadan. - An Italian town is struggling to sell off its empty homes for one euro each. - UK chancellor defends remarks about high salaries after being criticised for being out of touch. - Teacher loses claim of unfair dismissal after 'humiliating' student over preferred pronouns. - Why Steve Bannon's WarRoom remains a juggernaut. - Ramadan lights in London, no mention of Easter. At what point is enough enough? - Councils flying transgender flag to support Trans Day of Visibility In the two years between December 2006 and December 2008, Benjamin Harnwell was engaged in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity, consulting widely with various experts around the world. This work was drawn to a conclusion on 8 December 2008, when (with Gay Mitchell MEP) he founded the European Parliament's Working Group on Human Dignity (of which he remains Honorary Secretary); and on the same date, simultaneously established (with Nirj Deva MEP) the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (of which he is Director). The Working Group was publicly launched on 25 March 2009 by European Parliament Speaker Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP (now a Patron of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute). The DHI has since been engaged in launching parallel parliamentary working groups on human dignity in various legislatures around the world, all based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity. Ben was the Chief of Staff to Nirj Deva MEP until the end of 2010, since which point he is now based permanently in Rome, directing the development of the DHI. When involved in politics, he was an active member of the British Conservative Party for over 15 years. Benjamin identifies himself philosophically as an Austro-libertarian, co-founding (with Vincent de Roeck) the European Parliament's Mises Circle, which exists to promote greater recognition of the Austrian School of Economics; he also co-founded the international Right Approach Group (with Patrick Barron), to explore free-market solutions to contemporary problems. In 2002 and 2004, Ben was seconded to Colombo as Special Advisor to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. H.E. Mons. Sánchez Sorondo, Bishop Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences, appointed Ben External Counsellor in 2016. Since February 2018 Harnwell, as director of the DHI, is also the director of the Abbey of Trisulti, founded in AD 1204 and National Monument of Italy since 1873. From October 2021 to date Ben serves as international editor at “Steve Bannon's War Room” on the number 1 ranked US political podcast. Connect with Ben... GETTR gettr.com/user/harnwell X x.com/ben_harnwell WAR ROOM warroom.org/ Recorded 30.3.24 Connect with Hearts of Oak... WEBSITE heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP heartsofoak.org/shop/ Links to topics... gladiator schools https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13170455/steve-bannon-gladiator-schools-italy-maga-politicians.html Kyiv https://archive.ph/9HWzj Gaza ceasefire' during Ramadan https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147931 Italian homes one euro https://edition.cnn.com/travel/patrica-italy-town-one-euro-homes-struggle/index.html Jeremy Hunt https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/24/jeremy-hunt-doubles-down-on-100k-a-year-doesnt-go-far-claim pronouns https://www.gbnews.com/news/teacher-loses-claim-of-unfair-dismissal-pronouns Bannon's WarRoom https://x.com/gc22gc/status/1772265343265734879?s=20 media's 12 splintering realities https://www.axios.com/2024/03/25/news-media-filter-bubble-different-realities same sex marriage https://x.com/David_Cameron/status/1773636628382155214?s=20 Ramadan at Easter https://x.com/DVATW/status/1773281910967390625?s=20 Trans Day https://x.com/NewcastleCC/status/1772942201049235851?s=20
Ben Harnwell, International Editor of 'Bannon's War Room' returns to Hearts of Oak to give us his analysis of the past weeks doom and gloom in the news, articles and from social media, and there is plenty to get stuck into including... - Rotherham abuse survivor set to sell rapist's home in £450K court win. - Denmark passes law to ban Quran burnings. - Zelensky turning Ukraine into authoritarian state just like Russia, says Kyiv mayor. - Ukraine war: Soldier tells BBC of front-line 'hell' - Ireland says it has run out of room for refugees. - ‘President' Newsom has a Problem: Citizens fleeing his reign of terror cause massive plunge in tax revenues. - Garland's DoJ offered Hunter Biden a sweetheart deal to avoid triggering an impeachment against Joe Biden. - Top border officials say that the release of migrants into nearby communities is an incentive for others to attempt illegal border crossings. In the two years between December 2006 and December 2008, Benjamin Harnwell was engaged in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity, consulting widely with various experts around the world. This work was drawn to a conclusion on 8 December 2008, when (with Gay Mitchell MEP) he founded the European Parliament's Working Group on Human Dignity (of which he remains Honorary Secretary); and on the same date, simultaneously established (with Nirj Deva MEP) the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (of which he is Director). The Working Group was publicly launched on 25 March 2009 by European Parliament Speaker Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP (now a Patron of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute). The DHI has since been engaged in launching parallel parliamentary working groups on human dignity in various legislatures around the world, all based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity. Ben was the Chief of Staff to Nirj Deva MEP until the end of 2010, since which point he is now based permanently in Rome, directing the development of the DHI. When involved in politics, he was an active member of the British Conservative Party for over 15 years. Benjamin identifies himself philosophically as an Austro-libertarian, co-founding (with Vincent de Roeck) the European Parliament's Mises Circle, which exists to promote greater recognition of the Austrian School of Economics; he also co-founded the international Right Approach Group (with Patrick Barron), to explore free-market solutions to contemporary problems. In 2002 and 2004, Ben was seconded to Colombo as Special Advisor to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. H.E. Mons. Sánchez Sorondo, Bishop Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences, appointed Ben External Counsellor in 2016. Since February 2018 Harnwell, as director of the DHI, is also the director of the Abbey of Trisulti, founded in AD 1204 and National Monument of Italy since 1873. From October 2021 to date Ben serves as international editor at “Steve Bannon's War Room” on the number 1 ranked US political podcast. Connect with Ben... GETTR https://gettr.com/user/harnwell X https://twitter.com/ben_harnwell?s=20&t=lyY0pPen6Hs7_y2SxnAX4g WAR ROOM https://warroom.org/ Tuesday 12th December LIVE in London An Evening of Conversation and Discussion With... ANDREW BRIDGEN MP & CARL BENJAMIN Tickets on sale now https://www.tickettailor.com/events/davidpeterevents/1067181 Originally broadcast live 9.12.23 Connect with Hearts of Oak... WEBSITE https://heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS https://heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA https://heartsofoak.org/connect/ Support Hearts of Oak by purchasing one of our fancy T-Shirts.... https://heartsofoak.org/shop/ *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin and Twitter https://twitter.com/TheBoschFawstin?s=20 Links to topics discussed... Human Dignity https://gettr.com/post/p2w8g1m66e6 Denmark https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67651580 Zelenskyhttps://nypost.com/2023/12/05/news/ukraines-zelensky-is-turning-into-an-autocrat-claims-kyiv-mayor/ Ukrainehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67565508 Ireland https://archive.is/Topyp Newsom https://gettr.com/post/p2w5vi34863 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/07/californias-budget-deficit-balloons-to-68b-00130624 Hunter Biden https://gettr.com/post/p2w5x4s00da https://nypost.com/2023/12/07/opinion/this-is-the-case-feds-should-have-brought-against-hunter-biden-in-the-first-place/ border https://www.axios.com/2023/12/07/border-patrol-migrants-release-attract-illegal-crossings Israelhttps://news.sky.com/story/israel-hamas-war-un-security-council-resolution-to-demand-ceasefire-in-gaza-fails-13025836
Kevin O'Higgins has been a solicitor in private practice in Dublin. He spent his early years in Arthur Cox and thereafter in a smaller commercial firm before opening up his own practice in the suburbs some 35 years ago. He has become one of faces of the solicitors profession in Dublin, particularly from his deep involvement with the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association of which he was the Honorary Secretary for 6 years before becoming it's President in 2009. In parallel with this activity Kevin has been deeply involved in the Law Society and was an elected member of it's Council since 1998 and served as President in 2014... In practice he advises many politicians and has acted for the Fine Gael party over the 28 years. His family have a deep relationship with Clongowes over the last century and beyond His Grand Uncle was Kevin O'Higgins, the first Minister for Justice, and later assassinated, who attended the school at the turn of the last century . His father was T.F.O 'Higgins, a prominent Fine Gael politician , who narrowly lost out to Eamon Devalera for the Presidency of Ireland and later served as Chief Justice. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/portraitsofclongowes/message
Today's guest is Dr Jon Exley for Professional Beauty Solutions. Jon's interest in lasers began whilst studying physics both at the University of Leeds (UK) and the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble (France). Following graduation with a first-class honours' degree; he joined one of the UK's leading medical laser research centres at the University of Manchester to undertake a PhD research project sponsored by Lynton, which he completed in 1999. He is currently the Managing Director of Lynton Lasers since 2009. He also serves as the Honorary Secretary of the British Medical Laser Association (BMLA) which he represents in the Expert Reference Group established by Health Education England (NHS). This group was responsible for creating a novel educational qualification framework dedicated to the application of Lasers, Intense Pulsed Light, and LED in non-surgical cosmetic interventions. Additionally, Jon plays a crucial role in the broader industry landscape and was recently appointed to the External Advisory Board for the University of Manchester (Dept. of Physics). Here to discuss the common myths about IPL Treatments and debunking the misconceptions, for Professional Beauty Solutions, today we welcome Dr Jon Exley. Beaute by ABIC Podcast is an independent podcast that operates with the support of our listeners (that's you!) So if you would like to support the show, we would very much appreciate that. Hit ‘subscribe' on Apple Podcasts or ‘follow' on Spotify, and leave a review if you're feeling especially generous and please follow us @aestheticbeautycouncil --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beautebyabic/message
In the summer of 1940, the Battle of Britain saw 3,000 airmen risk their lives to defend British shores from the Nazis. But as the pilots battled overhead, what was life like for those supporting them on the ground, and the people of Britain they sought to protect? What was Hitler's objective, and how did the British react? And what was the secret to defeating the formidable Luftwaffe? This is a Short History of the Battle of Britain. Written by Linda Harrison. With thanks to Patrick Toole, Honorary Secretary of the Battle of Britain Memorial. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dr Anthea Mowat was Honorary Secretary of the Medical Women's Federation until January 2023 when she had to step down due to ill health. Sadly Anthea passed away this week so we wanted to re-release her podcast episode in memory of our friend and colleague. Anthea was a gem of a person, incredibly kind, modest and capable. She was a champion of SAS doctors and medical women. Her knowledge of byelaws and statutes was astounding. We shall miss her very much and send love to Anthea's family. We have made membership to the MWF only £5 for all medical students! Sign up at this link: https://www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk/members/join-us Follow the Medical Women's Federation on social media: Website: Click here to join the Medical Women's Federation or sign up to our free newsletter Twitter: @medicalwomenuk Instagram: @medicalwomenuk Facebook: MedWomen For any enquires about the Medical Women's Federation, email admin@medicalwomensfederation.org.uk To get in touch about the podcast, email medicalwomenpodcast@gmail.com This podcast is produced on behalf of the Medical Women's Federation by Dr Nuthana Bhayankaram & Ms Jenna MacKenzie. Our music is composed and played by Dr Kethaki Bhayankaram. Our cover art and social media posters are designed by Ms Danielle Nwadinobi.
Welcome to our hebdomadal show that looks back over the past seven days and this episode it's the return of the totally brilliant Ben Harnwell! As the international editor for Steve Bannon's War Room and the host of War Room: Rome, who better to talk us through what has captured his attention, piqued his interest or made his blood boil in the news, media and tabloids, including... - De-dollarization's moment might finally be here. A BRICS Currency Could Shake the Dollar's Dominance. - Yuan overtakes dollar to become most-used currency in China's cross-border transactions. - Average rents for properties across Britain have hit a new record high. - MSM is Dead: Tucker Carlson departs Fox News. - Lolz... Vice President Joe Biden launches 2024 re-election campaign. - Cocktails, oysters and air raid sirens, war hasn't soured Kyiv's taste for the good life. - Former Tory MP Andrew Bridgen expelled permanently from The Conservative Party. - Safe and Effective? What it's like to live with vaccine injury? - Conservative Anglicans reject the Church of England and the Archbishop of Wokeness..... sorry, I mean Canterbury! In the two years between December 2006 and December 2008, Benjamin Harnwell was engaged in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity, consulting widely with various experts around the world. This work was drawn to a conclusion on 8 December 2008, when (with Gay Mitchell MEP) he founded the European Parliament's Working Group on Human Dignity (of which he remains Honorary Secretary); and on the same date, simultaneously established (with Nirj Deva MEP) the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (of which he is Director). The Working Group was publicly launched on 25 March 2009 by European Parliament Speaker Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP (now a Patron of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute). The DHI has since been engaged in launching parallel parliamentary working groups on human dignity in various legislatures around the world, all based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity. Ben was the Chief of Staff to Nirj Deva MEP until the end of 2010, since which point he is now based permanently in Rome, directing the development of the DHI. When involved in politics, he was an active member of the British Conservative Party for over 15 years. Benjamin identifies himself philosophically as an Austro-libertarian, co-founding (with Vincent de Roeck) the European Parliament's Mises Circle, which exists to promote greater recognition of the Austrian School of Economics; he also co-founded the international Right Approach Group (with Patrick Barron), to explore free-market solutions to contemporary problems. In 2002 and 2004, Ben was seconded to Colombo as Special Advisor to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. H.E. Mons. Sánchez Sorondo, Bishop Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences, appointed Ben External Counsellor in 2016. Since February 2018 Harnwell, as director of the DHI, is also the director of the Abbey of Trisulti, founded in AD 1204 and National Monument of Italy since 1873. From October 2021 to date Ben serves as international editor at “Steve Bannon's War Room” and host of "War Room: Rome" on the number 1 ranked US political podcast. Join Ben for his daily analysis on “Steve Bannon's War Room” and on Monday-Thursday hosting 'War Room: Rome' live on GETTR and Rumble https://warroom.org/ Follow Ben on..... GETTR https://gettr.com/user/harnwell TWITTER https://twitter.com/ben_harnwell?s=20&t=lyY0pPen6Hs7_y2SxnAX4g Originally broadcast live 29.4.23 Transcript available on our Substack... https://heartsofoak.substack.com/ *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin and Twitter https://twitter.com/TheBoschFawstin?s=20 To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video, livestreaming platforms and more... https://heartsofoak.org/connect/ Please subscribe, like and share! Transcript (Hearts of Oak) Today, it is always good to have the international editor of Steve Bannon's War Room and host of War Room Room, and that is Ben Harnwell himself. Ben, thank you for joining us tonight. (Ben Harnwell) Thanks, Peter. It's a great pleasure, privilege and honour to be invited back onto the show. Well, you were so good last time, you have to come on again. So I thoroughly enjoy watching you on War Room. Obviously, you can catch Ben @Harnwell on GETTR, is the best place to find him, and you can see his regular contributions on War Room. Ben, I thought we'd first just play a little clip of the long interview with Steve K. Bannon and President Trump. Let me bring this up and just play a little bit at the beginning, and then we can discuss this. (video plays) President Trump, thank you very much. Thank you. This book, I think, for people that know and love you is what, what people have been waiting for, because it shows you prior to you being president. And you've got what I call the great and the good of the late 20th century and early 21st century. It's everywhere. It's entertainment, it's media, it's sports, religious figures, and you've got, you know, their letters to you, your correspondent back, the great photography, but then the special is your commentary and observations. How did you come up with the idea? Why did you want to do this? So a group of people got to see in my office, I have stacks and stacks of letters from really famous people. And they say very diverse, okay, very diverse, like actors and crazy people. Probably I shouldn't say this, probably mobsters. And, you know, we had sort of everyone yet boxers, but we had everybody and, and Richard Nixon and politicians, famous politicians and some really good ones and very personal letters. And they saw this and they said, you got to be, and they started looking and Sergio, who you just had on is terrific. Fantastic. Started looking at these letters he said these letters are incredible. I had two women, Norma who passed away but she was with me for many years and she was a fantastic woman and she worked with a young woman named Rona, Rona, Rona Graff And between the two of them, they love to save letters. And every letter was saved and preserved and beautiful and wrapped up. And all of a sudden we saw these boxes full of letters and Sergio and his staff, they went through them. They said, you're not going to believe some of these letters. Like getting a letter from Rosie O'Donnell, who was in love. I don't want to say that in the true sense of the word, but you know, she really liked me a lot. Whoopi Goldberg. By the way, Alec Baldwin, it's the whole, it's all this kind of graciousness, gratitude and class. But not just running for office, because we've got Cuomo, I'll talk to you about that. It's what you stood for when you ran for office. That's what separated it out. I want to go just to some of the, I think some of the ones that are best at the beginning. Talk to me.... Now, Ben, we could go through all of that, but that would miss out your input. But that is available on War Room GETTR. It is available on War Room Rumble. But of course, Steve's time in the White House with President Trump, I mean, tell us your perspective of course of that interview as someone who is working with Steve, working with the War Room. Tell us your thoughts about it. I loved that interview. I was watching it was late at night obviously here in Europe when that came out as it was for you. But I was on my seat. But this was I think the old Donald Trump, that we haven't really, relaxed, totally comfortable in his own skin, that we, I don't really know if we've seen it since the 2016 cycle. He was absolutely, it's perfect. A lot of inside details, you know, with his negotiations with Emmanuel Macron. Well there weren't many negotiations, Macron was totally rolled, but sort of inside goss on these one-on-one trade negotiations was just absolutely fascinating. And then of course you heard the, we had the exchange there with Steve and President Trump talking, and about you know how all these A-listers were corresponding with him from the 80s onwards in very warm terms. People like, they've just nominated Rosie O'Donnell and Alec Baldwin and what have you, and you sort of realize it's not, there's an element of course that when Trump declared his, when he came down the escalator and declared he was going to be a candidate, Yeah, fair enough. That is a pivot point between his relationship and all the celebrities who'd been cultivating him, because obviously he's a very rich guy, right, that had been cultivating him. And he's very well known for being a generous benefactor as well. So it's understandable that a lot of people would have been cultivating his friendship. You know, and as Steve mentioned that interview, what comes across is the respect and the warmth that these people had towards him. And that's absolutely true. And it's true that when Trump aligned himself with