#On-Board Staffing Nairobi

[alliance00]

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[ad_1] Economy Court suspends reappointment of Joe Sang' as KPC boss Friday February 03 2023 Former Kenya Pipeline Company Managing Director, Joe Sang during a press conference on June 5, 2018. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NMG The High Court has temporarily suspended the reappointment of Joe Sang’ as the acting managing director of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), following a case filed by Law Society of Kenya.Mr Sang’ returned to KPC as the acting MD two weeks ago after a Nairobi court cleared him of corruption charges over the construction of the Sh1.9 billion Kisumu Oil jetty.The court while acquitting him and his co-accused said the matter was one of those clear cases where people did a commendable job but ended up being vilified.The appointment came soon after the board declined to renew the contract of Dr Macharia Irungu, ending his three-year tenure at the state corporation.“That pending hearing of the application inter-partes, a conservatory order be and is hereby issued, staying and suspending the appointment of the 1st interested party, Joe Sang’ as the managing director of the 2nd respondent,” Justice James Rika of the Employment and Labour Relations Court said.The judge said in the meantime, KPC is at liberty to appoint an acting MD from among the current pool of employees holding substantive management position at KPC. The LSK says in the petition that Mr Sang’ does not hold any position within KPC, having resigned as the MD in 2018.“…he was no longer part of the company for the last 5 years and cannot be appointed in an acting capacity,” the LSK says in the petition.The lawyers’ umbrella body says the appointment of Mr Sang’ is against the constitution and the set standards that govern the recruitment of public officers in a fair competition and merit.The LSK further says there was no advertisement for the position of MD and none has been put forth so far.“Being a State Corporation squarely falls within the per view of a public entity and is subject to Constitutional dictates and principles as set forth by both the Constitution and the Public Service Commission, the 5th Respondent herein with regards to the recruitment and staffing of public offices,” LSK President Eric Theuri saidHe said the public stands to suffer irreparably if the decision is not stopped because Mr Sang’ has already assumed the management of KPC, an entity that is charged with the mandate of constructing and maintaining a refined oil pipeline system and transporting the petroleum products from Mombasa to the hinterland.  The case will be mentioned on March 10 for directions.[email protected] [ad_2] Source link

[inqorporeal]

BY DAN DE LUCE, ROBBIE GRAMER | DECEMBER 9, 2017, 1:29 PM

An award-winning U.S. diplomat who was seen as a rising star at the State Department has issued a scathing resignation letter, accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the Donald Trump administration of undercutting the State Department and damaging America’s influence in the world.

Elizabeth Shackelford, who most recently served as a political officer based in Nairobi for the U.S. mission to Somalia, wrote to Tillerson that she reluctantly had decided to quit because the administration had abandoned human rights as a priority and shown disdain for the State Department’s diplomatic work, according to her letter, obtained by Foreign Policy.

“I have deep respect for the career Foreign and Civil Service staff who, despite the stinging disrespect this Administration has shown our profession, continue the struggle to keep our foreign policy on the positive trajectory necessary to avert global disaster in increasingly dangerous times,” Shackelford wrote in her Nov. 7 letter, which is published below. One phrase was redacted on Shackelford’s request.

“With each passing day, however, this task grows more futile, driving the Department’s experienced and talented staff away in ever greater numbers,” she wrote.

Her former colleagues said her departure — and the sentiments expressed in her letter — reflect a wider exodus of midcareer diplomats who have lost confidence in Tillerson’s management and the Trump administration’s approach toward diplomacy.

“She’s emblematic of what we’re losing across the board,” said one of Shackelford’s former State Department colleagues. “She is the best among us. We should not be losing the best among us. And that should concern people that we are,” the former colleague said.

In her letter, Shackelford said she was leaving with a “heavy heart” as she recognized the potential of the State Department’s mission. She said she was “shocked” when Tillerson appeared to cast doubt on the importance of human rights in remarks to department employees on May 3.

The State Department’s role in internal government debates also had “diminished,” she wrote, with the White House handing over authority to the Pentagon to shape the country’s foreign policy. Meanwhile, unfilled vacancies and proposed budget and staffing cuts had left the department adrift, with weakened influence inside the administration and on the ground, she wrote.

“The cost of this is visible every day in Mission Somalia, my current post, where State’s diplomatic influence, on the country and within our own interagency, is waning,” she wrote.

In the closing paragraph of her letter, Shackelford called on Tillerson “to stem the bleeding by showing leadership and a commitment to our people, our mission, and our mandate as the foreign policy arm of the United States.

“If you are unable to do so effectively within this Administration, I would humbly recommend you follow me out the door.”

Shackelford was singled out as an especially promising diplomat and was selected for future senior leadership roles, which a veteran foreign service officer said was unusual at her age.

“Let me underscore that Lizzy Shackelford was one of the most promising officers and an exceptional l‎eader in the Foreign Service,” the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FP. “An officer who makes it into the service and leaves because she was not supported means we must work harder to mentor, reform our system, and support outstanding officers like Lizzy.”

When asked about the criticisms in the letter, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said: “We are not able to comment on the career choices of each person at the Department.”

“However, I can say that the Secretary has made clear that his objective is to make the State Department more efficient, more effective, and for staff to have a much more rewarding and satisfying career,” she added.

Tillerson has faced a wave of criticism from lawmakers and former senior diplomats about what they say is the dismantling of the State Department amid a hemorrhaging of top talent, a hiring freeze, and plummeting morale. He has firmly rejected the criticism, insisting the media mischaracterizes the rate of those leaving the department and that his plan to “redesign” the State Department is employee-driven and prioritizes the staff’s well-being.

“What it’s done,” Tillerson said of the hiring freeze on Friday, “was just a little bit of a blunt instrument to have everyone be a little more disciplined about filling their positions.”

But even his harshest critics say much of the blame for the troubled state of the foreign service rests with the president, who has shown an impatience with diplomacy and has often sidelined Tillerson.

Shackelford’s sentiments also reflect a long-held but growing concern among diplomats and experts that U.S. policy is increasingly dominated and shaped by the military, particularly in Africa. The Pentagon has expanded its footprint and operations on the continent with additional funding while the State Department and USAID face steep budget cuts and a dearth of ambassadors or top appointees in Washington.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a retired career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said the U.S. military has a vital role to play in Africa and elsewhere but said the pendulum was swinging too far away from diplomacy. “You can’t just do military. You have to have the complement of diplomatic and development working alongside the military colleagues,” she told FP.

Somalia reflects a balance that clearly favors the military, as the State Department lacks the manpower and resources of its Pentagon counterparts. In recent months, the U.S. military has expanded its role with hundreds of troops and more strikes against al-Shabab militants, while diplomatic efforts have ebbed following the departure of U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Stephen Schwartz in October.

The staff at the U.S. mission have repeatedly asked Washington for permission to meet Somali political leaders at Villa Somalia, the presidential residence, but the State Department has rejected the request on security grounds. U.S. military officers are able to meet Somali officials at the presidential palace, and other foreign diplomatic missions regularly visit the building for talks.

Friday was Shackelford’s last day as a foreign service officer after nearly eight years in the State Department.

Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, the 38-year-old Shackelford graduated first in her class at the University of Pittsburgh Law School. She worked at a law firm, then the consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton on foreign aid projects before joining the foreign service in 2010.

Shackelford distinguished herself in South Sudan for overseeing the evacuation of 1,000 Americans and other foreign nationals when violence erupted in Juba in December 2013. For her leadership skills and crisis planning in the evacuation effort, she received a department-wide Barbara M. Watson award for consular excellence.

During her stint in South Sudan, Shackelford worked to document and focus attention on human rights abuses, according to those she worked with and a personal statement she submitted as part of an employee evaluation. She cultivated contacts with South Sudanese civil society organizations and met with victims and witnesses of atrocities committed in the country’s conflict. Convinced that there could be no lasting peace without coming to terms with crimes committed on both sides, she co-wrote a dissenting cable backed by some of her fellow diplomats making that argument.

“Her view was if we don’t deal with accountability now, whatever peace that’s achieved is going to be temporary,” said another former colleague, who worked with her in Juba. “She made it her mission to get human rights material out the door.”

Shackelford is not alone in accusing the Trump administration of backsliding on America’s support for human rights and democracy over the past ten months. Republican Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote a letter to the president on Friday accusing his administration of failing to assert America’s commitment to human rights.

The lawmakers wrote that “for much of the past year, our national voice on international human rights issues has been largely silent.”

But Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday that in a recent tour of Africa, he repeatedly raised human rights concerns with governments in Ethiopia and Sudan, saying it was a crucial element in the fight against terrorist threats.

“The United States continues to emphasize respect for human rights as a fundamental part of our counterterrorism strategy,” Sullivan told lawmakers.

Six months ago, when Shackelford began considering leaving the foreign service, her mentors and colleagues encouraged her to stay the course, telling her she had a promising career ahead of her and that the difficulties would pass, she told FP.

But in a sign of plunging morale in the foreign service, when she spoke to those same colleagues two months ago about resigning, she got a much different response.

“It had completely changed to a person,” she said. “Nobody tried to talk me out of it. Everybody said, ‘Yep, I get it.’”

This article was updated on Dec. 10 with comment from a senior State Department official.

