Sunshine and Happiness.
Hello! Today I was happy. Truly happy. Maybe it was because it felt like spring. Maybe it was because I got up early, started the day with a cup of tea and a good book. Maybe because I had an appointment at Sehes? Or maybe…
Recent Posts
How to: A new Bread Recipe. Stay Healthy!
Hello! I want to share a new bread recipe today. This bread is amazing, nutritious, healthy, gluten-free and is so simple to make. I first heard about it on Florian Sauer’s Facebook page and make sure you check out his website too. He is amazing…
Random Thoughts on a Tuesday Evening.
Hello!
Today started out weird and I almost lost hope for humanity again. Even though I am overall getting better at maintaining a positive attitude, today was just a day I am not sure what happened. One person was able to change my perfect good mood to angry and frustrated in just a few minutes. As a woman I can go through approximately fifteen different moods in one day – ask my husband. He usually wonders how this is even possible but sometimes something happens that is just overwhelming and makes me feel strange. I have to add that the Reiki Seminar I attended is very helpful and I highly recommend it! I did learn a lot and mood swings are somewhat under control. Somewhat…. 😉
Sometimes there are just so many things on my mind and I want them all done, solved or to happen right then and there. Patience is a virtue, I know. But I just don’t know where to start and the ideas keep coming and coming. I am pretty organized but most of my thoughts are thrown all over the place. It usually takes a while to sort them all out. I thought about writing a book for the longest time and I finally started it. Yay! I am still working on Chapter 1. One thing after the other I guess. All I need to do is to remind myself that love is the most important thing. When times get rough I tell myself that I need to chill; that I am here, right now and that everything goes as planned – somewhat in the most unplanned ways imaginable.
I know that everything I love is right here and that it is okay the way it is. I don’t need to stress-out. Whatever I want to accomplish I can go and make it happen. Now, that this post is mostly about rambling, I want to mention one more thing. Advice! People love to give advice all the time. Do this, do that but don’t try this. It usually does not matter if you indeed ask for advice or not. You just get it. If you pay attention to it you will realize that we do received a ton of advice almost daily – some good and some bad. If it is instructions, guidance or simply information, it is constantly out there. How do we decipher what is helpful and what is not? One great advice I have been given is, “Have the courage to live a life true to yourself, not the life others expect of you.” Does this seem like common sense to you? And of course to “Not sweat the small stuff”. I think it is important to let the little things go. Like the woman from this morning. I just let her go, smile and move on. And I stop giving advice unless someone wants to hear it. It feels like being in an elevator. You know what I mean? They have the power to silence you.
Thank you for reading my blog.
Stalking your Ex Online?
Hello! I have meant to write this post for a long time, ever since my friend told me about this little problem she has. My friend broke up with her boyfriend not too long ago and she said that these days she usually sits…
The Book Review: Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood
Hello! Since I read Margaret Atwood’s latest book, The Heart goes Last, I was hooked by her writing and was interested to explore more of her books. I am somewhat embarrassed that I have not heard of Atwood earlier. As a matter of fact, I…
Café-Cacao Lukula Congo
Hello!
Have you read the recent article about the project Petit Kwilu for coffee lovers? It was published in the Neue Presse Coburg a couple of weeks ago. Read the article in German here. With my husband being stationed in Kinshasa/Congo I thought it would be a great idea to contact and get in touch with Mr. Rückert via email to talk to him about this project. He invited me to his house at the Rückert Museum which was amazing and such a great experience. I will share some information about the project from their handouts and brochures. I think it is a great project with lot of potential. As more information becomes available, I will write about it here. So stay tuned.
“For two years now COPROCOM, a Congolese cooperative of growers, has been working to rejuvenate the neglected coffee and cacao plantations in the Mayombe region. The procurements of the necessary financial resources and the identification of sales channels operating according to fair trading principles are tasks being implemented by their German partners in Coburg.”
Klaus Rückert, Jean-Pierre Baku-Bufuanga, Dr. Georg Roth, Christel Rückert
The Mayombe region in the DRC
The situation in the DRC is unstable. In the East, violence and intermittent armed conflict are defeating development efforts. In the West, the Mayombe region are enjoying a fragile peace but what used to be one of the most thriving regions of Africa is now economically and environmentally destitute. Coffee and cacao plantations which, along with bananas, providing the region with its income and fame, have been all but replaced by subsistence farming – providing the growers with little more than enough to eat. As a consequence, the people are getting poorer, many are fleeing to the cities. The intensive farming is taking its toll on the environment. Without income, the growers cannot send their children to school. A downwards spiral in living standards is programmed.