the America First Movement, and in fact takes the banner in his own hand and takes it forward, that a lot of that change. I sort of think though, and as much as that is true, there's something else going on, as well in that story and that's a lot of this opposition, you know, the people like Baldwin and Rosie O'Donnell, they're pivoted from warmth, respectful friendship to absolute Trump derangement syndrome and there's an element of that. But you know, Peter, I also think I think this thing, this book illustrates something else. A lot of that antipathy is just fake. These Hollywood A-listers and the celebrities who start foaming at the mouth, at the name Donald Trump, it's fake. They're all doing it because they believe, because they know nothing about politics. They have no, you know, they really don't understand, you know, they don't see, they don't understand as acute observers of politics should do, international affairs and economics as a relationship between cause and effect. And when you're looking at effect, you need to trace back and find out what that cause is. If you want to deal with it, you can't just stand there at an award ceremony and vote to a certain thing that you've done something about it. So obviously these people know literally zero about politics or current affairs, but they all, there's a lot of peer pressure and these people are very shallow and narcissistic and they fall in line. They take the line that's given to them and they quite happily fall in it. I don't see, Peter, what the explanation is, to go from, as this book is a testament of, from that degree of affection to Trump derangement syndrome. the opposition that we see, and which is very influential. People are, in the social media age, they are enormously influenced by influencers and celebrities. And I don't know, perhaps it's salutary to take a moment and stop and just realize that a lot of this is just absolutely fake, which is why they, why on the very rare occasion, Peter, that these people are held to account and to ask to expand on their opposition, they, you know, they stumble and stammer, they're in the mumble tank because they can't actually explain the reason for the emotional intensity of their supposed opposition. But look, the interview, it was based around this book and the correspondence within it, but it's actually far more than that. It was a real, you know, I don't think, Peter, that Donald Trump has allowed an interview at like basically one and a half hour full-length interview in this way with anyone since, no, not since leaving office, since declaring his candidacy, I certainly can't remember it, and most of the interviews, because you know, unlike President Biden, President Trump is quite happy to submit himself to hostile questioning. This was actually really unique in interviews so many regards because you don't have that superficial mainstream media attempt to virtue signal your opposition to Trump when you're interviewing him in the questions. So that doesn't make a show in. So actually you get it's Donald Trump with his former chief strategist going through and actually intelligently talking about so many things from Ukraine to Biden, to immigration, to the economy, without just the sheer waste of time, this fake antipathy it brings to it. So I would strongly, strongly, strongly, strongly, strongly recommend to anyone watching this weekly review with us now, to go on to either Steve Bannon's GETTR account or the War Room account. We've got a great selection, I'm going to be pushing some out in the next 24 hours on my own account, great selection of highlights from that interview and I can't recommend it more because it really shows you Donald Trump in the most, you know, the most human and approachable light. And we're starved of that, thanks to the mainstream media filter. I don't know what you thought about that interview, but I was just captivated by the whole thing. I agree. And for the sake of time, I'll just say it was great to have, obviously, President Trump knows Steve Bannon, Steve knows Trump. And to have that conversation with two friends is different from a normal interview where the people don't know each other. So that level of familiarity brings a conversation amongst friends. And I think the viewer gets an insight into that connection. But we could talk about that for the rest of the evening. I will leave it to the viewers if they haven't already watched it to make sure they do watch it because it is an interview amongst two friends. And in that connection, you get to see a lot and learn a lot of things from that. Peter, can I just add to that before we move on? Of course you can. That's absolutely true. Because of the intimate sort of atmosphere of it between, as you say, two people, two friends, two colleagues who work together, obviously, on the campaign in 2016. Part of, you know, because of that intimacy there, that, you know, it wasn't so much of a formal, hostile interview, but I don't know about you Peter, but I got the impression as if I was sort of eavesdropping at some point on, you know, There are two people who know one another who are having a private chat in the corner of a bar, and you're just listening and eavesdropping in on some of what they were saying. Because there were some unguarded moments, but people need to go and watch it. I agree. It felt as though you're intruding on a private conversation. I get that 100 percent. I did feel that as well. It felt a bit bad. Well, it's there for all to see. But yeah, that's there for all to see, the viewers and listeners go to war room on GETTR or on rumble and you can watch the whole interview but moving on to other events because uh President Trump that will be over the next 18 months so you're going to get a lot of that don't you worry but moving on to the economics and this is a intriguing story. A BRICS currency could shake the dollar's dominance. De-dollarization movements might finally be here. And the first part of his talk of a de-dollarization is in the air. Last month, the New Delhi, Alexander Babakov, deputy chairman of Russia's State Duma, said that Russia is now spearheading the development of a new currency. It is to be used for cross-border trade by the BRICS nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. And it is intriguing to see this change in, I guess, geopolitical financial control away from the power of the US dollar over to other economies that are actually growing much faster and taking on a bigger market share. And we've heard, I guess, the death kneel of the dollar many times. What are your thoughts on this Ben? Well, actually, we discussed this on the War Room earlier on in the week. I'll make some different points this evening from what I made before. My first observation is that you're looking at the countries here, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and you've got Saudi Arabia as well sort of sitting in the side-lines. These are countries which have rivalries and mutual distrusts between them and Joe Biden is a pretty bad president. But the formation of BRICS, I think it was actually launched by Lula himself some 10 years ago when he was last in power, What a whole succession of incompetent and hubristic US administrations have succeeded in doing, is giving the glue to these disparate countries to come together and start working now on our trading area come eventual currency union, specifically because they distrust the United States so much. And this isn't a distrust towards the American people. It's a distrust towards the CIA. The meddling in their own international domestic politics, the military industrial complex, the whole of the warmongering, the endless warmongering. It's a persistent distrust of that, that has brought these countries together to overcome their, as I say, their mutual suspicions and distrust, but to work together. And I have to say, even though, you know, you and I were both fans of very, very, very, very strong allies of the American people, but the damage that its corrupt MIC regime has been doing for decades to the detriment of the American people, the distrust that has generated in these countries is not exactly Peter, out of place. That is, they have good reason and to want to work together because the military industrial complex is out of control. And yeah, so that's really my point here. It will be to the detriment of the American people eventually, the loss of the dollars, the international currency of settlement. And that will, that, you know, because once that evaporates, the demand to hold dollars internationally by central banks will diminish. And then of course, then America will be held by the ordinary laws of economic reality when it comes to printing money as all other countries are. And that will hit the American people very hard. They've been protected to somewhat for the last 70 years from those consequences. So on the one hand, this move isn't to be welcomed from the perspective of the American people, but it is to be understood, and by understood I mean the lessons are to be learned just how bad the US meddling in other countries abroad has been. Well, that was on the BRICS country, and then this story is specifically on China. This is from Reuters. The UN overtakes dollar to become most-used currency in China's cross-border transactions. And there, the UN became the most widely used currency for cross-border transactions in China in March, overtaking the dollar for the first time, and talks about the difference in payments. And this is, again, interesting. It is the rise of China and their global influence. We've seen it militarily. We've seen it economically. And this is more of the power of their own currency, which then cuts out the ability of the US to have influence. So this kind of builds on the BRICS story, specifically looking at China. Yeah, absolutely it does. It's important to remember, but you know, just weaning back to BRICS for a moment, that when Bolsonaro was president of Brazil, he tacked a very, very different line. He was very hostile to China and very close to the United States. And because Biden is basically a cretin, he believed that it would be better in US interests to have a hard-line pseudo-communist like Lula as president of Brazil, rather than another Trump type of nationalist. You know, and you just, you wonder what is the nature of political calculation going on in those around the leader of the free world to do that because the first thing Lula has done is pivoted straight back to Beijing, to the detriment of the United States and you think basically, the ruling class, that parasitical class that is running the United States into the ground, are they actually being bought off by another country, hostile to the United States' interest. I mean is it possible to be in innocence that incompetent? Yeah it makes you wonder what is happening and we're all witnessing that change of the guard I think on the economic world stage. I'm on of course why not with Biden completely incompetent and the chaos that he is putting to the US economy and Ben you and I watch from a distance but for all our American viewers they're suffering the consequences of that. But this here's a story about the impact of the economic changes, impact on inflation and many other aspects and I think wherever you are in the world you will read this story with understanding probably similar to what is happening in your part of the world, wherever you're watching. But this is on Sky News. Average UK rents hit record two and a half thousand pounds in London amid property shortage. A report by Rightmove gives some hope of an easing ahead as higher mortgage rates alongside the cost of living crisis all combine to squeeze affordability. And the cost of living crisis simply with going and filling up your shopping basket is crazy, certainly in the UK, with basic food items up 30, 40%. If you think any dairy products, it's certainly 40%. And then I know talking to individuals about renting and they just sign the contract each year because it just goes up by 15, 20%. And of course, private landlords, landlords being punished. So those private homes being taken off. But Ben, I think wherever our viewers are watching, it's something that we are all facing, the impact on inflation, impact on rising living costs, and people have to make very difficult decisions. Yeah, this is a complex issue. And at some elemental level, there is a mismatch as this article suggests that you have in front of us, between supply and demand. I would say that, and you mentioned it, and the Daily Telegraph has been quite strong on this over recent months as well. I would say that looking at the supply part of this problem, it's a target, and it has been, I think, for centuries in the UK, for the middle class to own property in order to let, as you know, there's not the safest houses, but if you need to invest, invest it in a house, put it out to let, and that ought to be relatively secure as a potential source of future income. What the government is doing, in its infinite incompetence, is, you know, because it's trying to be populist, but it's mushing it all up. It's actually making it very difficult for landlords to let properties with any degree of confidence in future returns. I'm not saying the UK is moving back to the era of rent controls, but it's not far from that. You know, tenants have ever more rights. You know, for example, if I've understood this correctly, Peter, when leases are up now, it's not, or the legislative plan is to make it very difficult for landlords to kick tenants out. And that tenants will have a guaranteed right on terms of negotiating rent and all the rest of it. So the consequence of that, obviously, is that if you have a property, you just won't put it out to let until the chaos and the uncertainty has sorted itself out. You know, and that further down the line creates the supply problems that we have now. It's not as if the UK population has expanded exponentially. Obviously, a lot of illegals flooding in every day, that's absolutely true, but they're not coming in looking to rent property. They don't need to, because they're being put up by courtesy of the taxpayer in our best hotels. No, this is a different issue. And I rather guess that if you, as I was talking about cause and effect earlier, if we follow this back far enough, we will find the culprit is being previous intervention and legislation by a pseudo populist government of whatever description, because we have a uni party in the UK as they do in the States. And that will be the fundamental cause I think of the supply shortage right now. Yes the frustration whenever the government get involved in things then you think oh this can only go one way and that's problematic. Moving on to the probably the big story of the week and that is Tucker Carlson, so going stateside again although Tucker's influence is worldwide literally. This is the Los Angeles Times, one of the developments of it, although there have been many developments since, and this is Tucker Carlson Departs Fox News, pushed out by Rupert Murdoch. And if I can just read this, Tucker Carlson, the provocative, provocative? Conservative prime-time host who sustained Fox News as a ratings juggernaut, has been forced out of the network. Fox News announced the stunning departure of his top-rated host on Monday with no explanation, but people familiar with the situation who are not authorized to comment publicly said the decision to fire Carlson came straight from Fox News chairman Rupert Murdoch with input from board members and other Fox core executives. Ben, this must go down is probably the worst business decision of all time. You do not sack the person who brings in the ratings. And what are your thoughts on watching this car crash that we are seeing at Fox News? Well, the first thing to do here is I think tip one's hat to Steve Bannon's insight on this, which is that this is really part of the Murdoch family trying to tilt the game away from Donald Trump in 2024. And I think there's obviously some truth in that and I think Murdoch's personal contempt for Donald Trump is so great that he is willing to take the hit to his family's fortunes in order to do that, because Fox was in the 2016 cycle a pretty important pillar in Trump's armoury. So that's the first point. The second point that I would make is that this is sort of, It really illustrates to the extent in which Fox Media Corporation is a controlled opposition. And therefore, for people who are angered by that realisation, it ought to be a further push to start checking out the alternative media, Peter, your program, The War Room, and things like that, that are taking place outside of, the cable news networks lock grip on the official narrative, that's a good thing. You know, in a problem, you know, in a certain sense, it's great when you have a dominant monoculture. It's great for, and the worst competition as possible, it's great for, it's a great opportunity for rivals to come up and make a huge splash in terms of influence and audience share in very short time. And I think that's what we're seeing. Oh really, and it's exciting to see where Tucker will go, today I think that Jim Hoff and Gateway Pundit wrote that Newsmax had offered him a colossal contract. But I've been intrigued to watch. Obviously, the reach the War Room have is huge. There are other programs out there. And it will be, I mean, the world is Tucker's oyster. And I'm thinking, well, he's been fairly honest, but I'm assuming he has been partially constrained by Fox News. So whenever you have an unconstrained Tucker Carlson, this is going to be phenomenal. So I think we're all watching in this space to see what develops from this. Look, Petey, you and I, we're both active in the same media circles. I don't know anybody else on Fox that has any resonance in our circles beyond Tucker Carlson. I'd never, you know, there are some other presenters on there that are more or less, no, they're less, they are just less interesting. But nobody, nobody, you know, and I'm consumed by following the news sort of 18 hours a day. And I have been doing it full-time for 18 months. Nobody, not a single person, you know, half of all, if I were to say all I do is sit down and communicate with other journalists, it's an exaggeration, but there's some truth there. Nobody in 18 months has ever sent me a Sean Hannity text saying, or Cliff, saying, Harnwell, you must see this. You must see what Hannity, it's never happened. No one else on Fox has any resonance whatsoever outside of the Fox ecosystem. Tucker Carlson did. And I, you know, their loss will be, it might be Chris Ruddy's gain, we'll find out. But it will be someone's gain. Completely. And let's, I see that Paul Lee, just watching on Facebook, says they took Tucker out in a desperate attempt to stop Trump. I think you could be bang on the money with that. And of course, the good news, the strange news, Tucker going actually wasn't necessarily bad news, because he was released by the constraints, I guess, of a massive network. The other gift to us all was that, yes, it is wonderful. It has been announced that President Joe Biden launches his 2024 re-election campaign. This is on the BBC News, obviously everywhere. He announced he'll be running for 2024, setting the stage for a potential rematch with Donald Trump. The good news is that Vice President Kamala Harris will once again be his running mate. I mean, what could be better? And of course, Mr Biden, 80, is already the oldest president in US history, is likely to face questions about his age throughout the campaign. He would be 86 after finishing his second full term in 2029. And I don't think he knows what day of the week it is, where he is, or what is happening to him. But Dr Jill looks after him, I believe, in there in the White House. But, Ben, we expected this to come and I'm intrigued to how the Democrat party respond because surely they can't watch, can't want an increpid, sadly, deficient individual running for president and leading the Democrat party. So what are your thoughts on this? Well, you know, erm, I tell you, I was rather sorry for that sort of, for that angry old man, angry corrupt old man in the Oval Office when he broke this news, because it was immediately bounced off the press the following day by the Tucker Carlson sacking. It had a lot less residents, because that really sort of, it was the Tucker Carlson thing, that sort of really dominated the following 48 hours of press. And the Biden campaign, it was a bit like, oh, yawn from the world's media. Now you said that the Democrats can't be too happy to see him declaring for 2024. Well you know the Democrats aren't the only ones. I've got something here. This I think was pushed out by Gallup, there's been a fall in the world's approval ratings, considered approval rating of the US president over the last two years. Let me give you the figures. Right now, this is like Gallup spoke to 140 countries over the course of 2022. And they say that the median global approval rating of US leadership has fallen from 49% to 41%. Over the 18 months of Biden's administration. And as a comparison, Donald Trump was at 31%. And Obama, his second year rating was 47%. Well, at the rate Biden is collapsing, he's going to be on Trump's ratings by the start of a potential second term, which will never happen. Anyway, and that makes you think that, you know, we were promised so much difference when the adults were going to return to the room, weren't we, Peter? You know, when we were promised a return of normalcy, we were told repeatedly how the rest of the world was looking aghast, at Donald Trump's administration. And my reflection on this point, Peter, is this, that Biden isn't in free fall. I mean, I personally, half of me says that the country has no need to pay attention to what other countries are thinking of it anyway, right? But he's not in free fall because he's been pushing America first agenda and that's been putting everyone else's nose out of joint. That was the issue with Donald Trump, right? Of course the rest of the world hated him because he was pushing America's interests left, right and centre when it came to NATO subscription membership or trade agreements. Trump was trying to put America first in