Dan De Luce is Foreign Policy’s chief national security correspondent. @dandeluce

Robbie Gramer is a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy. @robbiegramer

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 24/10/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Thursday, October 24th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

QEH MONEY PROBE – An investigation has been launched to discover where millions of dollars belonging to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) have ended up. This was revealed by Leader of Government Business Senator Jerome Walcott, who told the Senate yesterday the last qualified audit of the hospital was done in 2011 and there was currently “an additional $7.1 million that cannot be explained in terms of where it has gone; what it has purchased; who it has paid”. He also highlighted a situation where there was a gap of $13.1 million between an actual stock count and a matching book value of inventory that has to be written off. These were among several troubling issues at the main health care institution voiced by Walcott while leading off debate on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which is intended to institute a new management structure at the institution. (DN)

NAKED NEPOTISM – Three senators have blasted the Mia Mottley-led administration for the proposed changes to the structure at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). During the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Amendment) Bill 2019 debate in the upper house today, senators Caswell Franklyn, Toni Moore and Crystal Drakes questioned the changes that will see a number of major appointments including that of an executive chairman. Last week in the House of Assembly, Minister of Health Jeffrey Bostic announced that Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland was appointed executive chairman of the QEH. The two trade unionists and the Opposition Senator were highly critical of that particular post above all the others. Franklyn, head of the Unity Workers’ Union,  lambasted the Government for what he described as a “shameful” act. “It seems as though this Government has no shame. How can you sit on a board and come up with these grand ideas for yourself? It looks bad. It is shameful that Government continues to find jobs for its friends, family and party hacks. And for what purpose?  Not for the benefit of the organisation that they are staffing but to give jobs to their friends. This nonsense has to stop. The opposition senator continued: “You did not form a Government Employment Agency but that seems to be what is happening. If that is what you are about put it in your manifesto and say so we will get you jobs. Every person who campaigned for the Barbados Labour Party now getting a consultancy or getting some high profile job…. and a lot of things they can’t handle…” A passionate Franklyn said what made the appointment look so egregious was the fact that it was the spouse of a sitting Government minister. “She is the wife of the Government minister, it looks bad. You can’t just jump in and start taking the Government positions. It is wrong. The people you used on the call-in programmes to harass the last administration they have now become consultants. You are talking about the money you are putting in to the hospital but a lot of it going into unnecessary salaries…” Meanwhile, general secretary of the Barbados Worker’s Union Toni Moore said there were too many unanswered questions and that some aspects of the legislation did not sit well with her. “I would not deny that I have serious reservations around the discussion of the appointment of an executive chairman. When we hear that an executive chairperson is going to be appointed by the Cabinet, but that executive chairperson is going to be an employee of the QEH it leaves those of us – even those of us that have had as few years as I have had in industrial relations – wondering where is the transparency and is that going to impact when one is potentially governing oneself.” Moore said the proposed changes also had serious implications for industrial relations at the QEH. The senator also said that the appointment raised the question of transparency. “Wearing another hat I wonder what implications it has for industrial relations and interactions. The executive chairman under the provisions that have been set out can potentially be a person that ends up being a power unto himself, herself and the Cabinet of Barbados. It raises too many issues around transparency and when issues are raised around transparency questions of trust and intent come into the fore. “An act should not be amended to address current day players because when changes are made to address A and B today how can we be sure that even where there is doubt and things work out for person A and B that when person C and D comes tomorrow that it will have the same effect… “If a person is appointed by a Cabinet and Government changes hands, does it mean that the next Cabinet is responsible for appointing a person? What happens when Government changes? Is this position tied to a term of Government?,” a puzzled Moore asked. The other Opposition senator Drakes warned Government that any appearance of wrongdoing could be costly to them in the long run. “The Barbadian public was at the mercy of what was considered extremely poor management. I want to warn this Government anything that you do that can be perceived as having any untoward intent, it may even vaguely look like corruption, it may vaguely look like favouritism, it may vaguely look like nepotism it will be at their own detriment….” Drakes reminded Government that while in Opposition they were the ones who made corruption a campaign issue and they were the ones who brought new legislation to Parliament in order to weed out perceived corruption. “We have to make sure that transparency and accountability is the order of the day. In the last election that was one of the key things this current administration from St Lucy to Christ Church they touted it because of the perceived mismanagement by the former administration. It was so important to this administration that they quickly tabled the Integrity In Public Life Bill which is still a Bill…,” she said. The senator questioned the “new hiring practice” and cautioned Government that the proposed changes to the QEH is a step in the wrong direction. “The executive chairman can only be dismissed from the post based on the approval of the Minister. Is that the commonplace hiring practice of a staff member of a statutory corporation? I am not satisfied that we are doing this the right way. I am asking if this process is transparent, is it fair and does it adhere to good governance principles? This legislation muddies the waters. You are facilitating an abuse of power. I am not satisfied with the justification for these changes. It is a step in the wrong direction….” (BT) ‘

FAMILY PLANNING BOOST – A United Nations agency will be pushing the work of the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA) during a major population summit in Nairobi, Kenya next month. Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Dr Natalia Kanem, who was recently in Barbados for consultations with Government officials, the BFPA and a number of young female entrepreneurs, lauded the social work being done among girls and women here. And she has pledged to “noise it abroad” when she attends the global leaders’ conference which will discuss a previously unfulfilled pledge by heads to end gender-based violence and the idea that women and girls must be at the centre of any strategy to improve the world and reach the various sustainable development goals. “We also are very pleased that the Population Commission in Barbados is going to be looking at the policy issues which we feel are part of the success stories of the girls I have met here. They are making jobs for themselves. They are getting the vocational training the BFPA provides,” Dr Kanem said in an interview at UN House, Hastings, Christ Church. “These are the types of positive things…when I go to Nairobi next month I want to make sure the world knows what’s happening in Barbados,” she added. The UNFPA Executive Director also praised Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley for her leadership here and on the world stage, describing Mottley as an icon, referring to her recent speeches at the UN General Assembly. While commending the country for the socio-economic progress it is making, Dr Kanem believes much more can be done. “I see a lot of opportunity to accelerate the progress…all of us working together as the United Nations to make sure none of us is left behind. When I think of the sustainable development goals, they belong to young people of this country, of this region, really, all around the world,” she said. The UN official noted that those goals must occur in a climate of peace and of human rights. She contended that the goals do not reside on paper, but in small communities across Barbados where all are equal. (BT)

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS – Leader of Government Business in the Senate Senator Jerome Walcott has expressed concern about financial improprieties at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, although the establishment of a board of directors in 2005 was expected to alleviate some of those issues. Speaking at the introduction of the Queen Elizabeth  Hospital Amendment Bill 2019into the Upper House, Senator Walcott said: “The hospital was given $129 million in this year’s Estimates, and the levy we established for the QEH through NIS managed to raise $39 million between January and August this year. It has also received assistance from a number of philanthropic organisations such as the Rotary clubs, the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust and Rihanna’s Clara and Lionel Foundation, and another $10 million was allocated in June to upgrade the Accident and Emergency department.” Despite all this, Walcott added, there have been significant discrepancies in the QEH’s books. “You have a situation where there is a lot of work to be done in terms of managing finances. For example, there was a gap of $13.1 million between an actual stock count and the matching book value of inventory, an amount that has to be written off. A significant difference between what you have and what you say you have.  The last qualified audit is 2011, and currently there is an additional $7.1 million that no one can explain where it has gone, what it has purchased, or who it has paid. This is being investigated.” He also spoke of the sudden disappearance and ultimately resignations of some of the senior officials of the hospital, including former CEO Dr. Dexter James, following the Estimates debate. “All I can say about the past CEO is that he was invited and indeed participated in the Estimates debate on the Friday, he was questioned on the Friday evening, he did not come back the Monday because he was ill, then he proceeded on sick leave for some substantial time after that and subsequently he resigned and the matter has been settled.” He added: “The procurement manager was at the Estimates on the Friday, resigned on the Monday, and the Director of Finance resigned a couple of weeks ago. When the auditors were doing the audit the person called in sick a week after the individual resigned. Clearly all was not well in finance and procurement in the QEH and this has to be addressed, and the changes will address this.” In terms of the nurses, one of the problems related to the fact that there was a high failure rate when it came to the regional nursing qualification, which all nurses working in the CARICOM region needed in order to become registered nurses.“When we first set up the board, we were bringing on 30 nurses who had completed the Barbados Community College programme each year, and the failure rate for the regional qualifying exam was 60 per cent. That meant only 10 or 12 nurses would pass the regional exam, so they would come on as registered nurses while the others would be nursing assistants. So we increased the intake of graduates from 30 to 100 taking into consideration the failure rate, and the fact that nurses would migrate.” Senator Walcott noted that the Ministry of Health had entered discussions with the Ministry of Education to address the high failure rate when it came to the regional qualifying examination, and said the decision to change the managerial structure of the hospital came about after “the board was given 16 months to review its systems, have its retreats, and come to grips with some of the major issues the hospital was facing.” Senator Walcott, who formerly worked at the QEH in several capacities as a medical doctor and was the Minister of Health when the decision was made to change the management structure of the QEH in 2005, expressed disappointment that the institution was facing the same problems it faced in those days, and in some cases things had grown worse. (BT)

CALL MADE TO HELP QEH – Corporate Barbados is being encouraged to give more support to the island’s lone public hospital as officials there continue to work towards improving service and meeting the demands of the public. This appeal came from Director of Regulatory Affairs at CIBC Firs tCaribbean International Bank Joannie Worrell, as she made a donation to the health institution during the opening ceremony for the fifth Infectious Disease Week at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) office in Barbados on Monday. “We encourage other corporate entities to give in a similar fashion to our hospital,” said Worrell. “Indeed, this donation is not the end for us as my team has committed to giving of our time to the children’s ward at the QEH and they will be hearing from us very shortly,” she said. Through a partnership with equipment suppliers Servall Inc, the financial institution donated three cordless electrostatic sprayers and a supply of tablets to the hospital’s infection control unit. Worrell said it was an easy choice for the bank to make the donation to the QEH through the bank’s Adopt-A-Cause programme. “Servall, having being informed of our intention, willingly agreed to collaborate with us and matched our contribution. This positioned us to do more and make the contribution more meaningful,” said Worrell. “The effectiveness of the work of infection control professionals has a direct relationship on overall staff and patient wellbeing and we are happy to contribute to your efforts,” she said. The next generation cordless disinfection systems will be used to sanitize and disinfect all touch points in a room after a patient is discharged and prior to a new one entering. (BT)