Coffee
The Mayombe region is home to “Petit Kwilu” coffee. This Robusta variety has smaller beans and a milder and less bitter taste than the common Robustas. German coffee roasters agree that “Petit Kwilu” could earn a place on their shelves. To date, the coffee cherries have been first dried and then processed, in order to improve the taste. This must change, so that the pulp is removed immediately post-harvest before the cherry is dried. Manual de-pulping mills must be purchases to allow this quality improvement.
Cacao
Mainly Forastero types, and specifically then Amelonado variety, are grown in Maybombe at present. Hybrid varieties originally from the DRC’s INERA Institute as well as from the Ivory Coast and Ghana are now being introduced. The crop benefits from the cold Benguela Atlantic Stream, which hangs a hazy veil over the region during the long dry season.
Partners
The COPROCOM cooperative was founded in 2011 as a spin-off from SOPAM (“Solidarité Paysanne du Mayombe”). Its main objective is to reduce poverty in the rural population by improving productivity in livestock and arable farming on a sustainable basis.
The non-profit organization “Café-Cacao-Congo” based in Coburg, Germany, supports COPROCOM in its search of finance. The German Embassy awarded COPROCOM US $18,600 as start-up capital.
The Senior Expert Service (SES), charity of the German Business, has supported the project from its start with a consultant in tropical crops.
The Vision
COPROCOM and their German partners are convinced:
- Agriculture in Mayombe is presently sub-optimal, many farmers are living very close to or even below subsistence level. A result is migration into the cities. This can only be stopped if the growers have access to a secure basic income. Products such as coffee, cacao and bananas offer some income because they can be sold locally or internationally (cash crop products)
- The planned ecological agroforestry system moves away form the present monocultures and back to the earlier diversified forestry and agricultural methods. It contributes to a sustainable future for Mayombe
Objectives:
- facilitate continuos improvements in quality and productivity to enable the growers to obtain a fair price for their quality products and to provide them with a secure income
- Establish ethical and socially responsible strong and resilient relationships between COPROCOM, its growers and the buyers of the products
Contact Information
In Europe
Café-Cacao-Congo (CCC UG)
Friedrich-Rückert Str. 13
96450 Coburg
Management:
Dr. Georg Roth and Klaus Rückert
Financial counsellor: Shirley Baldry
cafecacaolukula@gmail.com
In the Mayombe
COPROCOM Managment committee: Jean Tsimba (Coordinator), Ariane Nsombila, Mabiala (Secretary)
Address: Avenue Malanda Ngoma n° 02 Cité de Nsioni, Mayombe, Kongo-Central, D.R. Congo
E-mail: tsimba2000@yahoo.fr,
Phone: +243 998887446
Thank you for reading my blog.
Five Things.
Hello! This week has been smooth sailing so far. Nothing major happened, thankfully. It is cold in Germany – minus 14 degrees Celsius but I love it. We have been outside in the snow this afternoon playing. We took the sled too and it is…
E.E. Cummings.
Hello! Do you know the movie In her Shoes? It is a nice little story but more importantly one of my favorite poems has been mentioned. I Carry Your Heart with Me by E.E. Cummings. E.E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings was born in 1894 in Massachusetts. He…
How-to: Raw Chocolate Pralines.
Hello and Happy Hump-day!
I love How-to-Wednesdays and to share my favorite food with all of you. It like to try new recipes, especially when they are healthy. Even better, I know all the ingredients in it and they taste good! And everybody loves chocolate. I was addicted to Kinderriegel when I was pregnant with my son. I could literally eat an entire box of them in one day. Sick! I searched for better, healthier choices to satisfy my chocolate craving and I found this amazing praline recipe that I would like to share with you today. Enjoy!
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Healthy Changes.
Hello! How do you feel these days? These past couple of days have been a whirlwind of emotions for me. I am indeed an emotional disaster as my husband would say. But most importantly I am okay. I have been better, more in shape let’s…