every single instance and all the other countries had had a free reign for decades to push their countries first and treat United States like a fool. So you can understand why the other countries weren't so happy. People are by Biden's international approval ratings are in free fall because of his incompetence and hubris. And because you won't see this read on the mainstream American media but the rest of the world isn't as nearly gung-ho about this war in Ukraine for example as the media in America likes to push, and this is reflected in these ratings. I just wanted, you know, I just thought that is, I think, if we're going to talk about, as I say, it's almost beer talk, talking about, you know, if we're at a pub having a pint talking about a second Biden administration, it's not going to happen. For a number of reasons it won't happen, but were it to happen, this is the sort of thing that the consequences are. And there are different ways of rating America's standing in the rest of the world. One of them, one, you know, you can be hated but feared, and you could be hated and just treated with irrelevance and contempt. And those are basically the two different approaches between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Well, moving on to, you mentioned Ukraine, and let's look at this. This was an intriguing, it was from the 15th, but I think you had reposted it more recently, Ben, and it's quite intriguing to bring up the topic of what is happening there. This is the Times, Cocktails, Oysters, and Air Raid Sirens. War hasn't soured Kyiv's taste for the good life. And it says there are now more bars and cafes in Ukraine's capital than before the invasion. It's a very strange story, Ben, because we are told that Russia kind of obviously at war with Ukraine, and we see all the videos of that war, and yet the Times comes out with a story that there are more bars and cafes than ever before. It doesn't sound very much like a dangerous war zone, but what are your thoughts on this, Ben? It's strange. I don't know how this, I mean, the Times for our international audience is Murdoch Press. And it's been a number one Vladimir Zelensky cheerleader right from the beginning. How this article snuck by the census, I have no idea. Are some great lines in here. Here's one line, right, talking about a cook called Somin, age 31, who's returned to Kyiv in late 2021. The Times writes that after a successful career cooking abroad that the guy struggles to find for his restaurant unripe mangoes, adding that ripe mangoes a plentiful. Well, you know. Try shopping for fresh fruit in the UK, local Sainsbury's, it would appear that the supermarkets in Kyiv, which we're led to believe is a war zone, are more bountiful and stocked up. You know, they're making the UK look like communist Russia, pre-cold, pre-Berlin wall fall, here's my favourite line, if I may, from this article. This is brilliant. And I quote, The Kyiv Opera is open, and luxury spas offer gold-leaf facials and teeth whitening. It's no different here, one sales assistant said. It's just the same as it was before. You know, Peter, I don't know about you, right? I don't know about you. When was the last time you went for a gold leaf facial? I don't even know what that is, Ben, but we missed that. We need to go to Kyiv. I swear, I swear to God, I had to Google it. I had no idea what it was either. But that, you know, that's where our taxes in the West are going to because they weren't accounted for. We don't know where I'm going to go when they're handing it over, to Kyiv. But we've been saying on the War Room right from the beginning, right from day one, that it's going to Zelensky's, fundamentally to his oligarchs for spending, whether that's in the military or on services or infrastructure or budgetary support, the money is always bein, funnelled by his oligarchs and you know these oligarchs, you know, they need gold leaf facials. Who doesn't? Who doesn't? Well, moving on to someone who doesn't need a gold leaf facial, and that is Andrew Bridgen in the UK. And I'll read this and then we'll maybe let our international audience have a bit of an idea what that is. This is in The Guardian. And this is the news, the headline there that former Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, that's the Conservative Party for our foreign viewers, expelled permanently from party. Northwest Leicestershire MP has sat as an independent since losing Tory whip after comparing use of Covid jabs to holocaust. And I'm full on down this rabbit hole with Andrew and of course he was vaccine injured and has raised this and spoken about this in Parliament. He has been attacked, demonised by everyone, including Penny Mordaunt, that's probably no bad thing, the leader of the House, the Speaker of the House, and now he's been thrown out of the Conservative Party, seemingly simply for questioning and, discussing the harm that's been caused and how widespread or not, that's a whole other area, but simply for raising this issue. How have you viewed this, Ben, of how Andrew Bridgen has been treated and his expulsion from the Conservative Party? Well, the first thing... Well, okay, so the first, the proper first thing, is that as far as I'm concerned, that inverted... I use sort of air quotes as I say this, the Conservative Party needs to be sued under the Trades Description Act because it's clearly not a conservative party in any way shape or form and it hasn't been for a number of years. It's a hoax calling it a conservative party, it's not remotely. That's the first thing to say and this story just illustrates that to perfection. The second thing I'd like to say is just pointing out the grawny ads and rather lax editorial policy here because they say here that this northwest Leicestershire, which is my area of the country by the way, it's not my constituency but that is my area of the country, that he's sad as an independent since losing the Tory whip after comparing the use of Covid jabs to the Holocaust. That's not what he did, right? What he did, as the article then explains, is that he tweeted an attributing a quote to a consultant cardiologist who had said to him that the Covid vaccines is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust. So that wasn't actually Bridgen's comparison. It was a cardiologist that had said that to him. Now you might, people might think that's a slight distinction. I don't think it's a slight distinction. I think it's an important distinction. But even if he had compared it to the Holocaust, I don't think that's, the next story we're going to discuss I think brings this out integrated relief. I don't think that would be grounds for permanently expelling him from the party. My first thought, Peter, is that the consultant who said that needs to go on the record. It's up to him, it's up to, you know, it's up to him and his own conscience. Obviously, I guess he might be working within the world's largest communist organization, the NHS, so he might not want, he might not, you know, understandably he might not want to go on the record with that, and yeah, and half of me says, and who can blame him, but, you know, he really, you know, he really, I think he really needs to go on the record with that. The second thing I thought when I was reading this article is the tweet from, the board of deputies of British Jews which said it was pleased with its portion and I quote, right, suggesting that Covid vaccines are the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust is not an opinion which should be countenanced in any serious political party. You know, that kind of thing, I mean, that kind of thing just shows that the Board of Deputies of British Jews has zero credibility about anything. I mean, for one, for one, the consultant cardiologist didn't say that it was a crime against humanity that rivalled the Holocaust. He said since the Holocaust. And these people think that the COVID vaccine injury is a big crime against humanity. So if anything they're underlining the importance of the Holocaust rather than undermining it. But you know these people have always been rather too quick to send out a press release if it gets them some some press coverage and I never want to hear from these people again. I think they've lost every shred of integrity at this point. Third point I hope this guy reaches out to Nigel Farage, or Nigel reaches out to him. That would be a fitting close to this chapter. It would be and it'd be intriguing to see how it goes and where Andrew ends up. If I just comment on a few, lots of comments on GETTR. I love how we have so many comments on GETTR. Three Day Weekend, HW Logan, Dan2848, who else? Scotland the Brave, Jimbra. There are lots of, I'm scrolling up some of your names are just too long and I can't even it'll take me the whole show to go through some of your handles but thank you so much for your comments I always go and look at them after although me I don't always get the chance to to bring them in but thank you so much for your comments there and following on from the Andrew Bridgen this was an article and again this is it intrigues me because these are articles which we would not have seen any time during the last three years and they're now coming out and it's intriguing how the media are, I guess, rewriting things and saying, actually, there are some issues we need to address, even though if you address these things and that's why we're not on YouTube, because if we read this story out on YouTube, we would have got a strike immediately, even though it's the Metro, the newspaper that's given out every morning on the Tube, on the Underground, on the Metro in London. And the headline is, 'sometimes I don't know if I'm going to wake up in the morning, what it's like to live with vaccine injury.' And the gentleman here, Adam, as a former physiotherapist to professional sports people, Adam Rowland knows the importance of staying well. He used to train six times a week, never smoked, rarely drinks. Now he can't even walk on a treadmill for exercise. The dad of two worked with Warrington Wolves before he had to resign in November due to a raft of complicated health issues. And then the story goes into, it seems to be linked to the vaccine. And I am pleased Ben, that at long last the media are highlighting that there are people who have suffered massively from side effects to the vaccine and I don't think that was portrayed or put forward or announced enough beforehand as people were rushing for this. But what are your thoughts on this story of Adam, vaccine injured? I'm conflicted, Peter, with this story. I mean, obviously I have sympathy for the guy, but I just read this article with a growing sense of wandering disbelief. So he has the first injection, it's the AstraZeneca I think he has in February 2021. This is like well, well into the era of documented stories saying that the vaccine is not safe and it's dangerous, right? This isn't a first wave. So then within a week of having an injection, he's then got sort of heart palpitations, like 20 palpitations a day, panic attacks, drooping eyelids. He can't get up. He's collapsing, being rushed to the A&E, right? And this goes on. I shouldn't laugh, but this goes on for months, getting worse and worse and worse. He's going to the hospital, going to the doctors. And then three months later in May, he goes back and has the second injection. I have sympathy for the plight, but at a certain point you just think, you know, I don't know. I don't want to be harsh. My observation on this article, in order to maintain a certain, sense of charity is never underestimate what people will believe if the government tells them solemnly. Now we knew this, we knew this anyway, right, but if there's a, well there's not a silver lining on the cloud of Covid, but if there were one, it's that every single person with to eyes and a brain that's lived through this so-called pandemic, it now has personal, first-hand empirical experience of just how friends, family, neighbours, loved ones, colleagues can be brainwashed by the BBC and the news and the government and doctors and the professionals and the scientists, with basically half the population, you know, would seem to have zero capacity for introspection and analysis on what they're told from official sources. And that, Peter, is absolutely terrifying. It ought to be terrifying. It is terrifying. You know, we knew this, anyone who's read books on the Second World War and the rise of the Third Reich, even if you've not read it since these things since you were a school kid or what have you, yet everyone always said, you know, the Germans after the war, you know, they were amazed how mass insanity can take hold. And we Peter we've learned nothing we've literally perhaps we learned for a few decades afterwards, but now it's just distant memory we literally have learned absolutely nothing um and having lived through this so-called pandemic um my takeaway has just been I watched open mouth how people um how easy it is for government to manipulate what people think and to sacrifice their freedoms as well. Terrifying, absolutely terrifying. Well let's finish off with another institution that told people that was a mouthpiece of the government and I have no love at all anymore for the apostate church, that is the Anglican church. I think I've given my views there in a nutshell. This is GB News, who do do some amazing stories, thin in other ways, but this is concerted Anglicans reject Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury and I had watched Calvin Robinson who was there at the conference, but the conference brought together more than 1300 delegates from 52 countries. It's the Global Anglican Future Conference, GAFCOM, has pledged to reject the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury and they had gathered in Rwanda and withdrew their recognition of Justin Welby, better known as Wet Welby, as the first amongst equals. And I'm intrigued by this, Ben, because it is positive, I think, to see some pushback on the woke liberal agenda that Justin Welby brings as head of the Anglican Church. What are your thoughts? Yeah, where do I start? This is, I don't want to be harsh to the Anglican communion, to Anglicans or to Protestants generally, having been an Anglican at one point in my life. So I'll try to be respectful in what I say. In, you know, I could just as easily address what I actually want to say, talking about the Catholic Church, because the issues are the same, right? The issue that, the issue is the same, just the Anglian communion is just slightly further, you know, historically, it was like a couple of generations ahead, but the Pope Francis has done his best to, in 10 years, to catch up up the Anglicans in terms of implosion. Where to start on this, Peter? Um Firstly, the fundamental issue that all Christian churches or ecclesial communities, whatever term you want to use, the fundamental question that Christianity faces and has faced since the beginning of the modern era is, what is the basis of our belief as Christians? And can that basis change? And if it changes, and if the substance of the faith changes, are we still Christian because we are in the centre, the median centre of the horizontally, if you will, of Christians in our own period? Or are we also in communion with the church throughout time? Call that vertical, if you will. And if you pick the first one, really the church in it as a pilgrim church through time, that it needs to remain cohesive, keep all the sheep in the truck together and not necessarily be so anchored to what were form of beliefs. Then you are basically, I mean, I don't share that view remotely, but the danger with that is that you then, well, however you decided to do so, you become a make it up as you go along religion. And I don't know about other religions, but I would definitely say Christianity does not work on a make it up as you go along basis, because nobody wants, no one will change their lives to fit into a make it up as you go along religion. And certainly no one will be converted by that, there'll be no witness in terms of conversion and bringing people into the church, into practicing Christianity, into a relationship with Jesus Christ on the basis of that. Because really what we're doing is conforming the church to the times, rather than allowing ourselves to be conformed by Christ. And this is, I think, absolutely the problem that the Anglican communion has, because it hasn't decided that Welby and the Western Anglican practitioners, who are only about 15% of the communion, want to move with the times. Specifically, it's the blessing of homosexual marriages here. 85% of the church, I think, is in Africa or the developing world, generally. And the African church doesn't want to follow. And they have this problem, and the Catholic church has a problem as well. Basically, I know we're winging now to the end of the show Peter, of our hour. I close with this point. We should look at the collapse and the implosion of the Anglican communion. And Anglicans can learn from it, Catholics can learn from it, evangelicals can learn from it. I would suggest, sadly I could talk for a whole hour about this, but as far as I'm concerned the only valid form of Christian witness today is to be conformed to the teachings that Jesus Christ, expounded 2,000 years ago and the apostles and the early church and the constant interpretation of the revelation of the church is the constant unchanging interpretation of the revelation of the church and it ought to be our guide for today and that will offend people, it will also bring about martyrdom for some but there's no other offer on the table at least put there by Christ. That's it, you know. It's sad and tragic, but I think the most tragic thing about it is it being unnecessary. Yeah, yeah, no, completely, completely. I just want to leave our viewers with two uplifting things. Yeah, no, go on, throw it in, Benny. I forgot, I forgot, I forgot, I forgot that we had, we had these two things to come. But I'm just gonna let our viewers watch it and at least it leaves them with a smile. I think it's important to use humour and satire when you look at the world or else it could be quite depressing. Oh hang on, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This video is not satire, it's truth, Peter. Ha ha ha! Well, let's play this. Babylon Bee, I absolutely love Babylon Bee, and I actually did look at, regularly looked at Babylon Bee, but actually ended up just looking at the headlines, and then someone pulled me up on it, and I started going through the articles, and I thought, this is just better than ever. So this is one of Babylon Bee's videos, and I will let it speak for itself.... (video plays) Being a man is pretty great. It's way better than the alternative. To clearly demonstrate why being a man is so great, the Babylon Bee presents the following list. The world is your urinal. Being well standing up comes in handy when you're in a hurry or going to the bathroom somewhere where you shouldn't be. You have a brain that's three times the size of a woman's. It's science. It's culturally acceptable for you to roll up tobacco leaves into a big cylinder, light it on fire and stick it in your mouth. You can have an entire conversation with your best friend just by saying what's up bro? What's up That bad, huh? Take one of these. Your facial hair is considered attractive. Forget to shave for a couple of days and suddenly you go from a six to a solid eight. Your extensive knowledge of all subjects allows you to graciously explain things to women. You're welcome. You can wear the same shirt for thirty-eight years. You don't have to be a slave to fashion when you have the perfect T-shirt for every occasion. You make more money than a woman for doing the same job. Being a man comes with an automatic pay raise. Huh. Payday. You are biblically allowed to speak in church. Plus, your wife has to do everything you say all the time. Pretty sure it's in the Bible somewhere. You have a reduced chance of Joe Biden sniffing you. Not zero chance, unfortunately. So be careful. Only men are allowed to be president. No glass ceiling here. If you want, you can be the world's strongest woman. Get it, girl? Yeah, being a man's pretty great. If you can think of any other ways that being a man is awesome, leave them in the comments down below so I can not read them. Because I'm a man. Exercise your God-given right to be a man and get 10 Mui Macho top-rated premium cigars from Oliva for $19.99. We will. Absolutely brilliant. I absolutely love that. Go on, what are your thoughts on it? Well, it's one word. It's one word to the whole thing, fact. It's so good. It is Babylon Bee, I heard Seth Dillon speak at a conference I went to in Miami in February, and he just blew the whole conference event away. Actually, phenomenal what he's doing, love it. And if I could just leave our viewers with one picture, and this is this, a climatard. You may not have come across it, but a climatard is a person that believes that climate can be changed by paying a CO tax to the government. Don't believe it, it is nonsense. Ben, I appreciate you coming along always. Love chatting with you. Thank you so much for your time this evening. Thanks, Peter. It's a great honour to be invited back. I'm gonna go off now and smoke a cigar. I feel like doing the same. To our viewers and listeners, thank you so much for tuning in, whether you're watching on any of the platforms or watching later on BitChute Odysee or listening on Podbean around the podcasting apps, listening on the go. Thank you so much for being part of the conversation. And on Monday, we have, I'm just looking at my list, Tina Ramirez, who is standing in the Virginia Senate. I met her last year, absolutely phenomenal individual, what she's done for religious freedom, liberty, all around the world for decades. And she is standing, bringing her wealth of knowledge to the Senate there in Virginia. So tune in on Monday for her thoughts on a range of issues and what she is passionate about and why she is standing there in the State Senate in Virginia. But I wish you all a wonderful rest of your Saturday evening. Have a wonderful Sunday. I will be back with you on Monday. So thank you and good evening to you all.