300 0N DIALYSIS – Kidney disease has now been described as an epidemic in Barbados, but plans are afoot to address the situation. Consultant nephrologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Nerissa Jurawan, said she was deeply concerned there were about 300 patients on dialysis treatment between two and three times per week at the Martindale’s Road, St Michael facility. She revealed that people as young as 25 years old were on dialysis. “For the size of the population, 300 patients is a lot,” she told the Daily Nation, shortly after the QEH Kidney Unit accepted a donation from the British Women’s Club of Barbados of two i-STAT Creatinine test machines designed to enable early detection of kidney disease. (DN)

282 JUSTICE OF THE PEACES SWORN IN – Justices of the Peace (JPs) will have a significant role to play as Barbados continues to rebuild its communities. Both Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Attorney General Dale Marshall reminded them of this fact as an unprecedented 282 men and women of all ages and backgrounds hailing from communities all over Barbados took their oaths of office at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre this evening. Prime Minister Mottley described the position of Justice of the Peace as “a noble tradition, where people who are held in high esteem by their peers within their communities have a role to play in maintaining law and social stability.” She noted that the selection process was an arduous one, and some of their responsibilities included signing search warrants, signing of documents and photographs for those applying for passports or citizenship, among other things. The Prime Minister also said: “Peace, stability and prosperity begins in the community, so we must look at strengthening the institutions that help to build this. Our legal framework was premised on an adversarial basis, wherein we look for victory from the party that best articulates their case, but JPs can help us as we look towards alternative dispute resolution methods on the community level.” Attorney General Dale Marshall said there was no statute governing the appointment of JPs, but it was done by “exercising royal prerogative”, and he reminded them that they were not expected to charge money for the services they provide to the people they serve. He urged them: “You have to become the centrepiece of your community and we urge you to join us as we rebuild this country.” Justices of the Peace were first appointed in England in the eleventh century, where they were described as “Men appointed to guard the peace of the King”, and they have served in many different judicial capacities over the centuries. (BT)

CADDLE: REEVALUATION OF WOMEN’S WORK NECESSARY – Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Marsha Caddle says there needs to be a rethink of the value of jobs towards which women currently gravitate. She contended that the traditional yardstick for valuing these roles are out of whack with the current reality and this has led to economic disparities between the sexes, even though more women graduate from institutions of higher learning. The minister made the remarks during the launch of a report by UN Women, which was held at UN House, this morning. The report entitled, Status of Women and Men Report: A Gender Analysis of Labour Force Data and Policy Frameworks in Six CARICOM Member States, provided insight into progress made with regards to achieving gender equality in the world of work. The minister said that while in Barbados women are close to parity with men when it comes to wages for performing the same duties, society does not ascribe high value to a number of the critical jobs in female-dominated fields. “Men tend to occupy positions where they operate heavy equipment and machinery while women tend to be in service and care work in the informal and formal economy. This fact is mirrored across all sectors of the economy. This is in part one of the reasons for the disparity in women’s income because we know that these professions where women tend to be focused, somehow tend to attract a lower level of wages,” said Caddle. She added, “The conversation for equal pay for equal work of equal value is very important. Those last three words [of equal value] are important because it is about how we value the work that is done in our communities and in our economies.” Caddle argued that the care industry, both formal and informal, remains one of the roles which is grossly undervalued, even though its existence facilitates all other jobs. “Care work has to be seen as more valuable than it currently is. It has to be remunerated practically. This field is responsible for the population of entire civilizations and entire workforces. We know the value of unpaid care work; we know the value of care work in the formal and informal sector and it is time that the remuneration of the work reflects that value,” Caddle stressed. She revealed that to this end, Government was seeking to change the work culture in order to have more flexible work environments, such as, working from home, creating spaces for children at the office and childcare facilities at industrial complexes. “We are promoting breastfeeding and feed management arrangements in the workplace. This is just one of the areas of flexibility that we are working with and is required. Breastfeeding must not be seen as one of those things that must only be done at home because the rearing of entire generations of people certainly cannot be a private matter. We have to open up the workspace to be able to account for and allow for all of these arrangements,” Caddle explained. (BT)

BARBADOS CLOSING WORKPLACE GENDER GAP – Barbados has been recognised as one of the Caribbean countries leading the charge in closing the gender gap in the workplace, which has fueled the equal pay for equal work discord. This is according to a just released report by UN Women, entitled, Status of Women and Men Report: A Gender Analysis of Labour Force Data and Policy Frameworks in Six CARICOM Member States. In the summary of the report delivered by Deputy Representative of the UN Women Multi-Country Office, Tonni Brodber, it was noted that despite significant investments in education, structural barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment persist in the labour market. The report provides a gender analysis of the labour force in six CARICOM Member States, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. However, Brodber revealed that Barbados and Jamaica were the two countries where the hourly rate for women is almost at the same level as their male counterparts. She also revealed that 49 per cent of the managers in the Barbadian workforce are women. “Barbadian women earn on average 95.4 per cent of what Barbadian men earn. But when controlling for education, Barbados women who are educated up to the primary level earn four dollars less than their male counterparts; those who are educated up to the secondary school level earn $1.67 less; and 63 cents less than men if they are educated up to the university level. Women comprise 49 per cent of managers in Barbados,” Brodber revealed. Barbados has also bettered the international averages when it comes to closing the gap between men and women finding employment after completing their university degrees. It was revealed that globally 41.5 per cent of women with a university degree are outside of the labour force or unemployed, but only 17.2 per cent of men are in this situation. In Barbados, 38 per cent of women are educated up to the tertiary level compared to 31 per cent of men. But the employment rate for Barbadian women, based on 2017 data, is 55 per cent compared to 63 per cent for men. In the report, the island was praised for its initiatives in subsidizing nursery care, as unpaid care work was still one of the factors which kept women out of the workforce. In addition, it was revealed that Barbados was among a handful of countries, which have implemented sexual harassment legislation, an area which has also been identified as a major hindrance to women in the labour force. “Globally, several research studies have confirmed that unpaid care work was the main reason women were outside the labour force. Universal access to day care from birth to three years old is therefore vital. Barbados, with its subsidised nursery programme, has and can continue to lead the way in reaching universal access to this key service,” Brodber pointed out.” She added, “Data on the prevalence of sexual harassment in Barbados is not available. However, sexual harassment and violence do hinder women’s employment prospects and their productivity while at work. Barbados is one of a handful of CARICOM countries with sexual harassment legislation. More robust enforcement of this legislation can create a more enabling environment for women in the world of work.” However, it was made clear that Government could not rest on its laurels, as there was much more work still to be done, if total gender equality is to be realized within the workplace. Among the key recommendations coming out of the report were for the establishment of an ‘equal pay for work of equal value legislation’; the alleviation of the burden of unpaid work in the home through policies that enable women to reconcile paid and unpaid care responsibilities; improvement of access to quality, affordable childcare facilities; improvement of access to productive resources and an investigation of what can be done to expand entrepreneurial opportunities.” (BT)

MINISTER SILENT ON ATTACK AGAINST WORKER – Minister of Home Affairs Edmund Hinkson is remaining mum regarding yesterday’s alleged attack on a female worker of the state-owned correctional institution for juveniles at Barrows, St Lucy. Police are currently investigating the alleged assault against the employee of the Government Industrial School (GIS) by a 13-year-old inmate in which the worker claimed that she was “cuffed” at the back of her head. However, Hinkson, whose ministry is responsible for that institution told Barbados TODAY this morning it would be improper for him to comment now that it is a police matter. “It would be improper for me to do so when the matter is under investigation,” he said. Police confirmed to Barbados TODAY yesterday evening that they received the report from an employee of the alleged assault on the staff member at around 9:50 in the morning. It was revealed that the employee was temporarily stunned by a blow and sought medical attention at a private doctor soon after speaking with the police. But while declining to speak on yesterday’s incident, Minister Hinkson referred Barbados TODAY to pending Child Justice legislation, which among other things, will give magistrates a significantly wider discretion to impose community-based, restorative justice or correctional supervision sentences rather than confinement to the GIS. He explained that the Child Justice Bill, which he expects Parliament to debate by April next year, would most probably, with some amendments, fundamentally change the manner in which matters that go before the Magistrates’ Court involving an accused child will be dealt with. “Emphasis will be on diversion in order to enable the court to remove the case from formal judicial proceedings and to consequently be able to adopt informal procedures for punishment and rehabilitation of the child,” Hinkson said. He said there would also be a greater and earlier involvement of probation officers than is presently the case, and Magistrates would be liberally empowered to halt the initial inquiry into a criminal offence in order to deal with the child’s care and protection. He noted that because of the “revolutionary alteration of the present system,” detailed consideration is required on how best to implement and operationalize the Bill. “As such, a sub-committee of the Cabinet was formed to make recommendations on this area to the Cabinet. UNICEF is also providing its expert advice in this regard, free of costs to the Government, Hinkson stated. He pointed out that the number of girls and boys confined to the correctional facility has fallen from between 50-60 when he became minister almost 17 months ago to 31 now, comprising 16 girls and 15 boys. “Furthermore, as authorized by legislation, I recently gave early release to eight juveniles who had been sentenced to the institution for offences such as refractory behaviour, wandering, breach of probation and assault and who had already been confined for over 21 months in each case after being sentenced to three-year terms in some cases or until their 18th birthday in others,” he announced. “This has provided one of them with the opportunity to return to secondary school while two or three of them have been provided with employment opportunities. I will personally intercede on behalf of the others to have them placed in the near future in the Youth Advance Corps programme initiated last month by the Government,” the Cabinet Minister said. (BT)

