Colombian coffee estate in the mountains of Bogotá, Colombia…
Although Colombian coffee is well recognized in the world for its quality, not many people know how it is produced. I found a report from a group who visited a country house where one of the purest coffees of Bogotá is produced, "Cafetalía".
- Lisa
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Colombian coffee estate in the mountains of Bogotá, Colombia
Although Colombian coffee is well recognized in the world for its quality, not many people know how it is produced. I found a report from a group who visited a country house where one of the purest coffees of Bogotá is produced, "Cafetalía".
Cafetalía is one of the most traditional coffee makers of Cundinamarca, the region where the capital of the country, Bogotá, is found. The estate is located at just one and a half hours from the city and it is the only one that allows local visitors to taste the very best Colombian coffee. There you can learn about the processing of coffee, from the step of obtention to the actual display of the aromatic cup of coffee.
In the green estate of two hectares, there are forty coffee experts working during the whole year, although in harvesting time, the number can be tripled. Some of these people are in charge of collecting the grains of coffee from red coffee berries.
As you look around the estate, you can notice that such green lands are 100 percent organic. No chemicals are used to speed up the growth of coffee seeds. Thousands of shrubs of Arabic coffee are waiting for day laborers to pick them up. Next, seeds are put in small buckets spread everywhere in the estate. The content of buckets is then downloaded to coffee-ducts, tubes with crystalline water that carry the seeds to the main stores. Once there, good quality coffee seeds are separated from low quality seeds and are put in large water depots. The rotten seeds remain on top of the water and are systematically discarded. Finally, the seeds are passed to a large pulp extractor. It takes away the more external skin and the mucilage that wraps the seed.
Once the seeds are ready, that is, without damage, they are put in special water depots for fermentation. This is probably one of the main particular characteristics of Colombian coffee. After the seeds have been properly washed, they are displayed on the sun and dried naturally. The last step is to put coffee grains in a toaster, which in this estate, works with carbon "coque" as combustible. This material does not expel smoke, so the natural aroma of the seeds is not affected.
Before coffee is ready for commerce, it is strictly evaluated. Indeed, this is a special ritual in which expert coffee drinkers try coffee served in several small cups. The procedure is the following: 40 cups of coffee are served and several coffee producers from other estates bring their coffees. Every one smells and drinks sips only and the best coffee produce is selected. Cafetalia has been honoured several times with the first quality produce of coffee.
- Mary
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A portrait of girl at Children's Village Tehuacán, Mexico.
The strategic plan "Taking action for children 2003-2008" was an ambitious project, but we did it nevertheless. We - about 30,000 staff members and all the volunteers - succeeded in broadening the life perspectives of many children in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
More SOS Children's Village facilities and beneficiaries Within this period of time, we have built 53 new SOS Children's Villages and 41 youth facilities; by the end of the year, we will be providing care for a total of more than 72,500 children and young people in our facilities. Another 162,000 young people are being supported by the SOS family strengthening programmes at 286 centres across the world.
We have been in contact with organisations and governments and have discussed issues concerning out-of-home care for children. In some countries, we were able to spark a change of attitude and bring about change that modernised youth welfare in those countries. In many cases, we took on a role as advisor in processes of structural change for the benefit of children. A catalogue of quality standards (Quality4Children), developed in cooperation with other organisations, was submitted to the European Parliament.
After the Tsunami disaster, SOS Children's Villages was able to rapidly offer help in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Just days after 26 December 2004, emergency relief packages were being distributed, traumatised children were receiving care, and day care centres were being set up. By the end of 2007, SOS Children's Villages had rebuilt over 2,200 family homes in 15 communities to enable families to rebuild their lives and had repaired the infrastructure of entire villages. Six new SOS Children's Villages were built, in part for those children who had been separated from their families as a result of the disaster and could not be reunited with them. For more detailed information, please refer to the publication "With the people for the people".
Fundraising - Child Protection - Personnel Development But yet more was accomplished. The goal of increasing the funds available internationally by 50%, which seemed impossible back in 2003, has been reached thanks to the trust and great sense of responsibility of our friends and donors. In order to be able to meet present-day needs, we have adapted the structure of associations and facilities, declared child protection and child rights to be our priorities, and rated and documented the results of SOS Children's Villages' work ("Tracking Footprints"). Personnel development has been accepted as a central factor for the quality of our work - it is crucial to being able to assume our responsibility.
During the last five years, we have continually worked towards the goals that Hermann Gmeiner set for us. But these goals will not be reached while there are children in need of help. We have set new goals for ourselves for the period from 2009 to 2016 and will endeavour to incorporate the knowledge we glean from our successes and mistakes into our work. In order to be able to reach these goals, the general secretariat has been reorganised and given a new set of duties. The International Senate agreed on these changes during its session in November 2007. We can now go about completing our tasks with renewed confidence.
I would like to thank all staff members and all honorary board members all over the world who have made valuable contributions in their respective positions. My particularly heart-felt gratitude goes out to our friends and partners, since it is their financial contributions that make our work possible in the first place. I am joined by all my colleagues in the general secretariat in thanking President Helmut Kutin and the members of the International Senate for their support in our effort to accomplish the tasks the children have entrusted us with. It is this support that has enabled us to remain focused on our goals.
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