Welcome to the third episode of season 1 of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, a podcast about the people who work in this field. This episode is an interview with Professor Liona Poon. We talked about her route into fetal medicine and research, the joys and challenges of the specialty, fetal medicine training and practice in Hong Kong compared with the UK, and her top tips, among other topics. See below for a more detailed biography. We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information. Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com. Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie. Prof Liona Poon is the Chairperson and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and an Academic Subspecialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China, and Visiting Professor at Department Women and Children's Health, King's College London, London, UK. She is devoted in improving maternal and fetal health. She has had a prolific research output throughout her clinical and research posts, including >250 peer-reviewed publications in high impact international journals (H-index 60). In the last 18 years she has focused her research on establishing a programme for effective early prediction and prevention of preeclampsia, a major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. With her success in developing a first-trimester prediction model for preeclampsia using maternal risk factors, ultrasound, blood pressure and biochemical markers, and on Aspirin prophylaxis against preeclampsia, her goal in the next 10 years is to improve obstetrics and gynaecological care worldwide, through clinical research, education and advocacy.Present appointments:• Chairperson and Clinical Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,The Chinese University of Hong Kong• Visiting Professor, Department of Women and Children's Health, King's CollegeLondonExternal research commitments:• Honorary Secretary, International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics andGynecology• Trustee, International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology• Editor, Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology• Vice-Chair of FIGO Committee on Impact of Pregnancy on Long-term Health• Founding Board Member, The International Foundation for "Maternal,Periconceptional and Peri-Neonatal Medicine"• Committee Member, European Association for the Study of the Liver, ClinicalPractice Guidelines on Liver Disease and Pregnancy• Deputy Chairperson, Chinese Academy of Maternal Fetal Medicine• Editorial Board member, Fetal Diagnosis Therapy
Today I will be speaking with Neal Shasore, the chief executive and head of school at The London School of Architecture, an Honorary Secretary and Trustee of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB) , Trustee of the Twentieth Century Society, Trustee of the Architectural Heritage Fund and an Academic specializing in interwar British architecture, civic centers and public space and he also world leading expert on the history and evolution of the profession - I saw him speak at the RIBA tour years ago. Neal previously worked at the RIBA, the University of Westminster, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Oxford. He is particularly passionate about diversifying architectural education, heritage and practice. An architectural historian by training, his research and writing has primarily focussed on architectural culture in Britain and the Empire in the first half of the twentieth century and this critical perspective informs his own pedagogy and practice. In today's episode we will be discussing: The possible futures of Built Environment education Part Zero and Part Four the new educational initiatives from the LSA Neal's New book and diversity and inclusion in the profession and how business and practice education is key part of this To learn more about Neal visit his: Website: https://www.the-lsa.org/people/neal-shasore/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neal-shasore-306660b7/?originalSubdomain=uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/n_shasore?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Check out his new book: https://www.ribabooks.com/designs-on-democracy-architecture-and-the-public-in-interwar-london_9780192849724# ► Feedback? Email us at podcast@businessofarchitecture.com ► Access your free training at http://SmartPracticeMethod.com/ ► If you want to speak directly to our advisors, book a call at https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/call ► Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for updates: https://www.youtube.com/c/BusinessofArchitecture ******* For more free tools and resources for running a profitable, impactful, and fulfilling practice, connect with me on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessofarchitecture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enoch.sears/ Website: https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BusinessofArch Podcast: http://www.businessofarchitecture.com/podcast iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-architecture-podcast/id588987926 Android Podcast Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BusinessofArchitecture-podcast Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9idXNpbmVzc29mYXJjaGl0ZWN0dXJlLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz ******* Access the FREE Architecture Firm Profit Map video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Download the FREE Architecture Firm Marketing Process Flowchart video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Carpe Diem!
Ben Harnwell, International Editor of 'Bannon's War Room' and host of 'War Room: Rome' returns to Hearts of Oak to give us his analysis of the past weeks doom and gloom in the news, articles and from his social media, and there is plenty to get stuck into including... - The funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. - Vote for House Majority leader in Congress, McCarthy finally becomes speaker after 15th ballot. - Matt Gaetz voting for President Donald J. Trump is proof 2023 is going to be a year of change and standing up to the left. - Broken Britain: Paramedics told to drop patients at A&E even if no beds are available. - Critics say a new media law signed by Zelensky could restrict press freedom in Ukraine. - Biden administration announces nearly $4B in new military aid for Ukraine. - RFK Jr: "Your chance of dying of a heart attack from that vaccine, according to their own studies, is 500% greater than if you're unvaccinated" - Covid in China: Wave of celebrity deaths sparks doubt over actual toll. - Andrew Tate and his arrest as part of rape and human trafficking probe in Romania. In the two years between December 2006 and December 2008, Benjamin Harnwell was engaged in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity, consulting widely with various experts around the world. This work was drawn to a conclusion on 8 December 2008, when (with Gay Mitchell MEP) he founded the European Parliament's Working Group on Human Dignity (of which he remains Honorary Secretary); and on the same date, simultaneously established (with Nirj Deva MEP) the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (of which he is Director). The Working Group was publicly launched on 25 March 2009 by European Parliament Speaker Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP (now a Patron of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute). The DHI has since been engaged in launching parallel parliamentary working groups on human dignity in various legislatures around the world, all based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity. Ben was the Chief of Staff to Nirj Deva MEP until the end of 2010, since which point he is now based permanently in Rome, directing the development of the DHI. When involved in politics, he was an active member of the British Conservative Party for over 15 years. Benjamin identifies himself philosophically as an Austro-libertarian, co-founding (with Vincent de Roeck) the European Parliament's Mises Circle, which exists to promote greater recognition of the Austrian School of Economics; he also co-founded the international Right Approach Group (with Patrick Barron), to explore free-market solutions to contemporary problems. In 2002 and 2004, Ben was seconded to Colombo as Special Advisor to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. H.E. Mons. Sánchez Sorondo, Bishop Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences, appointed Ben External Counsellor in 2016. Since February 2018 Harnwell, as director of the DHI, is also the director of the Abbey of Trisulti, founded in AD 1204 and National Monument of Italy since 1873. From October 2021 to date Ben serves as international editor at “Steve Bannon's War Room” and host of "War Room: Rome" on the number 1 ranked US political podcast. Join Ben for his daily analysis on “Steve Bannon's War Room” and on Monday-Thursday hosting 'War Room: Rome' live on GETTR and Rumble https://warroom.org/ Follow Ben on..... GETTR https://gettr.com/user/harnwell TWITTER https://twitter.com/ben_harnwell?s=20&t=lyY0pPen6Hs7_y2SxnAX4g Originally broadcast live 7.1.23 *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video, livestreaming platforms.... https://heartsofoak.org/ Please like, subscribe & share! Links to stories discussed.... Funeral of Pope Benedict XVI https://gettr.com/post/p23zxwwbc78 Vote for House Majority leader in Congress https://gettr.com/post/p245q0863a1 2023 is going to be a year of change https://twitter.com/ThisIsKyleR/status/1611491771044823042?s=20&t=jNVRib7kFukecHFTtjTD4g NHS Paramedics https://archive.ph/2023.01.04-080011/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/drop-patients-at-a-e-even-if-no-beds-paramedics-told-3tn0t7wx2 Ukraine https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/30/world/europe/zelensky-journalism-law-free-speech.html Biden Ukraine https://thehill.com/policy/international/3802714-biden-administration-announces-nearly-4b-in-new-military-aid-for-ukraine/ Covid RFK Jr https://twitter.com/wolsned/status/1610179412976193537?s=20&t=nCFT34fgSdvnV1qs5Nwi5g China Covid https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/06/china-covid-wave-of-celebrity-deaths-sparks-concern-over-actual-death-toll Andrew Tate https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11585701/Why-self-declared-trillionaire-Andrew-Tate-living-600-000-compound-Romania.html
This episode for Black History Month 2022 is hosted and presented by members of our Black History Month steering group GPs. They explore lived challenges, expectations and successes experienced. They consider how we can we dispel myths and misconceptions about this career path for young Black males and what we hope to see in the future. Guests Dr Michael Ajeleti @DrAjeleti Dr Ajeleti graduated from Kingston University with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science. After his degree, he worked as a science teacher in Blackheath Bluecoat C of E School and later became deputy of the department. Dr Ajeleti undertook his teacher training at Canterbury Christ Church University, obtaining Qualified Teacher Status. He received the grade ‘outstanding' for his role as a teacher, and Ofsted recognised this. During this time, he was still determined to pursue a career in medicine, graduating from the Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. Dr Ajeleti graduated at the top of his class and is currently a GP trainee in Kent, Surrey & Sussex deanery. Raised in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Dr Ajeleti has made it his duty to encourage young people to get involved in medicine and other healthcare professions. As the co-founder of Modern Day Medics, he aims to help prospective medical students from BME backgrounds to reach their full potential Dr Shamarah Mathurin-Charles (Host) @doctorsham_ Dr Abdul Zubairu @DrAbdulZubairu Abdul Zubairu is an NHS GP partner at a practice in Merseyside. He is Honorary Secretary for Mersey RCGP Faculty and is the Equality and Diversity lead. He is also the Medical Director for the local GP Federation. Abdul has a role for the GMC setting questions for the PLAB exam. Abdul is also a qualified coach and enjoys coaching other Individuals to develop and reach their potential on areas such as conflict, resilience, teamwork and leadership. Modern Day Medics Modern Day Medics is a non-profit organisation run by a group of diverse medical students and junior doctors with a united passion to help prospective BME students achieve their medical school aspirations and provide a network for current medical students and junior doctors. Modern Day Medics aims to support and encourage all BME students wishing to study a medical degree and to aid them through this journey. They also aim to improve networking amongst current BME doctors and provide the support needed to succeed through medical school. Instagram: moderndaymedics Facebook: M.D. Medics Twitter: @MDMedics Linkedln: Modern Day Medics Email: info@moderndaymedics.com RCGP mentoring scheme RCGP Black History Month 2022 programme of activities Please note that the views expressed in these conversations are that of RCGP members and may not represent RCGP views or policy.