NOT GUILTY – “Just stay out of trouble!” Attorney-at-law Arthur Holder gave that advice to his client Anderson Busby, moments after he walked out of the Supreme Court a free man after beating a manslaughter case today. At exactly 5:38 p.m. this evening, Justice Randall Worrell told the 34-year-old Busby that he was free to go after a 12-member jury unanimously found him not guilty of unlawfully killing Devon Taylor, formerly of Gills Road, St Michael, on October 13, 2012. The jury deliberated for two hours and eight minutes before bringing back the decision. “Madam foreman and all your members, I thank you,” Busby said as he stood in the dock. When asked by members of the media for a comment, a smiling Busby replied, “I don’t want to talk, I just want to spend some time with my family”. He then walked out the courtroom and the Supreme Court embraced by two women, said to be family members. Busby then stopped for a short while to shake hands with Arthur and Rhea Layne, his legal representatives, before being hugged by a male who was on the outskirts of the court. But his road to freedom today was not before a question by the jury to clarify their seeming uncertainty. Before giving their verdict, the jury sought the direction of Justice Worrell after they were unable to unanimously agree after deliberating for two hours. They queried if they should be guided by whether the prosecutor had proved its case or whether it was a case of self defence. Justice Worrell advised them that their decision should be based on all the evidence that had been presented during the three-week long trial. “If you find based on the evidence that he was acting in lawful self defence then you cannot find him guilty and if you have any doubt then you have to find him not guilty,” Justice Worrell said. “If you find that he did not need to defend himself then self defence does not arrive. If the force was more than reasonably necessary then he was not acting in self defence and you have to return a verdict of guilty.” At that point, Justice Worrell said the court would accept a majority verdict. Five minutes later the jury returned with their verdict. Principal Crown Counsel Alliston Seale appeared on behalf of the Crown. The court had heard during the trial that Taylor who was 16-years-old at the time, died after sustaining six stab wounds to the left side of his body and lost eight litres of blood after being involved in a brawl. Throughout the trial, Busby had maintained his innocence, claiming that he had acted in self defence after being attacked by Taylor. Dr Margaret O’Shea, part of the medical team that performed surgery on Taylor at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) testified that there was a laceration to the deceased’s chest, a major vein was totally cut in his chest and there were four litres of blood left in his chest cavity. Dr O’Shea, who performed two surgeries on Busby, also testified that Busby received life-threatening injuries. She said Busby had sustained injuries to his stomach, pancreas and kidney and had lost 3.5 litres of blood. (BT)

EDWARDS: A GUILTY CALL GIRL – A non-national who stole a cell phone belonging to a ‘client’ after he refused to pay her for sexual services provided will have to wait until Friday to learn her fate. Just as Magistrate Joy-Ann Clarke was about to fine Tiffany Maria Edwards after she pleaded guilty to stealing a $600 cellphone belonging to O’Brien Weekes on May 25, 2018, the court was alerted to the fact that the accused had not regularized her status on the island. Sergeant Vernon Waithe revealed that Edwards has arrived on the island on March 18, 2018 as a visitor. Additionally, he said the accused also had two other matters before the court, one of which was indictable. He asked the magistrate to remand her until Friday when a decision could be made on how to proceed. (BT)

ABUSER JAILED – For stabbing his lover in a fit of rage after she threatened to leave him, Andre Jamal Henry will spend the next six months incarcerated at HMP Dodds. That was the sentence handed down by Magistrate Joy-Ann Clarke, when Henry reappeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates Court today. The 37-year-old of St David’s, Christ Church, had been remanded last Wednesday pending sentencing. On that appearance he had pleaded guilty to unlawfully and maliciously wounding Ashaki Williams on October 3, 2019. As he stood in the dock, the magistrate told him that his actions had resulted in Williams suffering serious injuries to her left hand, including an injury that required 20 stitches. She then told him that only a term of imprisonment would suffice. “A crime like this, especially stabbing someone with a scissors is a very serious offence. “Unfortunately, I will have to sentence you to imprisonment because this crime is just too serious,” the magistrate told him moments before imposing the sentence. On hearing the news a tense looking Henry bowed his head and released a loud gasp. According to the facts of the case, the accused and complainant were in a relationship and have a two-year-old daughter. They lived at the complainant’s residence at Lower Collymore Rock, St Michael. However, the relationship was rocky and the two frequently had arguments. Around 6:20 a.m. on October 3 an argument started and the complainant told the accused she wanted to leave the relationship. She then left the residence and got into her car and tried to leave but the accused ran in front of the car blocking her path. The complainant then opened her door for her mother and the accused used the opportunity to jump into the car. After locking the doors of the car he took a scissors out of his pocket and stabbed at her. She used her hands to shield herself and as a result received injuries to her left palm and left index finger. The complainant’s sister eventually came to her rescue by using a brick to break the driver’s side window which allowed her to escape. The injured woman sought medical attention and received the stitches to her hand. The accused subsequently turned himself into police on October 15. (BT)

KING: TAP INTO THE NCF – The National Cultural Foundation, the biggest event planner in Barbados, should not be seen as the organising body for just NIFCA and Crop Over but an entity that could be utilised by national sporting federations in the island.  Minister of Sport, Culture and Creative Economy John King expressed this view during a media conference held today by the Barbados Amateur Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation, after questions were raised about the standard of the annual schoolboy bodybuilding and schoolgirl body fitness competition organised by the National Sports Council.  There were queries about whether the sound system would be improved for this year’s competitions scheduled for November 15 and about the late entries of competitors that often forced the show towards a 10.p.m. finish.  “I sit and often wonder on the sidelines of sport and working outside of this job why a lot of government entities and sports council and federations would not use the National Cultural Foundation as part and parcel of being able to help them to organise a lot of stuff that they do. If you talk about creating a new culture or a healthy lifestyle – that is culture. So, I will implore you to seek out the National Cultural Foundation and see if their events planning department can help you with these things. Because it cannot be that all we see the NCF as doing is NIFCA and Crop Over. It cannot be. There is a lot more that we can do if we just begin to reach across borders and work with each other.  “I don’t see why you should even have a problem with sound systems and all these kinds of things. Not when you have a National Cultural Foundation sitting down there which is responsible for all of these things. So, I am saying to you reach out to the NCF or reach out to the ministry itself and if we have to give the instructions from there to make it happen we are willing to do that, “ King said.  Meanwhile, assistant director at the National Sports Council Mona Alleyne in response to those questions said screening would be done this year. She also added that even though there was no sponsor at this point in time for the bodybuilding and fitness competition, the NSC would ensure that competitors from first to sixth place got prizes for their participation. (BT)

PUMP IT UP – The Barbados Amateur Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation (BABBFF) has plans to attract more individuals into the sport next year as they aim to target more young people within the schools and the wider community, says president Dr Alfred Sparman. Sparman spoke of those plans this morning at the Wildey Gymnasium where the eight-member team that represented Barbados at the just concluded Central American and Caribbean Championships held in Santo Domingo earlier this month, were celebrated by the association for their performances. According to Sparman, the BABBFF has ten to 11 professionals and the intention going forward was not only to host the Diamond Cup in Barbados every year but to make it a high class event. The local federation also hopes to develop bodybuilders in Barbados the size of the Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dexter Jackson and Phil Heath, some of the world’s greatest to ever grace the stage. Sparman emphasised that Barbados which has produced outstanding bodybuilders over the years will continue to maintain a clean slate and he encouraged this current generation to build a brand considering the scandals surrounding drug use in the sport. “We want to advocate a very clean sport, but there are rules for bodybuilding. As a matter of fact, we just heard about something coming up in 2020 where they will have lots of money out there for clean bodybuilders. So there are places out there for clean pros. “They are lots of events and competitions all over the world in the United States, Canada, everywhere, and now that they have become pros all they have to do is get there and of course there are monetary rewards… So, if you work very hard and you can compete at the international level that is how you get your finances. (BT)

TAKE A BREAK SUKI – Barbados draughts champion Ronald “Suki” King should recharge his batteries before re-entering the arena. That’s the advice being offered by arch-rival Jack Francis following King’s humiliating 8-1 thrashing by Sergio Scarpetta during the recently concluded Three Move Restriction title challenge played at various venues here. “What I feel Suki should do now is to hang up his gloves for at least two years and come back in 2022. If he does that, then I believe he will be able to recharge his batteries. He has been playing world-class draughts for so long now that I could understand where his so-called tiredness would be coming from mentally, physically, emotionally and psychologically,” he told NATIONSPORT. (DN)