Welcome to "The Week According To . . .", where we take a meander through some of the news, articles and stories that have piqued our interest or made our blood boil this week and we are excited to welcome a brand new guest, the host of 'WarRoom: Rome' and international editor of Steve Bannon's 'WarRoom', the number 1 ranked US political podcast. Plenty to get stuck into as we hear Ben's thoughts on..... - Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's U-turn on plans to scrap 45p tax rate. - Winter is Coming: 'All eventualities planned for' on energy this winter, says government which 'does not expect blackouts'. - Victory was sweet for Italy's incoming right-wing leader but 7 nightmares are in the making for Italy's Giorgia Meloni. - Meloni furious after France vows to monitor rule of law. - Pull the udder one! Ugandan president apologizes for general son who offered 100 cows to marry Giorgia Meloni. - Pretender in Chief Biden is still not at all popular among the public and we can't think why!! - Claims that the Democrats are operating a series of 51 'fake news' websites pushing left-wing stories in a bid to turn the midterms in their favour. - Teacher sent to prison because he would not call 'a boy a girl' spends his first night in custody isolated from general prison population. - Campaigner, friend and regular on Hearts of Oak, Caroline Farrow is deprived of her liberty in an 'unnecessary and undignified way' as she is arrested in front of her traumatised children. - Top robot companies pledge not to add weapons to their tech to avoid harm risk. - Is it a bird? Is it a plane? ... No, it's a PfizerMan! US pharma giant partners with Marvel to create comic that urges children to get their Covid vaccine and be an 'everyday hero'. In the two years between December 2006 and December 2008, Benjamin Harnwell was engaged in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity, consulting widely with various experts around the world. This work was drawn to a conclusion on 8 December 2008, when (with Gay Mitchell MEP) he founded the European Parliament's Working Group on Human Dignity (of which he remains Honorary Secretary); and on the same date, simultaneously established (with Nirj Deva MEP) the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (of which he is Director). The Working Group was publicly launched on 25 March 2009 by European Parliament Speaker Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP (now a Patron of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute). The DHI has since been engaged in launching parallel parliamentary working groups on human dignity in various legislatures around the world, all based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Dignity. Ben was the Chief of Staff to Nirj Deva MEP until the end of 2010, since which point he is now based permanently in Rome, directing the development of the DHI. When involved in politics, he was an active member of the British Conservative Party for over 15 years. Benjamin identifies himself philosophically as an Austro-libertarian, co-founding (with Vincent de Roeck) the European Parliament's Mises Circle, which exists to promote greater recognition of the Austrian School of Economics; he also co-founded the international Right Approach Group (with Patrick Barron), to explore free-market solutions to contemporary problems. In 2002 and 2004, Ben was seconded to Colombo as Special Advisor to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. H.E. Mons. Sánchez Sorondo, Bishop Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences, appointed Ben External Counsellor in 2016. Since February 2018 Harnwell, as director of the DHI, is also the director of the Abbey of Trisulti, founded in AD 1204 and National Monument of Italy since 1873. From October 2021 to date Ben serves as international editor at “Steve Bannon's WarRoom” and host of "WarRoom: Rome" on the number 1 ranked US political podcast. Join Ben for his daily analysis on “Steve Bannon's War Room” and on Monday-Thursday hosting 'WarRoom: Rome' live on GETTR and Rumble https://warroom.org/ Follow Ben on..... GETTR https://gettr.com/user/harnwell TWITTER https://twitter.com/ben_harnwell?s=20&t=lyY0pPen6Hs7_y2SxnAX4g Originally broadcast live 8.10.22 *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video, livestreaming platforms and more go to https://heartsofoak.org/ Please like, subscribe & share! Links to stories discussed U-turn on tax rate https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63114279 Energy this winter https://news.sky.com/video/all-eventualities-planned-for-on-energy-this-winter-says-government-which-does-not-expect-blackouts-12714327 7 nightmares for Meloni https://www.politico.eu/article/7-nightmares-in-the-making-for-italys-giorgia-meloni/ Meloni furious https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-giorgia-meloni-france-rule-of-law-laurence-boone/ 100 cows to marry Giorgia Meloni https://www.politico.eu/article/uganda-president-apologize-general-son-offer-100-cow-marry-giorgia-meloni/ Joe Biden unpopular https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/07/politics/biden-unpopular-cnn-poll/index.html Democrats 'fake news' websites https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11293487/Democrats-operating-series-51-fake-news-sites-pushing-left-wing-stories-toss-states.html Teacher in Prison https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/teacher-enoch-burke-spent-his-first-night-in-custody-isolated-from-general-prison-population-41960828.html Caroline Farrow https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11279745/Devout-Catholic-mother-arrested-series-malicious-posts-uploaded-chat-forum-KiwiFarms.html Robot companies https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/07/killer-robots-companies-pledge-no-weapons Pfizer-Man https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11287305/Your-friendly-neighborhood-PFIZER-MAN-pharma-giant-partners-Marvel.html
“This is absolutely the wrong question. The first thing you should be doing is deciding what your purpose is on LinkedIn, because your purpose educates everything else that you do on the platform.” Lavinia's Top Five Tips to Rock LinkedIn1. Maximise the big 3 (name, headline, photo) for SEO2. Use current keywords in your about section 3. LinkedIn values conversation over content so everyone needs to have a good comment strategy4. Use & follow hashtags5. 5 Key elements of LinkedIn Content TIME STAMP SUMMARY00:41 The benefits of using search engine optimization09:17 Being viral shouldn't be the goal13:28 Hello Hashtags actually work!19:18 Purpose over numbers Where to find LaviniaWebsite http://www.laviniathanapathy.com/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/laviniathanapathy Who is Lavinia ThanapathyLavinia is a sought-after motivational speaker and media commentator on change leadership, public speaking and overcoming imposter syndrome.With Covid-19 shaking up businesses around the world, Lavinia's “Embrace the Crazy” Keynote and TEDx is helping people in organisations around the world to develop habits to turn resistance to resilience. She was named one of LinkedIn's Top Voices 2020 for her thought leadership on change during the Corona Pandemic.A lawyer by training and a branding expert by profession, Lavinia is the co-editor and co-author of the bestseller “Unleash Your Voice: Powerful Public Speaking for Every Woman.” Her “Unleash” Keynote helps to unlock the internal barriers that prevent people from achieving their full potential.Lavinia has served with distinction on several non-profit Boards. She was a three-term President at PrimeTime Business & Professional Women's Association and has served as Honorary Secretary at HCA Hospice Care. She is the founding chair for Inspiring Girls in Singapore and regularly also speaks on topics around raising girls. She most recently stepped down as Vice President at the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) where she represented Singapore on the world stage at ASEAN and APEC meetings. She has received numerous awards for her work on creating an equal future.Originally from Singapore, educated in Australia and the UK, she is currently based in Berlin, Germany. Lavinia is married to a senior German diplomat, and together they have 5 children ranging in ages from 10 to 30.Lavinia embodies the power of Embracing the Crazy!
We speak to Ronald Lim, a Singapore-based architect who is co-chief Editor, the Singapore Architect magazine and Honorary Secretary, Royal Institute of British Architects - Singapore Chapter on how the architecture profession has evolved and whether 'Star-chitects' is an asset or liability to the profession
Clonmel Rugby Football Club male voice choir will have an open-air Concert - A Summers Night of Song on the 22nd Of July. Fran was joined by Musical Director Joe Sheehan, Tom Fennessy, Honorary Secretary of the Club and Mark Small – Choir member & retired rugby referee.
This week's episode is packed full of wisdom as we are joined by the wonderful Dame Clare Gerada and Professor Sir Simon Wessley. Clare is a GP and the current President of the Royal College of General Practitioners. She's also a past Honorary Secretary of the Medical Women's Federation. Simon is a psychiatrist and Past President of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He was the first man to become an honorary member of the Medical Women's Federation for being a great ally. Between them they have held a lot of leadership roles we can learn from. Oh and they happen to be married to each other! Books mentioned on the podcast: Beneath the white coat: doctors, their minds and mental health edited by Clare Gerada A New International History of the Spanish Civil War by Michael Alpert Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust by Allan Zullo Follow the Medical Women's Federation on social media: Website: Click here to join the Medical Women's Federation or sign up to our free newsletter Twitter: @medicalwomenuk Instagram: @medicalwomenuk Facebook: MedWomen Back by popular request, you can find the reflective worksheet for this episode here. For any enquires about the Medical Women's Federation, email admin@medicalwomensfederation.org.uk To get in touch about the podcast, email medicalwomenpodcast@gmail.com This podcast is produced on behalf of the Medical Women's Federation by Dr Nuthana Bhayankaram & Ms Jenna MacKenzie. Our music is composed and played by Miss Kethaki Bhayankaram. Our cover art and social media posters are designed by Ms Danielle Nwadinobi.
The Totally Indian Football Show by Humans of Indian Football
Mizoram Football Association’s Honorary Secretary & Executive Committee Member of AIFF - Tetea Hmar joins host Siju to discuss all things Mizo football. This episode especially covers how the pandemic/lockdown affected football in Mizoram and how slowly they are trying to get back. Hailed as the father of Mizo football, Tetea is once again stepping up and taking the responsibility to revive football in the state.
The Totally Indian Football Show by Humans of Indian Football
Mizoram Football Association’s Honorary Secretary & Executive Committee Member of AIFF - Tetea Hmar joins host Siju to discuss all things Mizo football. This episode especially covers how the pandemic/lockdown affected football in Mizoram and how slowly they are trying to get back. Hailed as the father of Mizo football, Tetea is once again stepping up and taking the responsibility to revive football in the state.
Brian is in Dubai on (arbitration) business and we are all amazed that things are returning to normal, at least for the time being. Saadia opens up the episode with a much-overdue segment on burden of proof/standard of proof [TIME 10:37]. We then speak to James Clanchy, independent arbitrator and Honorary Secretary of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association, about maritime arbitration [TIME 34:43]. This week's Happy Fun Time [TIME 01:10:58] is about post-pandemic networking - what has changed?
Lavinia Thanapathy is a sought-after motivational speaker and media commentator on change leadership, public speaking and overcoming imposter syndrome. With Covid-19 shaking up businesses around the world, Lavinia's “Embrace the Crazy” Keynote and TEDx is helping people in organisations around the world to develop habits to turn resistance to resilience. She was named one of LinkedIn's Top Voices 2020 for her thought leadership on change during the Corona Pandemic. A lawyer by training and a branding expert by profession, Lavinia is the co-editor and co-author of the bestseller “Unleash Your Voice: Powerful Public Speaking for Every Woman.” Her “Unleash” Keynote helps to unlock the internal barriers that prevent people from achieving their full potential. Lavinia has served with distinction on several non-profit Boards. She was a three-term President at PrimeTime Business & Professional Women's Association and has served as Honorary Secretary at HCA Hospice Care. She is the founding chair for Inspiring Girls in Singapore and regularly also speaks on topics around raising girls. She most recently stepped down as Vice President at the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) where she represented Singapore on the world stage at ASEAN and APEC meetings. She has received numerous awards for her work on creating an equal future. Originally from Singapore, educated in Australia and the UK, she is currently based in Berlin, Germany. Lavinia is married to a senior German diplomat, and together they have 5 children ranging in ages from 10 to 30. Lavinia embodies the power of Embracing the Crazy! Listen to this episode to learn Personal Branding & Building Sustainability with Lavinia Thanapathy. Join the Pinterest & SEO Marketing club on Clubhouse today using this link here. Join the Pinterest & SEO Marketing Facebook Group to join the LIVE! sessions here. Podcast Premium for the full episode: https://wedontplay.supercast.tech Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/wedontplay Podcast+ Premium features coming soon. Excited for this new season! This is going to be veryyyyyy different. Stoked to connect with you soon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wedontplay/message
Gerontologist Dr. Paul Nash explains the latest research and the truth on ageism, discrimination and stereotypes experienced by older adults around the world. He exposes the challenges as well as opportunities an older population may face throughout the years. Now let me introduce my favorite professor…Dr. Paul Nash from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology where I am currently studying for my Masters of Gerontology. I am halfway through this program and honestly, the course I took on the Mind Body Connection with Dr. Nash was THE most fascinating and practical for me yet. Today we are going to discuss the topics from his book “Critical Questions for Ageing Societies” such as ageism, intersectionality, intergenerational conflict and the discrimination and prejudices against older adults. And we get to learn why positive attitudes to aging may help us live up to 7 years longer! Originally from the UK, Dr. Nash has a PhD in psychology and for the past 3 years is an instructional associate professor at USC. Before he came to USC, he ran the Masters of Science in Ageing Studies program at Swansea University and taught masters and PhD students. Swansea University is famous for their Centre for Innovative Ageing (CIA), which is THE largest gerontology research centre in Wales and one of the largest in the UK. Dr Nash has coordinated national research projects in Wales, working with private and public organizations and older people to create publications and reports to influence government policy. He has held several leadership positions in the UK including being the Honorary Secretary for the British Society of Gerontology and working with the World Health Organization on ageism. He has been appointed to the Global Social Initiatives on Ageing taskforce for the International Association of Gerontology & Geriatrics. He is partnering with several non-profit organizations on his research into HIV and ageing as well as ageism and intergenerational contact. Dr. Nash is now bringing all his work into practice with his current position as a Commissioner on the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV. DISCLAIMER: All opinions aired are those of Dr Nash personally and do not represent the views held or expressed by the University of Southern California, The Los Angeles County Commission on HIV or their affiliates. Contact Dr. Paul Nash Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulnash84?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.nash.7543653 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-nash-03676564 Email: pnash@usc.edu Book: Critical Questions for Ageing Societies – Bristol University Press website Join the Hack My Age community on: Facebook : http://facebook.com/hackmyage Instagram: http://instagram.com/hackmyage Website: http://www.hackmyage.com Clubhouse: @hackmyage (Club: Biohacking Women 50+) Hack My Age VIP Group: http://patreon.com/hackmyage Email: zora@hackmyage.com Newsletter: http://www.hackmyage.com/newsletter This podcast is edited by jonathanjk.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hackmyage/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/hackmyage/support
According to the General Insurance Association (GIA) annual report, Singapore's general insurance sector recorded mostly flat growth for 2020, with a 0.2 percent decrease. Ronak Shah, Honorary Secretary, General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA), shares more about how consumer needs have shifted for the general insurance sector due to Covid-19, the rise of cyber insurance, and how to combat cyber risks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Megan fell in love with magic aged five when she was given her first magic set and has been performing magic ever since. She loves entertaining people, watching their faces light up in awe and wonder and hearing gasps of astonishment as she performs her spellbinding routines. She learned much of her craft at the Young Magician's Club, a youth initiative of The Magic Circle. Being taught by some of the world's best magicians from such an early age gave Megan a really strong foundation in both technical and presentation skills, and she has since continued her training with professional magicians from around the world. Megan has been a very proud member of The Magic Circle since the age of 18. She has since been promoted to Member of The inner Magic Circle with Gold Star, the highest degree a member of the society can achieve. In 2014, she became the first woman and youngest ever person to be elected as an officer of the society, one of the top five roles running the prestigious organisation. After serving five years as Honorary Secretary, Megan was honoured to be elected as Vice-President in 2019, making history once again. Megan has won several awards for her performances. In September 2018, she won the International Brotherhood of Magicians' British Ring Stage competition, and was also awarded the Conventioneers Trophy for originality, recognising the creativity she shows in her magic. Megan is especially proud of the magic society she co-founded and ran at university. As President, her passion and dedication to magic led the society to being acknowledged as one of the best on campus, and several students went on to become Members of The Magic Circle themselves.
Amanda is the founder and art therapist at Art for Good, a social enterprise which uses art to create good. She also works as an art therapist with the charity The Red Pencil and is an adjunct lecturer at the School of Positive Psychology.She currently sits on the Board of Directors as the Honorary Secretary of Rare Disorders Society of Singapore. Amanda has worked with many other social enterprises and charity organisations like Children's Wishing Well, Center Pottery, Social Creatives and Jesuit Refugee Service Singapore, just to name a few.Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/2Vf8vv8⠀Spotify: https://buff.ly/2Vf8uHA⠀Google Podcasts:https://buff.ly/2Vds6LX⠀....-Original music credit: Rish Sharma.His music is available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other streaming platforms. -Audio post production at HNM Studios New Delhi India.-October2019 voicesandmore Pte Ltd All rights reserved See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
We're chatting to John Chitty, the director of a small animal/exotics practice in Hampshire. We discuss John and Julians shared love of old books, giving the snip to tortoises and sugar gliders, ferret husbandry and the difficulties, but also benefits of working through the pandemic as a veterinarian.Also, we want to give a quick shout out to a charity which John is the Trustee and Honorary Secretary of called Vetlife. They provide emotional, financial and mental health support to the veterinary community, check them out at www.vetlife.org.uk.
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed his love of coffee and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate on to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakunga's father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organisation that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelt out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. Like any natural product, each coffee bean is different - some bigger, some smaller, some longer, some rounder...that's lead coffee buyers many years ago to begin separating the coffee by the size of the bean. Throughout the world, this is done by screens - like a stack of flat colanders, with each layer having slightly smaller holes in it than the layer above. Whatever the smallest size a bean passes through, that’s it’s size. In most places, they’re named by 1/64th inch - so a screen 18+ means all the beans are 18/64th of an inch or bigger. Simple, right? Well...in Kenya they use the same screens, but give them different names. An “AA” is screen 17 and 18, an “AB” is screen 16 and 15 and anything smaller (but still a whole bean) is a “C”. There’s one more class you might have tried - “PB” or Peaberry. That’s a bit different again, but it’s usually separated from the other beans because the round cross-section of a peaberry lets it pass through the holes of a screen easily. This year we will have the AA, AB, C and Peaberry from Kiriga this year - so big beans, medium beans, little beans and even littler beans! Traditionally, the AA has got the highest prices (they’re about 15-20% of the crop), with AB being a bit cheaper and C going into commodity coffee. However, Brian from Kiriga sent us his C to try the year before last for the first time and we were wow-ed - it’s really sweet and nice - so we began buying it and are super excited to have it again for another year. The Peaberry has previously been included in with the C, due to the similar size and smaller harvests, however this year the two have been separated out and there's enough of it to stand alone! All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at coffee auctions and via indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality as a result. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding it helpful because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). This is rather like warm blackcurrant cordial, with just a hint of green apple alongside. There’s fruit sweetness throughout, but on the aftertaste that sweetness shifts darker into treacle toffee, so you have a bright but well-balanced cup. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietals: SL28 AA & Ruiru 11 AA Processing method: Washed CUPPING NOTES Blackcurrant cordial, green apple, treacle toffee Clean cup: (1–8): 7 Sweetness: (1–8): 6.5 Acidity: (1–8): 7 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6 Flavour: (1–8): 6.5 Aftertaste: (1–8): 6 Balance: (1–8): 6 Overall: (1–8): 7 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max. 100): 88 Roast Information Medium - keep it quick to highlight the acidity, taking it through the gap and pushing towards the edge of second, but don't let it get going.