NOT ON TRACK – United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Didier Trebucq is not convinced that Barbados and other countries are on track to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they are aiming for by 2030. And he is calling on young people to help drive the necessary change. Trebucq was addressing the Take #Oneaction for the SDGs Media Zone and Spoken Word Challenge at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) today, to mark United Nations Day, which is in its 74th year. UN Day is officially October 24. “Today we wanted to hear from you about the future that you want, and what better way to do this than to talk about the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said. “We know that we are not on track, and that is our main message. We are not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals if we continue on the path we are on,” Trebucq insisted. While congratulating the Mia Mottley led administration for its policies and progress being made in the area of youth development, and pledging continued support from the UN, the official said a lot more effort was needed. “The work requires further action. The world requires, and each country requires the action of young people. So we need you to foster changes. And of course, the UN as an organisation is with you,” he said. The SDGs are a set of targets agreed to by countries around the world in 2015 as it relates to human and country development. They include the alleviation of poverty and hunger, gender equality, clean water and sanitation for all, good health and well-being, quality education, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, climate action, justice and strong institutions. Minister of Youth and Community Empowerment Adrian Forde agreed that young people had a major role to play in the country achieving the SDGs. “As a country we cannot have a sustainable development goal and a policy unless it involves our young people. Whenever you talk about sustainable development you have to talk about our young people being the active players,” said Forde. He said it was for that reason that Government has been developing and implementing various youth policies as it focused on tackling a range of social issues as well as challenges associated with climate change. Pointing to the devastating impacts of climate change, Forde said it was critical that Barbados reduce its carbon dioxide levels and fossil fuel use, a mission he said government was working towards under the National Energy Policy for 2030. He said government was keen on protecting its oceans, since this could affect the island’s bread and butter tourism industry. “All of these things must inform how we as young persons threat to climate change,” said Forde, who put aside his prepared speech to “speak from the heart”. “I know that the young persons we have in Barbados will do everything to protect the environment, their country. And I want to recommit as a government that we will also play our part.” Director in the Office of Student Services at the Cave Hill campus Dale Lynch said global warming was threatening the existence of small economies in the region, adding that despite efforts, some gains were being eroded. She said the university was playing its part in helping to ensure the sustainable goals were achieved through its education and social programmes and developing well-rounded individuals. “The role of faculty in supporting national efforts to address societal concerns through research and projects is high on our performance agenda,” said Lynch, adding that the UWI’s social programmes provided a platform for students to give back to their communities. Through the spoken word, representatives from the various organisations at the UWI shared their vision and put forward recommendations on how individuals, businesses and governments can take action against climate change and other issues in order to achieve the SDGs. The Association of Bahamian Students emerged the winner in the spoken word challenge. (BT)

UP TO PAR – Hoteliers are being reminded of the importance of continuous training and upgrading of skills of their workers if they are to adequately compete with the rest of the world for tourism dollars. This message was hammered home on Wednesday at the Barbados Hilton Resort, as six individuals from five hotels across the island were awarded with scholarships to study revenue management and digital marketing. Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Senator Rudy Grant congratulated the scholarship winners, while disclosing that he was in discussions with the Ministry of Education and representatives of the Hospitality Institute at the PomMarine to see how best they could enhance the programmes there. “As we seek to compete with the rest of the world, and we accept that the world is now a small global village . . ., we need to ensure that we have all of the relevant skills, the competencies, the knowledge in order to facilitate a phenomenal experience for our visitors when they come to Barbados. That is very critical,” said Grant. “What will distinguish Barbados is not necessarily the type of marketing we engage in although that is extremely important. It is not necessarily what we have to offer naturally although that is important as well. It is not necessarily the airlift capacity, and that is critical. But what will distinguish Barbados relates to our individuals – Barbadians and their warmth, love, sincerity and the genuine manner in which they deliver service,” he concluded. Grant did not give details, but said discussions on the enhancement of the programmes at the Hospitality Institute were in the early stages. “We have to ensure that we are relevant for the times, and we have to ensure that our training institution is fit for the purpose of providing the skills necessary for us to globally become competitive in this very important industry,” he said. It was back in May last year during an education fundraiser event dubbed Paint and Groove that the idea of offering educational opportunities to workers in the tourism industry came about. It was then decided that training and development in the areas of revenue management and digital marketing needed to be enhanced. As such, Expedia, through a partnership with the BHTA and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), decided to offer part scholarships for studies at the eCornell University for a number of local hotel workers. Marketing Manager for Expedia in Barbados Josea Browne said during the Paint and Groove event last year some $10,000 was raised for the grants. “We got it matched by a corporate sponsor. So then we were able to double the number of scholarships that we were able to offer. We originally wanted to do three, but we were able to do six in the end,” reported Browne. The six scholarship winners came from a field of 15 applicants. Each scholarship is worth US$1,800, a 50 per cent value of the total cost for the studies. The scholarship winners are Natalie Franklyn from Dover Beach Hotel, Melissa Defreitas of Ocean Hotels, Kyle Callender of Infinity on the Beach, Tanya Broomes of Royal Glitter Bay Villas, Sheena Goodridge of Cobblers Cove and Krystal Griffith of Infinity on the Beach. Congratulating the hotel workers on their latest achievement, president of the CHTA Patricia Affonso-Dass said she was delighted at the opportunity to provide educational support with the help of the Expedia Group. “Also, we have begun wider discussions at the regional level between CHTA and Expedia Group with respect to people development and human resources management. We are excited by that,” said Affonso-Dass. (BT)

STUDENTS TO TRACE THEIR ROOTS – Students in Barbados can now get to work to creating their family trees. The Genealogy Schools Project has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Education to encourage students at both the primary and secondary level to create their own family trees. The competition which will have various categories and students will be encouraged to be as creative as possible in their presentations, was launched at the Archives Department, today. It will also coincide with Barbados’ Vision 2020:We Gathering celebrations, which will seek to invite the Barbadian Diaspora back home. Giving an overview of the competition, manager of innovation and strategy at the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), Terry Vanterpool-Cox, said BTMI and the Department of Archives and COPA Airlines were working collaboratively to bring more awareness to the topic of genealogy, a niche market for the tourism industry worldwide. “For decades Barbadians and visitors have expressed an interest in their ancestral heritage and so we would also wish to awaken this same enthusiasm in the children of Barbados,” Vanterpool-Cox said. The competition will be conducted in two age categories, including a Junior Division and Senior Division. According to the rules of the competition, which will climax in October 2020, students must submit one family tree representing both sides of their family, and each tree must be accompanied by a summary in English. The presentations should be on a standard 22”x28” Bristol board.          While presentations must be printed or handwritten, pictures will be an asset and entries will be judged on creativity, content and quality. The prizes include trips to Panama, tablets and cash. (BT)

CURTAIN CALL – Students of St Leonard’s School were among the first to watch the pilot of Barbados’ first musical film You Never Know when it was launched at their school today. Writer and director of the short film, Jade Gibbons, told Barbados TODAY that the production, which is rated G, sends a message to viewers. “The composer Shakiel Stoute is actually a former St Leonard’s boy and our lead actor Dario Squires is also a former St Leonard’s student, so they felt that this would be a fitting place for us to just show the film and launch it just to get the feedback from the students. “We are using the session as a workshop, so it is not just about showing the film, but we want to have a holistic message. So we began with Mr Squires who is a professional swim coach and he is also certified in first aid and counselling. “He gave them a brief introduction about himself and about his experiences working in the prison and what prisoners say in terms of the choices that they made and what landed them in the position that they are in,” Gibbons said. As it relates to making choices, the filmmaker shared that the message behind the film was that choices an individual makes today impacts the future he or she has tomorrow. The film which will be officially available online from November 15, stars Dario Squires, Dereja Mason, Donna Gibbons-Browne, Jamal Dawe, Abigail Gall and Ki’ann Browne. Gibbons, a graduate of Harrison College, Winchester University, Hampshire, and the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, said those interested in the film would be able to purchase it on jadegibbons246.com. “To rent the film is going to be US$4. Rental means you have 30 days to start watching and once you start watching it you have 24 hours to watch it as much as you want. Or alternatively, you can buy the film for US$5.99 which means that it is yours forever. You can use any credit card or visa debit card or master debit card,” she said. The writer and producer of Gibbons Creative Education also indicated that she was now exploring the possibility of having a school tour where students would be allowed to watch the film at a discounted rate. “If there are any schools out there who wants us to come you can contact us through our website. We are also looking into doing an official screening next year January for Errol Barrow Day,” Gibbons said. Following the launch, some students said they were impressed with the high quality of the film and called for more to be added to it since they considered it to be too short. (BT)

SWINGING & SWAYING – The elegant waltz, precision-focused paso doble and fast-paced quickstep were among the dance styles featured in the 2019 edition of the Livy and Betty Alleyne Ballroom Dance Centre Stars of the Future competition. Founders of the group, husband and wife duo, Livingstone and Betty Alleyne, have dedicated their lives to teaching the artform. They have received international acclaim, being awarded the Dancesport International Award by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) in London for their continued contribution to dance. Their inaugural local contest took place in 2001 and they have been churning out award-winning dancers since then. For the past three years, they have copped the highest awards at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. Last year, Shane Alleyne and Aleksandra Przybylak won the Gold Star and Above Level; Zachary Hamid and Ambia Paris were the Gold Latin winners and Cherise Rollock won gold in Bronze Latin. They are determined to show that a small island like Barbados can continue to be a force to be reckoned with in dance as they are soon set to return to Blackpool for this year’s contest. Betty confirmed, “We have a high achieving team as usual. We normally place in finals of most categories we enter, and I expect the same thing this year. We not only place in finals annually, but we are triple gold winners in some categories.”  She added, “We look forward to the exciting atmosphere in the large hall filled with over 5, 000 persons and the competitions, one at a time.” Dance Stars for the Future, which was hosted on Saturday evening in the auditorium of the St Leonard’s Boys’ School, is part of the preparation process to assist the 30-member strong contingent get ready for their trip. This international competition will see the delegation competing with dancers from across the United Kingdom as their quest for more medals continues. Every effort is being made to ensure that they are competition-ready and in prime form to make their mark on the world stage. Competitors squaring off before the judges ranged in ages from under 8 to over 65 and competed in categories spanning from pre-bronze, which is the beginner’s level, straight up to the gold level. Many of the competitors pulled out all the stops, donning vibrant eye-catching costumes to match their style of dance. Though some of the divisions only had one entrant, that did not deter the dancers from putting their best foot forward. In some instances, multiple age categories took to the dance floor once they were performing the same dance style. This atmosphere of having to manoeuvre around other dancers was optimum to prepare them for the international realm. Also, in preparation for the stringent guidelines at that higher-level, participants were summoned only using the numbers they received at registration. Among the myriad of dancers who excelled were Alexander Price-Greaves and Daniel Jones winning Youth Silver/Gold and Youth Gold for Ballroom. Though just 17 and 15 years old respectively, they will show their mettle as they face off in the adult category in Blackpool. Alleyne said: “Stars of the Future competition went really good on Saturday evening. I think more supporters and competitors of the dance form would have added to the night. The competition was very warm, competitive and filled with excitement on a whole.” (BT)

FLAIR, STYLE, SOCA –Jodie Williams was made for the stage. Writing skills? That’s a check! The ability to sing and act? Big check! Good looks? That’s a plus as well! From the age of 14 he was putting in the effort penning his own poetic works and songs. He told Bajan Vibes that he has no favourite genre to perform or write as he does both and has a catalogue of work including soca songs, pop, rap, R&B and dancehall. However, he said that soca songs tend to be easier for him to write. But who is Jodie and what keeps him going? “I am just [a laid-back guy] who loves chilling with close friends and drinking wine and having conversations. I love to make people laugh and I genuinely like to see people enjoying themselves and having fun,” he explained. “My motivational slogan is that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” he added. Though Jodie has a resilient personality, he said he’s been getting challenges with exposure. “I find it hard to get interviews, but my song Do De Dawg this year was well received. However, it was extremely difficult getting interviews. Certain individuals would read my messages, look at them and refused to respond… people were asking why the song was not getting a lot more airplay for a well-written song,” he said. The resident of Christ Church said that as a newcomer he was not surprised by the ignorance of DJ’s and radio personalities, so he doubled his efforts towards bettering his craft and pushing his entertainment goals. He then decided to rebrand himself and started to call himself Mr Williams. “The name came from my girlfriend who said that I’m a sophisticated type of guy who dresses in suits and my friends started to address me by that name,” he said. The 27-year-old said that his parents were very supportive, but he has another goal which they also throw their support behind. “I would like to become a coach and finish my second degree in physical education. My first degree was Law and Sociology,” he explained. At this moment he is looking to create a name known locally and regionally for himself as a singer and writer. He added that he is also interested in working with international artists. “My advice for other artists is to keep working and sculpting your craft, push your music. You don’t have to sit back and wait on the radio stations to play your music because it may never play. Use other mediums to project your music. Don’t be deterred from being rejected. It’s all a part of the process and have fun doing what you love.” (BT)

HIS “IMPOSSIBLE DREAM” CAME TRUE - In what may have felt like an impossible dream Damien Smith has finally been able to lift the Richard Stoute Over 21 Competition title. After repeatedly knocking at the door, Smith has finally been able to take the top position. Looking dapper in both appearances, the singer’s experience was evident in his polished delivery of You Never Walk Alone and the aptly titled Impossible Dream. He showed restraint where necessary in his performance and let loose at just the right moments earning 863 points. Fourteen points separated Smith from second placed finisher Zoe Armstrong. Just before declaring the winner, chief judge Sheldon Hope indicated just how close the battle for the top places was. He shared, “In the first half, one person was leading and then in the second half, the other person took the lead but because the first half score was just a bit higher, that person held on for the win.” Armstrong has a theatrical style which seems tailor made for stage productions. Her fashion choices matched her song choices. Her flowy, baby blue ensemble matched the light-hearted feel of Colours of the Wind and her wine coloured, sequined bordered dress was a fitting choice for the operatic I Dream a Dream. The beauty of her voice was on full display. Crowd favourite Rashida Codrington took third place with 804 points. She was the first performer on stage and her inspirational In the Name of the Lord set the tone for what the expectation would be for the other 13 competitors. She poured out her heart with her passionate delivery of her second song I Who Have Nothing. She even dropped to her knees at the close of the song. Fourth place was awarded to Anita Charles with 766 points. In the opening half, she performed the calypso Ghetto Cry. Her phrasing and diction were on point. She returned in the second half with the reggae version of Someone Like You. The top five were rounded out by Laverne Smith with 746 points. She struggled with the higher notes in her first half rendition of Listen, but she seemed more comfortable with When You Tell Me That You Love Me. One competitor left disappointed on competition night would be Paul Legall. The crooner delivered a flawless presentation with Bridge Over Troubled Water and was poignant with the emotionally charged The Day You Gave Me a Son. With the soothing quality to his beautiful voice he should have comfortably been among the top placed finishers and it was hard luck that he was not among the frontrunners. It was undeniable that the judges had a difficult task cut out for them. Murmurs among the audience suggested they believed Tricia Maynard had done enough to be in the top order. Her jazzy rendition of Summertime with a slowed tempo was well received and so too was her dramatic interpretation of Gabby’s Emmerton. Unfortunately, she was shut out. Other competitors in the final were Sandy Samuels, Bentley Jones, Shane Headley, Juanita Paul, Benoni Blackett, Sherry Ann Husbands and Anne-Marie Boyce. Guest performers included Shawnee and Arthur Moore. There will be a one week break and the competition will resume with the staging of the finals at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on November 3rd, 2019. (BT)

PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF – A feeling of sheer euphoria washed over Damien Smith when he realised after years of participation in the Richard Stoute Competition he was finally a champion. “From the time I heard the judge say contestant No. 6-Damien Smith, I felt a rush of excitement come over me. All I could do is smile from ear to ear and I said to myself, finally my hard work has paid off!” Smith was declared the winner of the Over 21 category on Sunday night as he eclipsed the 13 other competitors who were wrestling for the title. The 33-year-old is a former student of the Deighton Griffith Secondary School and is currently employed as a customer service officer with CIBC First Caribbean Bank. He gave Bajan Vibes some insight into who he is. He shared, “I started singing from the age of ten when I used to sing with The Canticles, which was a gospel group.” With a quick smile he admitted, “Well, I love a good party so a perfect night out for me would be at an all-inclusive party with great music, great food and drinks.” When not on stage, you can find him lounging on the beach or travelling. Also among his favourite activities in his downtime are going to the beach, surfing the Internet and catching up on his TV shows. Even 24 hours after taking the title he was still basking in the glow of triumph. “I’m still on my high, I feel fantastic, I’m getting a lot of comments from friends and family and other people who follow the show saying congratulations and it was well deserved,” he noted. Smith is cognisant that some of the island’s best entertainers have participated in this long running competition and that fact makes this victory even sweeter. He expressed, “Winning this show means I can say I’m a champion. A number of great talents in Barbados came through this show and now I can say I won said show.” Singing is one of Smith’s greatest loves and his face has become a staple at karaoke island wide. He shared, “I have won numerous karaoke competitions.” Recently, he impressed the judges in the Baje to the World competition in which participants are vying for the chance to participate in an international talent competition. Smith won the preliminary that was hosted in St George. His latest title is special to him. “This is a big win for me because this was the finals of an established competition and I came out on top,” he excitedly added. “I have entered the competition 5 times, first time I didn’t place, second time I came third, the third and fourth times I came second and now I’m the winner. So that’s why you would hear a lot of people say, ‘Finally’,” he laughingly explained. His continued participation in this musical contest has led to moments of introspection. He revealed, “Being involved in this competition has showed me how patient I am. I didn’t realise how much perseverance I had.” Beyond revealing his strength of character, he observed, “It has taught me to be confident in myself and my performances.” He has a rudimentary approach to preparation – it is all about getting into the right mind space. “Before competition, I say a prayer first, then I would find a quiet corner and get myself into competition mode. I go through my songs in my head over and over and I would also go through my performance in my head.” Hard work and dedication seldom fail and his contentment with finally reaching this pinnacle is unmatched, well, so far at least. He encouraged anyone who is thinking about charting a similar course to dive right in: “I would tell that person go for it, go to the workshop on Thursdays so you can get your training and give it your all!” (BT)

There are 69 days left in the year Shalom!  Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps #bajannewscaps #newsinanutshell

[tabbiecattt]

#falconpride🦅 Grateful so many community leaders stopped by for my favorite event at Albany High School. Businesspeople, attorneys, police officers, a judge and other prominent African-American professionals from the area spent time in Albany High classrooms on Tuesday talking about their jobs and how they achieved success during the school’s 2019 Black History Celebration. Among the luminaries sharing their stories were Judge Helena Heath; attorney Sherri Brooks; funeral director Shannon McLaughlin; Albany Commissioner of Recreation, Youth and Workforce Services Jonathan Jones; attorney Nairobi Vives; Community Outreach Coordinator City of Albany Eva Bass; DJ TGIF; Albany Board of Education member Tabetha Wilson; Pine Hills Elementary Principal Tia Corniel; Albany High home school coordinator Torrie Chapple; Kappa Alpha Psi member Larry Norville and Alpha Kappa Alpha member Natarsha Horton. Representatives from the anti-violence group 518 SNUG also took part, and several community groups staffed information tables. #allinforalbany (at Albany High School (New York)) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuZTWhph61YEm4sHzKVlhsbBAyYq6dc_fwYsR00/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=z82o5szlffj0

[thewebofslime]