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed his love of coffee and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate on to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakunga's father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organisation that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelt out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. Like any natural product, each coffee bean is different - some bigger, some smaller, some longer, some rounder...that's lead coffee buyers many years ago to begin separating the coffee by the size of the bean. Throughout the world, this is done by screens - like a stack of flat colanders, with each layer having slightly smaller holes in it than the layer above. Whatever the smallest size a bean passes through, that's it's size. In most places, they're named by 1/64th inch - so a screen 18+ means all the beans are 18/64th of an inch or bigger. Simple, right? Well...in Kenya they use the same screens, but give them different names. An “AA” is screen 17 and 18, an “AB” is screen 16 and 15 and anything smaller (but still a whole bean) is a “C”. There's one more class you might have tried - “PB” or Peaberry. That's a bit different again, but it's usually separated from the other beans because the round cross-section of a peaberry lets it pass through the holes of a screen easily. This year we will have the AA, AB, C and Peaberry from Kiriga this year - so big beans, medium beans, little beans and even littler beans! Traditionally, the AA has got the highest prices (they're about 15-20% of the crop), with AB being a bit cheaper and C going into commodity coffee. However, Brian from Kiriga sent us his C to try the year before last for the first time and we were wow-ed - it's really sweet and nice - so we began buying it and are super excited to have it again for another year. The Peaberry has previously been included in with the C, due to the similar size and smaller harvests, however this year the two have been separated out and there's enough of it to stand alone! All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at coffee auctions and via indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality as a result. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding it helpful because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). This is rather like warm blackcurrant cordial, with just a hint of green apple alongside. There's fruit sweetness throughout, but on the aftertaste that sweetness shifts darker into treacle toffee, so you have a bright but well-balanced cup. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietals: SL28 AA & Ruiru 11 AA Processing method: Washed CUPPING NOTES Blackcurrant cordial, green apple, treacle toffee Clean cup: (1–8): 7 Sweetness: (1–8): 6.5 Acidity: (1–8): 7 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6 Flavour: (1–8): 6.5 Aftertaste: (1–8): 6 Balance: (1–8): 6 Overall: (1–8): 7 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max. 100): 88 Roast Information Medium - keep it quick to highlight the acidity, taking it through the gap and pushing towards the edge of second, but don't let it get going.
About the host: Gaurav Juyal @boktya Education Designer Founding-faculty, Institute of Design (JKLU) Former host of Disney Channel's Art Attack Gaurav Juyal is an education designer with focus on learning through senses. He specialises in Animation Film Design and was trained at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. A Tedx speaker, he is popularly known for his role as the host of Disney channel's television series Art Attack. He has been working around the domain of education and learning for over 10 years and has personally catered to more than 10,000 students in person and 3000 teachers online post-lockdown. He loves knowledge-material play and aims at sharing his rich experience in design and expressive arts to children, youth and adults to mutually learn and evolve. Follow @boktya: https://www.instagram.com/boktya/ About the guest: Vaibhav Kumaresh @vaibhavstudios Founder and Director at Vaibhav Studios, Mumbai Vaibhav Kumaresh is an animation film maker and is currently Founder, Director at Vaibhav Studios, Mumbai. Founded in 2003, the studio has created some of India's favourite animated content in the field of TV commercials and channel promos: the Amaron Battery ad campaign, Chulbuli for Clinic Plus, Buladi's AIDS awareness campaign for the West Bengal government, the Vodafone Zumis, Simpoo the angry sardaar math teacher on Channel [V] and Lamput the globally acclaimed, Emmy nominated micro short series for Cartoon Network to name a few. The studio is currently working on its maiden feature film titled Return of the Jungle. A Fine Arts graduate, Vaibhav studied animation film making at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He is an active committee member of The Animation Society of India (TASI) and is currently the Honorary Secretary of the society. Vaibhav also teaches animation and is a visiting faculty at various animation and design schools across India. Follow @vaibhavstudios: https://www.instagram.com/vaibhavstudios/ Presented by Baatein: Baatein, which translates to ‘a conversation' is the National Institute of Design's unique interactive platform to learn and share. From telling us about your experiences and passions to showcasing what you do; it can be anything you want it to be! Follow @baatein.nid: https://www.instagram.com/baatein.nid/
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed his love of coffee and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate on to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organisation that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelt out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. Like any natural product, each coffee bean is different - some bigger, some smaller, some longer, some rounder...that's lead coffee buyers many years ago to begin separating the coffee by the size of the bean. Throughout the world, this is done by screens - like a stack of flat colanders, with each layer having slightly smaller holes in it than the layer above. Whatever the smallest size a bean passes through, that’s it’s size. In most places, they’re named by 1/64th inch - so a screen 18+ means all the beans are 18/64th of an inch or bigger. Simple, right? Well...in Kenya they use the same screens, but give them different names. An “AA” is screen 17 and 18, an “AB” is screen 16 and 15 and anything smaller (but still a whole bean) is a “C”. There’s one more class you might have tried - “PB” or Peaberry. That’s a bit different again, but it’s usually separated from the other beans because the round cross-section of a peaberry lets it pass through the holes of a screen easily. We have AA, AB and C from Kiriga this year - so big beans, medium beans & little beans! You’ll also find quite a few peaberries in with the C (they didn’t separate them out into a different lot). Traditionally, the AA has got the highest prices (they’re about 15-20% of the crop), with AB being a bit cheaper and C going into commodity coffee. However, Brian from Kiriga sent us his C to try last year for the first time and we were wow-ed - it’s really sweet and nice - so we began buying it and are excited to be able to share it with you again, check it out here. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at coffee auctions and via indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality as a result. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding it helpful because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). A delightful combination of blackberries and apples, this starts with juicy blackberries and blackcurrants. It's all got a sprinkling of soft dark sugar which will come to the fore as it cools, but on the finish and aftertaste is that green apple which balances the dark berries perfectly. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietals: SL28 AA & Ruiru 11 AA Processing method: Washed CUPPING NOTES Blackberry, blackcurrant, brown sugar, green apple Clean cup: (1–8): 6.5 Sweetness: (1–8): 6.5 Acidity: (1–8): 7 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6 Flavour: (1–8): 7 Aftertaste: (1–8): 6.5 Balance: (1–8): 6.5 Overall: (1–8): 7 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max. 100): 89 Roast Information Medium - through first and nicely into the gap, keeping the temperature going up fairly quickly to highlight the vibrant acidity. Finishing the roast just before second crack gets going.
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed his love of coffee and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate on to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organisation that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelt out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. Like any natural product, each coffee bean is different - some bigger, some smaller, some longer, some rounder...that's lead coffee buyers many years ago to begin separating the coffee by the size of the bean. Throughout the world, this is done by screens - like a stack of flat colanders, with each layer having slightly smaller holes in it than the layer above. Whatever the smallest size a bean passes through, that's it's size. In most places, they're named by 1/64th inch - so a screen 18+ means all the beans are 18/64th of an inch or bigger. Simple, right? Well...in Kenya they use the same screens, but give them different names. An “AA” is screen 17 and 18, an “AB” is screen 16 and 15 and anything smaller (but still a whole bean) is a “C”. There's one more class you might have tried - “PB” or Peaberry. That's a bit different again, but it's usually separated from the other beans because the round cross-section of a peaberry lets it pass through the holes of a screen easily. We have AA, AB and C from Kiriga this year - so big beans, medium beans & little beans! You'll also find quite a few peaberries in with the C (they didn't separate them out into a different lot). Traditionally, the AA has got the highest prices (they're about 15-20% of the crop), with AB being a bit cheaper and C going into commodity coffee. However, Brian from Kiriga sent us his C to try last year for the first time and we were wow-ed - it's really sweet and nice - so we began buying it and are excited to be able to share it with you again, check it out here. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at coffee auctions and via indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality as a result. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding it helpful because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). A delightful combination of blackberries and apples, this starts with juicy blackberries and blackcurrants. It's all got a sprinkling of soft dark sugar which will come to the fore as it cools, but on the finish and aftertaste is that green apple which balances the dark berries perfectly. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietals: SL28 AA & Ruiru 11 AA Processing method: Washed CUPPING NOTES Blackberry, blackcurrant, brown sugar, green apple Clean cup: (1–8): 6.5 Sweetness: (1–8): 6.5 Acidity: (1–8): 7 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6 Flavour: (1–8): 7 Aftertaste: (1–8): 6.5 Balance: (1–8): 6.5 Overall: (1–8): 7 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max. 100): 89 Roast Information Medium - through first and nicely into the gap, keeping the temperature going up fairly quickly to highlight the vibrant acidity. Finishing the roast just before second crack gets going.
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed his love of coffee and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate on to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organisation that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelt out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. Like any natural product, each coffee bean is different - some bigger, some smaller, some longer, some rounder...that's lead coffee buyers many years ago to begin separating the coffee by the size of the bean. Throughout the world, this is done by screens - like a stack of flat colanders, with each layer having slightly smaller holes in it than the layer above. Whatever the smallest size a bean passes through, that's it's size. In most places, they're named by 1/64th inch - so a screen 18+ means all the beans are 18/64th of an inch or bigger. Simple, right? Well...in Kenya they use the same screens, but give them different names. An “AA” is screen 17 and 18, an “AB” is screen 16 and 15 and anything smaller (but still a whole bean) is a “C”. There's one more class you might have tried - “PB” or Peaberry. That's a bit different again, but it's usually separated from the other beans because the round cross-section of a peaberry lets it pass through the holes of a screen easily. We have AA, AB and C from Kiriga this year - so big beans, medium beans & little beans! You'll also find quite a few peaberries in with the C (they didn't separate them out into a different lot). Traditionally, the AA has got the highest prices (they're about 15-20% of the crop), with AB being a bit cheaper and C going into commodity coffee. However, Brian from Kiriga sent us his C to try last year for the first time and we were wow-ed - it's really sweet and nice - so we began buying it and are excited to be able to share it with you again, check it out here. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at coffee auctions and via indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality as a result. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding it helpful because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). Starting off with a flash of bright grapefruit, the sweetness quickly comes in and it swings into a big mouthful of blood orange. The fruit flavours shift darker still with blackcurrant, which really fills out the aftertaste. Country: Kenya County: Muranga Constituency: Gatanga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed Varietals: SL28 AB & Ruiru 11 AB CUPPING NOTES Grapefruit, blood orange, blackcurrant Clean cup: (1–8): 6.5 Sweetness: (1–8): 6 Acidity: (1–8): 7 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6 Flavour: (1–8): 7 Aftertaste: (1–8): 7 Balance: (1–8): 6 Overall: (1–8): 7 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max. 100): 88.5 Roast Information Medium - through first and nicely into the gap, keeping the temperature going up fairly quickly to highlight the vibrant acidity. Finishing the roast just before second gets going.
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed his love of coffee and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate on to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organisation that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelt out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. Like any natural product, each coffee bean is different - some bigger, some smaller, some longer, some rounder...that's lead coffee buyers many years ago to begin separating the coffee by the size of the bean. Throughout the world, this is done by screens - like a stack of flat colanders, with each layer having slightly smaller holes in it than the layer above. Whatever the smallest size a bean passes through, that’s it’s size. In most places, they’re named by 1/64th inch - so a screen 18+ means all the beans are 18/64th of an inch or bigger. Simple, right? Well...in Kenya they use the same screens, but give them different names. An “AA” is screen 17 and 18, an “AB” is screen 16 and 15 and anything smaller (but still a whole bean) is a “C”. There’s one more class you might have tried - “PB” or Peaberry. That’s a bit different again, but it’s usually separated from the other beans because the round cross-section of a peaberry lets it pass through the holes of a screen easily. We have AA, AB and C from Kiriga this year - so big beans, medium beans & little beans! You’ll also find quite a few peaberries in with the C (they didn’t separate them out into a different lot). Traditionally, the AA has got the highest prices (they’re about 15-20% of the crop), with AB being a bit cheaper and C going into commodity coffee. However, Brian from Kiriga sent us his C to try last year for the first time and we were wow-ed - it’s really sweet and nice - so we began buying it and are excited to be able to share it with you again, check it out here. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at coffee auctions and via indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality as a result. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding it helpful because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). Starting off with a flash of bright grapefruit, the sweetness quickly comes in and it swings into a big mouthful of blood orange. The fruit flavours shift darker still with blackcurrant, which really fills out the aftertaste. Country: Kenya County: Muranga Constituency: Gatanga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed Varietals: SL28 AB & Ruiru 11 AB CUPPING NOTES Grapefruit, blood orange, blackcurrant Clean cup: (1–8): 6.5 Sweetness: (1–8): 6 Acidity: (1–8): 7 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6 Flavour: (1–8): 7 Aftertaste: (1–8): 7 Balance: (1–8): 6 Overall: (1–8): 7 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max. 100): 88.5 Roast Information Medium - through first and nicely into the gap, keeping the temperature going up fairly quickly to highlight the vibrant acidity. Finishing the roast just before second gets going.
Intensivists are among the key specialists needed in treating COVID-19 patients, especially those who have severe symptoms and require intensive care. But do we have enough intensivists in Malaysia to help us fight this pandemic? And what happens if we don’t? We find out more from consultant intensivist Dr Shanthi Ratnam, who is also the Honorary Secretary of the Malaysian Society of Intensive Care.
Intensivists are among the key specialists needed in treating COVID-19 patients, especially those who have severe symptoms and require intensive care. But do we have enough intensivists in Malaysia to help us fight this pandemic? And what happens if we don’t? We find out more from consultant intensivist Dr Shanthi Ratnam, who is also the Honorary Secretary of the Malaysian Society of Intensive Care.
Lockdown has disrupted life for everyone. But for students revising for exams that have been cancelled for 12 months, it has delayed a vital stage of their professional development. Co-hosts Lee Davies and Gwilym Roberts speak with three student patent attorneys: Carolyn Palmer of Schlich who is Honorary Secretary of the CIPA Informals (an informal association of all trainees and a committee of CIPA); Kevin Rich of Potter Clarkson and Joel Briscoe of HGF. They discuss the frustrations of having a year added to their training and call on the Patent Examination Board to introduce online examinations, in line with many other legal professions. We also learn that Lee's tortoise, Albert Treacle, is trying to mate with an old pair of Crocs™.