At the headquarters of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, a paper sign balanced above room 107 and a threadbare square of carpet welcome a stream of foreign visitors to the Accident Investigation Bureau. The office – with three investigators and an annual budget of less than 2.5 million Birr ($89,000) – is leading a multi-party, multi-nation probe into what caused an Ethiopian Airlines flight to crash on March 10, killing all 157 people on board. Brusque foreign investigators in cargo pants and Ethiopians in suits or reflective vests wave away questions from reporters on how their inquiries are progressing. This modest agency is under intense international scrutiny because the results of its investigation could have far-reaching consequences for the global aviation industry. If the investigators highlight flaws in the 737 MAX 8 that echo a recent crash of the same model in Indonesia, their report could deal a major blow to Boeing, the world’s biggest planemaker and a massive U.S. exporter. But if investigators find Ethiopian Airlines fell short in maintenance, training or piloting, that could damage one of Africa’s most successful companies, a symbol of Ethiopia’s emergence as a regional power. Disagreements have broken out in Addis Ababa between Ethiopian authorities and foreign investigators over issues including the handling of evidence and crash site management, according to several sources close to the investigation. Kevin Humphreys, a former Irish regulator who founded the country’s air investigation agency, told Reuters the high stakes involved tend to make probes like this one particularly tough. “There are tensions because it is unrealistic to assume that international protocols are always going to work. There is a potentially important economic impact from such investigations.” An 18-strong team of American investigators has been sent to aid the Ethiopians with the inquiry, including representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Boeing, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which certified 737 MAX planes as safe. U.S. and some other foreign investigators are unhappy because Ethiopia is so far sharing only limited information, the sources said. “There is no opportunity for the international community to benefit and learn from this,” said one of them, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Some foreign officials are also unhappy about the prominent role Ethiopian Airlines played in the probe, suggesting a possible conflict of interests, they said. But one Addis Ababa-based source said the carrier’s role in the investigation does not necessarily indicate it is trying to exert undue influence. The airline is more likely involved because it is the most well-funded and staffed state enterprise able to help the over-stretched inquiry team, he added. “When you have a vacuum, someone has to fill it,” he said. Ethiopian Airlines’ spokesman Asrat Begachew said the carrier was supporting the investigation. “We are not taking the lead,” he added, declining to comment further. Under global aviation rules, interested parties like airlines and manufacturers are discouraged from speaking publicly about the investigation. Yet in the first days after the Flight 302 crash, Ethiopian Airlines made all of the public statements, including announcing the black box recorders would be sent overseas for data extraction. It was not until six days after the tragedy that the Ministry of Transport began briefing the media and public. Hours after the crash, Ethiopian Airlines tweeted a picture of its CEO Tewolde Gebremariam holding a piece of debris in the crater of the crash site, surprising aviation experts who said the site should have been preserved for investigators. Musie Yehyies, spokesman for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Transport, said the government had been quick to share information about the crash. He denied there was any mistrust between the Ethiopians and other parties. “Our friendship with the United States is obvious,” he told Reuters. “Plenty of governments have been offering assistance, and some of them have helped practically.” The ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the airline’s role in the investigation or any potential conflict of interest. Ethiopia’s Accident Investigation Bureau and civil aviation authority, which fall under the transport ministry, declined to comment on the investigation or any grievances of parties involved. Boeing, the FAA and the NTSB also declined to comment. BLACK BOXES The cockpit voice and flight data recorders were recovered the day after the crash, but it took Ethiopian investigators three days to decide where to send them for the information to be extracted and decoded. Like many fast-growing players, the Ethiopians do not have the technology to perform the task. In a sign of the distrust between the parties, the Ethiopians turned down an American offer to perform the analysis in the United States, according to two sources. U.S. authorities declined to comment. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde personally approached German authorities to request to send the black boxes to Germany to have the data extracted there, a separate source with knowledge of matter told Reuters. Airlines are not usually involved in such decisions, according to current and former investigators. The airline could not comment on the investigation, a spokesman said in response to questions about the incident. However German officials said they too did not have the most recent software needed to extract the data, so the devices were eventually sent to France. Partial data from the flight data recorder was shared informally late on Monday with U.S. and French investigators in Paris, but nothing from the cockpit voice recorder, three sources familiar with the matter said. It is common for the host investigator to closely guard voice recordings to protect privacy but unusual for relatively little data to be available a week after being downloaded. “As an investigator, it is hard to understand the logic behind withholding safety-of-flight information,” Greg Feith, a former senior air safety investigator with the NTSB, said on Facebook on Thursday. Ethiopia said on Thursday it had begun analyzing cockpit data and was working with U.S. and European experts. Following Ethiopian Airlines’ last major crash, outside Beirut in 2010, an investigation led by the Lebanese and to which France contributed blamed crew mismanagement of the aircraft and poor communication in the cockpit. The airline – led by the same CEO as today – said the report was “biased, lacking evidence, incomplete,” pointing to evidence of an explosion on board. HIGH STAKES Most crash investigations end up pinpointing a combination of factors. For decades, reconstructions by independent investigators have been credited with reducing air accidents to record low levels. The system of co-operation works by sticking to technical details and avoiding blame or other agendas. Safety experts worry that too many turf battles can cloud the progress of an investigation. “The sole purpose of an accident investigation is to reduce the chances of something ever happening again,” said Paul Hayes, safety director at the Flight Ascend Consultancy. The Flight 302 crash triggered the global grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX jets, wiping billions off the company’s market value. Also on the line are more than $500 billion worth of 737 MAX orders. Ethiopian Airlines is regulated by the country’s civil aviation authority, but its resources are far more extensive. The carrier’s operating revenue in the 2017/18 financial year was $3.7 billion. This dwarfs the regulator’s budget, which is 360 million Birr ($12.5 million) for this fiscal year. CRASH SITE Responsibility for leading the probe fell to Ethiopia because the crash occurred on its soil. Nairobi-bound Flight 302 went down into farmland minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa. The crash killed people from 35 countries, all of which are also entitled to examine the crash site and join in the investigation. America, China, Kenya, Britain, Canada, Israel, France and other nations have sent investigators. Some nations were unhappy that Ethiopia was using heavy earth-moving equipment at the site, potentially damaging evidence or human remains, although others said that was the only way to move heavy items such as engines. Some foreign officials also complained of being unable to access the site in the days after the crash. After Israel’s team were not given permission to visit the site, the Israeli prime minister eventually called the Ethiopian prime minister on Wednesday, a statement on the Israeli prime minister’s website said. A permission letter – from Ethiopian Airlines – was issued late on Thursday for the Israeli ambassador and emergency response unit ZAKA, a source familiar with the incident added. The European Union’s aviation safety agency, EASA, waited more than a week to be allowed to join the crash investigation. “The Ethiopian investigation body is very keen to keep a very, very closed circle around the investigation,” EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky told the European parliament on Monday. (Additional reporting by Jason Neely in Addis Ababa, Katharine Houreld in Nairobi, Georgina Prodhan in Paris and David Shepardson in Washington; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Alexandra Zavis and Pravin Char)

[sheminecrafts]

Facebook drafts a proposal describing how its new content review board will work

In November, Facebook announced a new plan that would revamp how the company makes content policy decisions on its social network — it will begin to pass off to an independent review board some of the more contested decisions. The board will serve as the final level of escalation for appeals around reported content, acting something like a Facebook Supreme Court. Today, Facebook is sharing (PDF) more detail about how this board will be structured, and how the review process will work.

Facebook earlier explained that the review board wouldn’t be making the first — or even the second — decision on reported content. Instead, when someone reports content on Facebook, the first two appeals will still be handled by Facebook’s own internal review systems. But if someone isn’t happy with Facebook’s decision, the case can make its way to the new review board to consider.

However, the board may not decide to take on every case that’s pushed up the chain. Instead, it will focus on those it thinks are the most important, the company had said.

Today, Facebook explains in more detail how the board will be staffed and how its decisions will be handled.

In a draft charter, the company says that the board will include experts with experience in “content, privacy, free expression, human rights, journalism, civil rights, safety, and other relevant disciplines.” The member list will also be public, and the board will be supported by a full-time staff that will ensure its decisions are properly implemented.

While decisions around the board makeup haven’t been made, Facebook is today suggesting the board should have 40 members. These will be chosen by Facebook after it publicly announces the required qualifications for joining, and says it will offer special consideration to factors like “geographical and cultural background,” and a “diversity of backgrounds and perspectives.”

The board will also not include former or current Facebook employees, contingent workers of Facebook or government officials.

Once this board is launched, it will be responsible for the future selection of members after members’ own terms are up.

Facebook believes the ideal term length is three years, with the term automatically renewable one time, for those who want to continue their participation. The board members will serve “part-time,” as well — a necessary consideration as many will likely have other roles outside of policing Facebook content.

Facebook will ultimately allow the board to have final say. It can reverse Facebook’s own decisions, when necessary. The company may then choose to incorporate some of the final rulings into its own policy development. Facebook may also seek policy advice from the board, at times, even when a decision is not pressing.

The board will be referred cases both through the user appeals process, as well as directly from Facebook. For the latter, Facebook will likely hand off the more controversial or hotly debated decisions, or those where existing policy seems to conflict with Facebook’s own values.

To further guide board members, Facebook will publish a final charter that includes a statement of its values.

The board will not decide cases where doing so would violate the law, however.

Cases will be heard by smaller panels that consist of a rotating, odd number of board members. Decisions will be attributed to the review board, but the names of the actual board members who decided an individual case will not be attached to the decision — that’s likely something that could protect them from directed threats and harassment.