Stay home, stay safe.The irony of this philosophy to beat the COVID-19 pandemic isn't lost on domestic abuse survivors the world over, because for them, staying home is hardly staying safe.Last month, the United Nations Women said, and I quote, "As more countries report infection and lockdown, more domestic violence helplines across the world are reporting rising calls for help. It's a perfect storm for controlling, violent behaviour behind closed doors, as confinement is fostering the tension and strain created by security, health, and money worries. End quote.In our home turf, with people's movements being strictly restricted for the last 50 days, helplines numbers are buzzing with reports of mental and physical abuse accentuated by confined living conditions.Between March 23 and April 16, there were 587 distress calls made to the National Commission for Women. This is just the first 24 days of lockdown. According to its Chairman Rekha Sharma, domestic violence cases in India have shot up by almost 50 percent overall during the lockdown. Like the NCW, all NGOs working on women's safety have also reported a spike.Where is India going wrong as country? Does the lockdown lack a gendered approach in tackling what the UN Women termed as a shadow pandemic? And are these helpline numbers enough to address the issue of domestic violence?Producer and Host: Shorbori PurkayasthaGuests: Bharti Sharma, Honorary Secretary for Shakti ShaliniYogendra Yadav, Founder of Swaraj AbhiyanAmbika Tandon, Senior Policy Officer, Centre for Internet and Society(CIS)Mira Swaminathan, Policy Officer, CIS Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang FuzzListen to The Big Story podcast on:Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur
A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Since Taiwan has received a great deal of recognition globally for its successful containment of COVID-19, I've been looking to interview a medical professional about Taiwan's response and handling of the Coronavirus. Special thanks to Dr. Han Mingrong (韓明榮) for his help in connecting me with Dr. Brian Chang who is located in Taipei, Taiwan. I spoke with Dr. Chang about the early steps that Taiwan took to contain the Coronavirus outbreak, and how having dealt with SARS in 2003, the government and the general public in particular was prepared to deal with COVID-19. Note to listeners: my interview with Dr. Chang was pre-recorded. I spoke to him on April 2nd, 2020, which was around the time of the ching ming jie or tomb sweeping weekend in Taiwan. I really appreciate the fact that Dr. Chang took the time out of his busy schedule to speak with me. Right after we spoke, he had planned to travel down to southern Taiwan to observe the tomb sweeping weekend. Dr. Chang is the acting Secretary General of the Taiwan Medical Association and the Honorary Secretary of the World Organization of Family Doctors of the Asia Pacific Region. He is a specialist in family medicine and community medicine. Dr. Chang has been a Director in a public health center for 11 years. Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this episode: How Taiwan is currently dealing with the Coronavirus How Taiwan’s experience with SARS prepared it and its people to deal with COVID-19 What were the earliest steps that Taiwan took to contain the spread of COVID-19 How the government of Taiwan clearly communicated and educated its public about that precautions they needed to take regarding COVID-19 How the public in Taiwan initially reacted when the Coronavirus hit How Taiwan’s government instilled confidence in the people of Taiwan How Taiwan’s government handled the spread of false news and rumors Dr. Chang’s recommendations of when to wear masks How the government created educational videos (public service announcements) to inform the public The biggest challenges for Taiwan currently in containing the spread of COVID-19 Fines enacted by the government of Taiwan for the violation of self-isolation rules What the U.S. can learn from Taiwan’s handling of COVID-19 What kind of aid Taiwan is currently offering to help other nations dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic What is our best hope to develop a vaccine or to find a cure? What medical advice Dr. Chang has for people who are currently under lockdown and trying to stay healthy Related Links: Dr. Brian Chang’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/brianclinic/ An article on how Taiwan has been so successful in managing the Coronavirus written by Brian Bih-Jeng Chang and Tai-Yuan Chiu, Ready for a long fight against the COVID-19 outbreak: an innovative model of tiered primary health care in Taiwan: https://bjgpopen.org/content/early/2020/04/07/bjgpopen20X101068 Taiwan’s CDC website (in Chinese characters): https://www.cdc.gov.tw An example educational video (aka public service announcements) that the government created to inform the public about COVID-19: https://youtu.be/gHc9WcEKWX4
The Corona Virus pandemic effected the Jewish community this week with the closure of the Yeshiva-Beth Rivka Colleges in Melbourne following the testing positive for the virus a teacher at the schools who recently returned from Los Angeles with his children, also students at the college.A number of annual events held in the Jewish Communities in Australia, such as the In One Voice Festival in Melbourne, the March of the Living to Poland and Israel were cancelled and delegations due to visit Israel, including by the Premier on NSW Gladys Berejiklian, have been postponed because of the dangers of the Corona Virus pandemicMalka Leifer’s alleged victims hope they are “one step closer” to justice after a Jerusalem court judge decided not to allow any more defence witnesses to cross-examine a psychiatric panel who assessed Leifer’s mental state.Approximately $7.3 million is alleged to have been defrauded from Sydney’s Moriah College through various means by its former financial controller Augustine “Gus” Nosti over a 14-year period, a sum that is being pursued for recovery from the accused and his family by the college’s management in the Supreme Court of NSW.In sad news for the Yiddish Melbourne community, the last of a small band of published Australian Yiddish immigrant writers, Moishe Ajzenbud e”h, passed away in Melbourne last week at the age of 99 plus years. Aside from several books published in Yiddish and in English translation, Ajzenbud was also a very active member of the Yiddish speaking community and among other involvements served as the President and Honorary Secretary of the Kadimah and first Hon Sec of the Jewish Holocaust Centre. He founded and edited the Kadimah’s Melburner Bletter Yiddish journal, presented a long running Yiddish program on Radio 3ZZZ, was an active, leading member of the Bund and chronicled its first 60 years in Melbourne and he was a Yiddish a teacher and principal at the Sholem Aleichem Sunday School. Koved zayn ondenk – Vale Moshe Ajzenbud.Announcements: IN ONE VOICE Festival: Sunday March 15, 11am-5pm, Selwyn St, Elsternwick, Melbourne has been CANCELLED…!!!
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed his love of coffee and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate on to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organisation that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelt out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at coffee auctions and via indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality as a result. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'. It's a big family that includes up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! Thirty percent of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate. Fifty percent of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily – past other estates – just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past, the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', Brian encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding it helpful, because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015, I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen.
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed his love of coffee and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate on to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organisation that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelt out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at coffee auctions and via indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality as a result. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'. It's a big family that includes up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! Thirty percent of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate. Fifty percent of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily – past other estates – just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past, the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', Brian encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding it helpful, because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015, I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen.
Hello Everyone and Welcome to this latest episode of the podcast. This week I am grateful to be joined once again by Ms. Fiona Watt of the Society of British Theater Designers. Ms. Watt originally trained with the Motley Theatre Design Course in London. She is a freelance scenographer who enjoys exploring the relationship between existing architecture and the performance space, unlocking the hidden dynamics within traditional and non-traditional theatre spaces to find the strongest points of exchange between performer and audience. Fiona is Honorary Secretary of the Society of British Theatre Designers and UK Performance Design Commissioner for OISTAT (International Association of Scenographers Theatre Architects and Technicians). In the last year she has helped organize, curate and open the Staging Places Exhibition. Its first incarnation was presented at the 2019 PQ. In July, the exhibition was installed and presented in its full form at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. The exhibition is slated to remain there until the end of March 2020. To learn more about the exhibit, you can visit the Staging Places website at stagingplaces.co.uk or go directly to the Victoria and Albert Museum site for information. Be sure to check out: http://www.theatredesign.org.uk/ - Society of British Theater Designers http://www.fionawatt.com/ - Fiona Watt Professional Site http://www.stagingplaces.co.uk/ - Staging Places https://www.vam.ac.uk/ Without further ado, here is my conversation with Ms. Fiona Watt. Enjoy the show
This week we learnt heaps, with a great chat, about the Colac & District Family History Group Incorporated. INorma Bakker, who is their Honorary Secretary, and Merrill O'Donnell, their treasurer and media manager joined us in the studio. Colac & District Family History Group Inc Located in the History Centre, COPACC Opposite Colac Railway Station 99 Gellibrand Street, Colac PO Box 219 Colac, Victoria 3250 www.colacfamilyhistory.org.au Email: secretary@colacfamilyhistory.org.au Phone: 03 5231 5736
The first coffee bush at Kiriga estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and his eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and the family's pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania River. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee, the estate has shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, houses some bird life, and is the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened recently, in order to ensure the farm's high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result, we expect to see decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family', and it's a big family that reaches up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! Thirty percent of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and half of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else. Some commute a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past, the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether it can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available, and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding this helpful because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015, I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen. :) Hasblog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Hasblog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup we're on a trip to Blackcurrant City!! There's an edge of black tea and a hint of cherry sweets on the finish, but blackcurrant screams and shouts all the way. Country: Kenya County: Muranga Constituency: Gatanga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed Varietals: SL28 AB & Ruiru 11 AB CUPPING NOTES Blackcurrant, cherry, black tea Clean Cup: (1-8): 7 Sweetness: (1-8): 6.5 Acidity: (1-8): 7 Mouthfeel: (1-8): 6 Flavour: (1-8): 8 Aftertaste: (1-8): 6.5 Balance: (1-8): 6.5 Overall: (1-8): 7.5 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max 100): 91 Roast Information Medium - Through first and into the gap, but don't let this near second. A bit more development will highlight sweetness whilst keeping the pace quick will focus on that acidity - delicious either way.
The first coffee bush at Kiriga estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. The boy, or Mr A. N. Gakunga, sadly passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and his eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and the family's pioneer coffee farmer. Dr Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers' organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania River. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out at a factory level, from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and indirect sale. In addition to growing coffee, the estate has shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, houses some bird life, and is the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened recently, in order to ensure the farm's high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015, the estate had changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result, we expect to see decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family', and it's a big family that reaches up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! Thirty percent of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and half of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else. Some commute a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past, the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether it can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available, and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding this helpful because there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015, I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen. :) Hasblog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Hasblog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup we're on a trip to Blackcurrant City!! There's an edge of black tea and a hint of cherry sweets on the finish, but blackcurrant screams and shouts all the way. Country: Kenya County: Muranga Constituency: Gatanga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed Varietals: SL28 AB & Ruiru 11 AB CUPPING NOTES Blackcurrant, cherry, black tea Clean Cup: (1-8): 7 Sweetness: (1-8): 6.5 Acidity: (1-8): 7 Mouthfeel: (1-8): 6 Flavour: (1-8): 8 Aftertaste: (1-8): 6.5 Balance: (1-8): 6.5 Overall: (1-8): 7.5 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max 100): 91 Roast Information Medium - Through first and into the gap, but don't let this near second. A bit more development will highlight sweetness whilst keeping the pace quick will focus on that acidity - delicious either way.
------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Dr. Rebecca Sear is Reader at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), teaching demography and researching human reproductive behaviour from an evolutionary perspective. She is trained in zoology, biological anthropology, and statistics, and subsequently worked first in a social science institution (London School of Economics) and then in an institution of global and public health (LSHTM). Having been exposed to a variety of disciplines, she is particularly interested in how the natural, social and medical sciences can be integrated as we try to understand our own species, and aims to conduct research somewhere inbetween these disciplines. She is particularly interested in taking a comparative perspective to understanding human reproductive behaviour, and exploring why such behaviour varies between, as well as within, populations. In 2008, she co-founded the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association, and she's currently Honorary Secretary of the British Society for Population Studies and a Board Member of the Evolutionary Anthropology Society. In this episode, we talk about Human Behavioral Ecology (HBE), and some specific aspects of human behavior that it addresses. We start off by talking about the differences and the relationship between HBE and Evolutionary Psychology (EP) and other similar and close sciences of human behavior. We address the issue with studies done on WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Developed) and non-WEIRD societies; transcultural variation and human universals; and comparing modern and natural environments. Then, we tackle specific topics like human mating and reproduction; cooperative breeding and alloparenting in humans; the developmental consequences of father absence; the evolution of menopause; and other related topics. Time Links: 01:01 Human Behavioral Ecology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Anthropology 02:21 WEIRD and non-WEIRD societies 03:23 Variation and human universals 06:16 Modern environments vs natural environments 09:53 Cues for reproduction 12:26 Humans as cooperative breeders 16:59 Sex differences in mating and reproductive strategies 19:18 Are humans mostly monogamous? 22:03 Father absence and its effects on girls' development 25:47 About the role of menopause 31:55 Do grandparents still participate in child rearing in modern societies? 34:50 What happens when we have skewed sex ratios in society? 39:54 About State support and raising children 43:06 Can we use knowledge from human behavioral ecology to solve social issues? 45:11 Follow Dr. Sear's work! -- Follow Dr. Sear's work: Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/ybdkl2xo Articles on Researchgate: https://tinyurl.com/y84odan9 Twitter handle: @RebeccaSear -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, JUNOS, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JIM FRANK, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, AND HANS FREDRIK SUNDE! I also leave you with the link to a recent montage video I did with the interviews I have released until the end of June 2018: https://youtu.be/efdb1
Fiona trained with the Motley Theatre Design Course, London. She is a freelance scenographer who enjoys exploring the relationship between existing architecture and the performance space, unlocking the hidden dynamics within traditional and non-traditional theatre spaces to find the strongest points of exchange between performer and audience. In June 2011 she was one of six international artists commissioned to lead 'Six Acts', a site-specific interaction with the city of Prague for Scenofest at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space and in 2013 she co-curated the design-led performance programme for World Stage Design in Cardiff. In June 2015 she returned to the Quadrennial as curator for 'The View From Here', a new collaborative project between the Association of Courses in Theatre Design (ACTD) and the Society of British Theatre Designers (SBTD). Fiona is Honorary Secretary of the Society of British Theatre Designers and UK Performance Design Commissioner for OISTAT (International Association of Scenographers Theatre Architects and Technicians). She is currently involved in planning for the UK’s submission to the next Quadrennial which will take place in June 2019. Be sure to check out: http://www.theatredesign.org.uk/ - Society of British Theater Designers http://www.fionawatt.com/ - Fiona Watt Professional Site http://www.stagingplaces.co.uk/ - Staging Places
Today, we have the huge privilege of having a very amazing and inspiring individual with us! Marie Ang is the Founder and Managing Director of Solomon's Guild and the Asia Pacific President of Academic Management Group, LLC. She serves on the advisory boards of several businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore. She is an experienced leadership, personality, conflict management and relationship coach, mentor, speaker and author with over 25 years of corporate management experience. She has worked in various countries and in diverse industries such as education, banking, finance and aviation. Marie is a certified John C. Maxwell and Accelerated Coach Training coach, mentor and a sought-after speaker in various business, educational and professional fora. She assists businesses in human capital development and business transformation. Marie currently serves in the following positions: o Global Goodwill Ambassador, LinkedIn Goodwill Global Ambassador (Singapore); o E2i Employability Ambassador, Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability (Singapore); o Ambassador Alliance Founder, Lifeforming Ambassadors (USA); o Honorary Secretary, International Women Federation of Commerce and Industry (Singapore); o Associate Partner, Platform E by Singapore Institute of Management (Singapore); o Co- Advisor, Nanyang Technological University's Entrepreneurship Society (Singapore); o Mentor, Grace Assembly Church Marriage Mentorship Program (Singapore) o Mentor, Irish Executive Mentoring Program (Hong Kong); and o Mentor and Coach, University of Hong Kong MBA Program (Hong Kong); Marie's passion is helping people to understand themselves better, to turn head knowledge into wisdom and understanding so as to excel in career, relationship and life. Her personal goal is to help people: convert a wedding to a marriage, a connection to a relationship, a wondering generality to a meaningful specific, knowledge to wisdom, peace keeping to peace making and mediocrity to significance. Today, I get to sit down with Marie to understand what is legacy to her and how one can build their legacy. I believe some of you viewing this would have the desire to know how you can turn your goals and vision into reality, you should check this episode out! Don't miss this opportunity to listen to the part where Marie talked about how she faced adversity during her journey towards reaching her goals and dreams and overcame them! Credits: Intro music by The Phantoms - Watch Me • Support The Phantoms: Twitter: twitter.com/thephantomsrawk Instagram: www.instagram.com/thephantomsband/ Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCMQwJOVKC2Ri0zuHpRqgolg Spotify; https://play.spotify.com/artist/4jcPx... Facebook; www.facebook.com/phntmsmusic/ For more about Marie: Website: http://www.solomonsguild.com Linkedin: --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theraygacyshow/message
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015 the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; and it's a big family that reaches up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding this helpful, as there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015 I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen : ) Hasblog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Hasblog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup it starts with Ribena. There's a shoulder of orange there too and some dark fruit sweetness. On the aftertaste, that fruit sweetness shifts into soft brown sugar. Country: Kenya County: Muranga Constituency: Gatanga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed Varietals: SL28 AB & Ruiru 11 AB CUPPING NOTES Ribena, orange, brown sugar. Clean Cup: (1–8): 6 Sweetness: (1–8): 7 Acidity: (1–8): 6.5 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6.5 Flavour: (1–8): 7 Aftertaste: (1–8): 6.5 Balance: (1–8): 6 Overall: (1–8): 6.5 Correction: (+36): +36 Total: (max. 100): 88 Roasting Information Medium - through first crack, let it develop and then drop it once you get into the gap. "Quick Look" Guide Ribena, orange, brown sugar.
The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmers organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015 the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; and it's a big family that reaches up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding this helpful, as there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015 I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen : ) Hasblog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Hasblog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup it starts with Ribena. There's a shoulder of orange there too and some dark fruit sweetness. On the aftertaste, that fruit sweetness shifts into soft brown sugar. Country: Kenya County: Muranga Constituency: Gatanga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed Varietals: SL28 AB & Ruiru 11 AB CUPPING NOTES Ribena, orange, brown sugar. Clean Cup: (1–8): 6 Sweetness: (1–8): 7 Acidity: (1–8): 6.5 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6.5 Flavour: (1–8): 7 Aftertaste: (1–8): 6.5 Balance: (1–8): 6 Overall: (1–8): 6.5 Correction: (+36): +36 Total: (max. 100): 88 Roasting Information Medium - through first crack, let it develop and then drop it once you get into the gap. "Quick Look" Guide Ribena, orange, brown sugar.
'The Collector' is a series on alternative investments where we find out what unique items people are investing their money in, and what are the profit margins! In the last episode of the series, MONEY FM 89.3's Elliott Danker and Yasmin Jonkers speak with Patrick Choy, Vice-President of the Association of Singapore Philatelists and Victor Lau, Honorary Secretary of the Singapore Stamp Club. They share their passion for collecting stamps, tips to first time collectors and the amount which stamp collecting can bring in for investors.
Well hello there everyone, Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! So sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga Estate in Kenya :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmer's organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015 the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; and it's a big family that reaches up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding this helpful, as there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015 I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen : ) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup expect a rush of blackcurrant Ribena alongside a chocolate sweetness that's perfectly balanced with a great body. The finish has a delicate black pepper spiciness that's delicate but adds plenty of interest. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietals: SL28 AA & Ruiru 11 AA Processing method: Washed
Well hello there everyone, Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! So sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga Estate in Kenya :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmer's organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015 the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; and it's a big family that reaches up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding this helpful, as there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015 I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen : ) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup expect a rush of blackcurrant Ribena alongside a chocolate sweetness that's perfectly balanced with a great body. The finish has a delicate black pepper spiciness that's delicate but adds plenty of interest. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietals: SL28 AA & Ruiru 11 AA Processing method: Washed
Well hello there everyone, Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! So sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga Estate in Kenya :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmer's organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015 the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; and it's a big family that reaches up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding this helpful, as there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015 I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen : ) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup this kicks off with a tropical fruit like sweetness and acidity, then a creamy base note of dark chocolate that finishes with lemon pithiness. Country: Kenya County: Muranga Constituency: Gatanga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed Varietals: SL28 AB & Ruiru 11 AB
Well hello there everyone, Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! So sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga Estate in Kenya :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmer's organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. About 60% of the coffee that the estate produces is AA/AB. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of 2015 the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; and it's a big family that reaches up to 180 people at the busiest times of year! 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. Many of the estate farms around Kiriga have been sold off to make housing estates. Whilst this is a challenge for the future, in the immediate period Brian is actually finding this helpful, as there are more skilled pickers available (who were working on the other farms). During my visit to Kenya in 2015 I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen : ) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup this kicks off with a tropical fruit like sweetness and acidity, then a creamy base note of dark chocolate that finishes with lemon pithiness. Country: Kenya County: Muranga Constituency: Gatanga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed Varietals: SL28 AB & Ruiru 11 AB
Well hello there, children. Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! So sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga coffee estate in Kenya. :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmer's organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga coffee estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of last year (2015) the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. During my visit to Kenya last year I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen. :) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup you can expect fruit – ALL the fruit! It starts off with blackcurrant and is creamy, smooth and balanced with a fantastic body and structure. Then there's a delicious white grape / green apple acidity, a whopping citrus delight, and a black cherry finish. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietal: SL28 AA Processing method: Washed CUPPING NOTES Blackcurrant, creamy, smooth, balanced, white grape, green apple, black cherry. Clean Cup: (1–8): 7 Sweetness: (1–8): 7 Acidity: (1–8): 8 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 7 Flavour: (1–8): 7 Aftertaste: (1–8): 7 Balance: (1–8): 7 Overall: (1–8): 8 Correction: (+36): +36 Total: (max 100): 94
Well hello there, children. Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! So sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga coffee estate in Kenya. :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and his pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmer's organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga coffee estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Muranga county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of last year (2015) the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. During my visit to Kenya last year I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen. :) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup you can expect fruit – ALL the fruit! It starts off with blackcurrant and is creamy, smooth and balanced with a fantastic body and structure. Then there's a delicious white grape / green apple acidity, a whopping citrus delight, and a black cherry finish. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietal: SL28 AA Processing method: Washed
Carolyn has been the Dean of the Melbourne Law School since 2011 and she also holds the role of Honorary Secretary to the Victorian Rhodes Scholarships Selection Committee. Carolyn was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship to allow her to travel as a Visiting Fellow at American and Emory Universities. She is the author or editor of six books on human rights as well as numerous articles and chapters in other publications.
Well hello there, children. Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! So sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga coffee estate in Kenya. :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realised this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and a pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmer's organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga coffee estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Murang'a county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and for direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of last year (2015) the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. During my visit to Kenya last year I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen. :) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup expect a lovely, lush and creamy mouthfeel, with a summer fruit kick of peach and apricot. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed
Well hello there, children. Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! So sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga coffee estate in Kenya. :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga estate was planted in approximately 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than ten kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the chief for the larger Murang'a county) helped his father – Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori – plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location 1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years went by and the young boy grew up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio road and, as he rode past the vast – by now well-established – coffee estates, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realised this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death, Mr. Gakunga had passed on the love of coffee, and the mantle of Kiriga coffee estate, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son out of his six children. According to Kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was both his grandfather and a pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, which is a national farmer's organization that works to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, he was the then-Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold. He's also currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers' Network. Africa Coffee Farmers' Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga coffee estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres northeast of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga coffee estate is in the Gatanga constituency of Murang'a county, and it's separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality). The farm has an estimated two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (which has improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28, but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. All coffee activities at Kiriga are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, and planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and for direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees – despite the crippling electricity costs involved – during the dry season that happened earlier this year, in order to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of last year (2015) the estate changed the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return gave a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' had to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about is the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement, 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and, if successful, it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. During my visit to Kenya last year I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it, too! Make sure to have a listen. :) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian and Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup expect a lovely, lush and creamy mouthfeel, with a summer fruit kick of peach and apricot. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550–1,650 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Washed
We apologise for the variable sound quality of this podcast.This year is the 800th anniversary of the granting of Magna Carta - King John's Great Charter. This charter guaranteed a number of vital rights and privileges and is still seen as being the foundation of many modern liberties. To mark this important anniversary, we are holding a range of events and exhibitions.In this discussion chaired by Dr Sophie Ambler world experts come together to debate the importance of Magna Carta.Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History at University of East Anglia, is an expert on 12th and 13th century English and European political and administrative history, and author of Magna Carta: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2012). He is the Honorary Secretary of the Pipe Roll Society.Louise Wilkinson, Professor of Medieval History, Christ Church College Canterbury, is an expert on women in the age of Magna Carta, and 13th-century political and administrative history. She is the honorary General Editor of the Pipe Roll Society.Paul Brand, Professor of English Legal History and Emeritus Fellow at All Souls Oxford, is an expert on English and Irish legal history, specialising in 13th-century law. He is the Honorary Treasurer of the Pipe Roll Society.David Crook, formerly of The National Archives, is one of the leading experts on medieval records and forest law.David Carpenter, Professor of Medieval History at King's College London, is an expert on the reign of Henry III (1216-72) and author of Magna Carta (Penguin, 2015).
Hello children, Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! Sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga Coffee Estate in Kenya. :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted around 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than 10 kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the Chief for the larger Muranga) helped his father, Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori, plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years later the young boy had grown up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio Road and as he rode past the vast coffee estates, then well established, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death Mr. Gakunga had passed on the mantle at Kiriga Coffee Estate, and the love of coffee, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son of his six children. According to kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was his grandfather and Gatangaís' pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, a national farmers organization that worked to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, the then Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold, and currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers Network. Africa Coffee Farmers Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga Coffee Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts Hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres north east of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga Coffee Estate is in Gatanga Constituency of Muranga county and separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality) with an estimate two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28 but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. At Kiriga all coffee activities are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. During the dry season that happened earlier this year Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees despite the crippling electricity costs involved, to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of this year (2015) the estate will change the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return will give a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' will have to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about was the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and if successful it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. During my visit to Kenya last year I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it too! Make sure to have a listen. :) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian & Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian & Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup you can expect fruit, ALL the fruit! Starts off with blackcurrant but a very tart blackcurrant (almost like a blackcurrant sour beer) but then it shifts to more of a white grape / green apple before finishing with a shoulder of gooseberry, a whopping citrus delight. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest Town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550 - 1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietal: SL28 AA Processing Method: Washed
Hello children, Uncle Steve has a story to tell you! Sit back, relax and enjoy the story of the Kiriga Coffee Estate in Kenya. :) The first coffee bush at Kiriga Estate was planted around 1954 by colonial settlers. At about the same time, less than 10 kilometres away along the same Kigio road, a young boy (Aloysius Gakunga, son of the Chief for the larger Muranga) helped his father, Senior Chief Ndungíu Kagori, plant the first coffee seedling in the area. The area was known as Gaitegi village, Muranga Location1 (Loco One). A love affair with coffee had been born! Several years later the young boy had grown up. He was riding his bicycle along Kigio Road and as he rode past the vast coffee estates, then well established, he promised himself that he would one day own one of them. He realized this dream in 1976. Sadly the boy, or Mr. A. N. Gakunga, passed away in July 2014. By the time of his death Mr. Gakunga had passed on the mantle at Kiriga Coffee Estate, and the love of coffee, to Dr. Brian Ndungíu Gakunga. Brian was his second child, and the eldest son of his six children. According to kikuyu cultural naming systems, Brian is named after Mr. Gakungaís' father, who was his grandfather and Gatangaís' pioneer coffee farmer. Dr. Brian Gakunga is a coffee farmer who is well known in Kenyan coffee circles. He is a founding member and a former long-serving Honorary Secretary of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, a national farmers organization that worked to promote the economic and social interests of the coffee farmers through active participation in the national and international arena. Brian is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Transitional Exchange Committee (operationally, the then Chairman of Nairobi Coffee Exchange), where over 90% of all of Kenya's coffee is currently sold, and currently the Founding Chairman of Africa Coffee Farmers Network. Africa Coffee Farmers Network represents the interests of coffee farmers, as spelled out in the organisation's core objective of improving the earnings of poor coffee farmers in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. One way of doing this is by getting direct sales for the farmers. The Kiriga Coffee Estate sits between 1,550 and 1,650 metres above sea level. It is approximately five kilometres from Thika town, which is an industrial town in the central province of Kenya. It's four kilometres from Blue Posts Hotel, which has the famous Chania and Thika falls. Thika lies 50 kilometres north east of Nairobi. Administratively, Kiriga Coffee Estate is in Gatanga Constituency of Muranga county and separated from Kiambu county by the Chania river. Kiriga coffee is Arabica of predominantly SL28 variety (notable for its world-renowned cup quality) with an estimate two hectares of Ruiru 11 variety (improved resistance to coffee berry disease and leaf rust); some K7 variety (similar characteristics as SL28 but with better resistance to leaf rust compared to SL28); and a field of the newest Batian variety. At Kiriga all coffee activities are carried out from the coffee nursery to all the farm operations (pruning, weed control, nutrition, irrigation, basin digging, disease control, infilling, mulching, planting). Wet mill operations are also carried out on the factory level. Kiriga delivers both parchment coffee and Mbuni (naturals) to the commercial dry mill for milling and grading, in preparation for sale at the coffee auction and in direct sale. In addition to growing coffee the estate also has, I was told, shoats (sheep and goats), a dairy, and the potential to keep fish. It's all about diversity, and what's more diverse than a 'shoat'?! The estate is also occasionally visited by two hippos, in addition to some bird-life, while also being the home of a family of monkeys. During the dry season that happened earlier this year Kiriga irrigated all its coffee trees despite the crippling electricity costs involved, to ensure their high standards were maintained despite the weather. By the end of this year (2015) the estate will change the cycle of its coffee trees by removing the old heads and growing new heads, which in return will give a higher yield of bold beans with the characteristic 'Kiriga coffee characteristics'. Over 40% of the 'old heads' will have to go! This is way above the recommended 25%, and as a result we expect to have decreased yield but increased quality. At Kiriga they talk about having a 'Kiriga Family'; 30% of the total workforce is made up of resident families who live on the estate, and 50% of those know no other home. The remaining percentage consists of smallholder farmers who commute daily and depend on the estate for survival. There are smallholder farmers who have been part of the family since 1976 and have no desire to work anywhere else, commuting a whopping 10 KM (or more!) daily, past other estates, just to work at Kiriga. Something really amazing I wanted to tell you about was the Kiriga Welfare Fund. In the past the estate saw its workers get turned away from banks when they tried to acquire loans for dealing with family issues or emergencies. To help his 'Kiriga Family', over the past year Brian has encouraged the workers to set up a welfare group with him as its patron, and Brian has provided money for loaning out to staff according to their most pressing needs. Brian has also approached a banking institution to see whether they can fund workers to acquire dairy animals on loan and repay from the milk proceeds. Under such an arrangement 50% of the proceeds would go towards paying for the loan. A market would be readily available and the remaining 50% would be extra income to the workers. This is ongoing and if successful it would have the effect of supplementing the workers' wages and greatly improving their quality of life. During my visit to Kenya last year I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brian. I even managed to record some of it too! Make sure to have a listen. :) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian & Peter from Kiriga (Part 1) Has Blog: An Interview with Brian & Peter from Kiriga (Part 2) In the cup you can expect fruit, ALL the fruit! Starts off with blackcurrant but a very tart blackcurrant (almost like a blackcurrant sour beer) but then it shifts to more of a white grape / green apple before finishing with a shoulder of gooseberry, a whopping citrus delight. Country: Kenya Constituency: Gatanga County: Muranga Nearest Town: Thika Estate: Kiriga Farmer: Dr. Brian Gakunga Altitude: 1,550 - 1,650 m.a.s.l. Varietal: SL28 AA Processing Method: Washed
18 Feb 2013 Frisby Halliday Nunhead American Radio with Lewis Schaffer. The only radio program for Americans living in Nunhead and for all Nunheaders, with a special focus on the increasingly in-demand area of Nunhead Heights. Download Nunhead_American_Radio_18th_February_2013.mp3 Another Amazing Show! Our guests tonight are the Honorary Secretary of Nunhead's very own golf club - the Aquarius Golf Club's Jim Halliday. He donated a year's membership to Resonance for our funding drive! And also there was the handsome Dominic Frisby, the very funny English comic The fantastic Dulwich Ukulele Club with Richard Guard and the beautiful Anna Crockatt. Handsome Italian Claudio ran the deck. Brilliant broadcasting! Our BEST SHOW EVER! Thank you Laura Synthesis, our Nunhead American Radio Listener Representative for her input. facebook us at Nunhead American Radio @lewisschaffer - twitter feed #Nunhead on twitter Listen to Lewis Schaffer on the Radio Nunhead American Radio with Lewis Schaffer every Monday evening at 10:30PM on www.resonancefm.com and 104.4fm London. Or listen to the show’s podcasts at www.bit.ly/NunheadAmericanRadio Leicester Square Theatre Shows - Starting 3 March 2013 Sundays 6 PM £10 Tickets:Tickets at Leicester Square Theatre Lewis Schaffer live every Tuesday and Wednesday: Lewis Schaffer is Free until Famous, The Source Below, 11 Lower John Street, London W1F 9TY. Come on down. Free admission. Or reserve at bit.ly/londonfreeshow