The board’s decisions will be made public, though it will not compromise user privacy in its explanations. After a decision is issued, the board will have two weeks to publish its decision and explanation. In the case of non-unanimous decisions, a dissenting member may opt to publish their perspective along with the final decision.

Like a higher court would, the board will reference its prior opinions before finalizing its decision on a new case.

After deciding their slate of cases, the members of the first panel will choose a slate of cases to be heard by the next panel. That panel will then pick the third slate of cases, and so on. A majority of members on a panel will have to agree that a case should be heard for it to be added to the docket.

Because 40 people can’t reasonably represent the entirety of the planet, nor Facebook’s 2+ billion users, the board will rely on consultants and experts, as required, in order to gather together the necessary “linguistic, cultural and sociopolitical expertise” to make its decisions, Facebook says.

To keep the board impartial, Facebook plans to spell out guidelines around recusals for when a conflict of interest develops, and it will not allow the board to be lobbied or accept incentives. However, the board will be paid — a standardized, fixed salary in advance of their term.

None of these announced plans are final, just Facebook’s initial proposals.

Facebook is issuing them in draft format to gather feedback and says it will open up a way for outside stakeholders to submit their own proposals in the weeks ahead.

The company also plans to host a series of workshops around the world over the next six months, where it will get various experts together to talk about issues like free speech and technology, democracy, procedural fairness and human rights. The workshops will be held in Singapore, Delhi, Nairobi, Berlin, New York, Mexico City and other cities yet to be announced.

Facebook has been criticized for its handling of issues like the calls to violence that led to genocide in Myanmar and riots in Sri Lanka; election meddling from state-backed actors from Russia, Iran and elsewhere; its failure to remove child abuse posts in India; the weaponization of Facebook by the government in the Philippines to silence its critics; Facebook’s approach to handling Holocaust denials or conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones; and much more.

Some may say Facebook is now offloading its responsibility by referring the tough decisions to an outside board. This, after all, could potentially save the company itself from being held accountable for war crimes and the like. But on the other hand, Facebook has not shown itself capable of making reasonable policy decisions related to things like hate speech and propaganda. It may be time for it to bring in the experts, and let someone else make the decisions.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://tcrn.ch/2CN0jHT via IFTTT

[alliance00]

Top Recruitment Firms in Nairobi: Connecting Talent with Opportunity

Nairobi's recruitment firms play a vital role in connecting skilled candidates with employers across diverse industries. These firms, like Alliance Recruitment Agency, specialize in on-board and remote staffing services, streamlining the hiring process and helping organizations find the right talent effectively.

[technicalsolutions88]

In November, Facebook announced a new plan that would revamp how the company makes content policy decisions on its social network – it will begin to pass off some of the more contested decisions to an independent review board. The board will serve as the final level of escalation for appeals around reported content, acting something like a Facebook Supreme Court. Today, Facebook is sharing (PDF) more detail about how this board will be structured, and how the review process will work.

Facebook earlier explained that the review board wouldn’t be making the first – or even the second – decision on reported content. Instead, when someone reports content on Facebook, the first two appeals will still be handled by Facebook’s own internal review systems. But if someone isn’t happy with Facebook’s decisions, the case can make its way to the new review board to consider.

However, the board may not decide to take on every case that’s pushed up the chain. Instead, it will focus on those it thinks are the most important, the company had said.

Today, Facebook explains in more detail how the board will be staffed and how its decisions will be handled.

In a draft charter, the company says that the board will include experts with experience in “content, privacy, free expression, human rights, journalism, civil rights, safety, and other relevant disciplines.” The member list will also be public, and the board will be supported by a full-time staff who will ensure its decisions are properly implemented.

While decisions around the board makeup haven’t been made, Facebook is today suggesting the board should have 40 members. These will be chosen by Facebook after it publicly announces the required qualifications for joining, and says it will offer special consideration to factors like “geographical and cultural background,” and a “diversity of backgrounds and perspectives.”

The board will also not include former or current Facebook employees, contingent workers of Facebook or government officials.

Once this board is launched, it will be responsible for the future selection of members after members’ own terms are up.

Facebook believes the ideal term length is three years, with the term automatically renewable one time, for those who want to continue their participation. The board members will serve “part-time,” as well – a necessary consideration as many will likely have other roles outside of policing Facebook content.

Facebook will ultimately allow the board to have final say. It can reverse Facebook’s own decisions, when necessary. The company may then choose to incorporate some of the final rulings into its own policy development. Facebook may also seek out policy advice from the board, at times, even when a decision is not pressing.

The board will be referred cases both through the user appeals process, as well as directly from Facebook. For the latter, Facebook will likely hand off the more controversial or hotly debated decisions, or those where existing policy seems to conflict with Facebook’s own values.

To further guide board members, Facebook will publish a final charter that includes a statement of its values.

The board will not decide cases where doing so would violate the law, however.

Cases will be heard by smaller panels that consist of a rotating, odd number of board members. Decisions will be attributed to the review board, but the names of the actual board members who decided an individual case will not be attached to the decision – that’s likely something that will could them from directed threats and harassment.

The board’s decisions will be made public, though it will not compromise user privacy in its explanations. After the decision is issued, the board will have two weeks to publish its decision and explanation. In the case of non-unanimous decisions, a dissenting member may opt to publish their perspective along with the final decision.

Like a higher court would, the board will reference its prior opinions before finalizing its decision on a new case.

After deciding their slate of cases, the members of the first panel will choose a slate of cases to be heard by the next panel. That panel will then pick the third slate of cases, and so on. A majority of members on a panel will have to agree that a case should be heard for it to be added to the docket.

Because 40 people can’t reasonably represent the entirety of the planet, nor Facebook’s 2+ billion users, the board will rely on consultants and experts, as required, in order to gather together the necessary “linguistic, cultural and sociopolitical expertise” to make its decisions, Facebook says.

To keep the board impartial, Facebook plans to spell out guidelines around recusals for when a conflict of interest develops, and it will not allow the board to be lobbied or accept incentives. However, the board will be paid – a standardized, fixed salary in advance of their term.

None of these announced plans are final, just Facebook’s initial proposals.

Facebook is issuing them in draft format to gather feedback and says it will open up a way for outside stakeholders to submit their own proposals in the weeks ahead.

The company also plans on hosting a series of workshops around the world over the next six months, where it will get various experts together to talk about issues like free speech and technology, democracy, procedural fairness and human rights. The workshops will be held in Singapore, Delhi, Nairobi, Berlin, New York, Mexico City, and other cities yet to be announced.

Facebook has been criticized for its handling of issues like the calls to violence that led to genocide in Myanmar and riots in Sri Lanka; election meddling from state-backed actors from Russia, Iran, and elsewhere; its failure to remove child abuse posts in India; the weaponization of Facebook by the government in the Philippines to silence its critics; Facebook’s approach to handling Holocaust denials or conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones, and much more.

Some may say Facebook is now offloading its responsibility by referring the tough decisions to an outside board. This, after all, could potentially save the company itself from being held accountable for war crimes and the like. But on the other hand, Facebook has not shown itself capable of making reasonable policy decisions related to things like hate speech and propaganda. It may be time for it to bring in the experts, and let someone else make the decisions.

from Social – TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2CN0jHT Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

[toomanysinks]

Facebook drafts a proposal describing how its new content review board will work

In November, Facebook announced a new plan that would revamp how the company makes content policy decisions on its social network — it will begin to pass off to an independent review board some of the more contested decisions. The board will serve as the final level of escalation for appeals around reported content, acting something like a Facebook Supreme Court. Today, Facebook is sharing (PDF) more detail about how this board will be structured, and how the review process will work.

Facebook earlier explained that the review board wouldn’t be making the first — or even the second — decision on reported content. Instead, when someone reports content on Facebook, the first two appeals will still be handled by Facebook’s own internal review systems. But if someone isn’t happy with Facebook’s decision, the case can make its way to the new review board to consider.

However, the board may not decide to take on every case that’s pushed up the chain. Instead, it will focus on those it thinks are the most important, the company had said.

Today, Facebook explains in more detail how the board will be staffed and how its decisions will be handled.

In a draft charter, the company says that the board will include experts with experience in “content, privacy, free expression, human rights, journalism, civil rights, safety, and other relevant disciplines.” The member list will also be public, and the board will be supported by a full-time staff that will ensure its decisions are properly implemented.

While decisions around the board makeup haven’t been made, Facebook is today suggesting the board should have 40 members. These will be chosen by Facebook after it publicly announces the required qualifications for joining, and says it will offer special consideration to factors like “geographical and cultural background,” and a “diversity of backgrounds and perspectives.”

The board will also not include former or current Facebook employees, contingent workers of Facebook or government officials.

Once this board is launched, it will be responsible for the future selection of members after members’ own terms are up.

Facebook believes the ideal term length is three years, with the term automatically renewable one time, for those who want to continue their participation. The board members will serve “part-time,” as well — a necessary consideration as many will likely have other roles outside of policing Facebook content.

Facebook will ultimately allow the board to have final say. It can reverse Facebook’s own decisions, when necessary. The company may then choose to incorporate some of the final rulings into its own policy development. Facebook may also seek policy advice from the board, at times, even when a decision is not pressing.

The board will be referred cases both through the user appeals process, as well as directly from Facebook. For the latter, Facebook will likely hand off the more controversial or hotly debated decisions, or those where existing policy seems to conflict with Facebook’s own values.

To further guide board members, Facebook will publish a final charter that includes a statement of its values.

The board will not decide cases where doing so would violate the law, however.

Cases will be heard by smaller panels that consist of a rotating, odd number of board members. Decisions will be attributed to the review board, but the names of the actual board members who decided an individual case will not be attached to the decision — that’s likely something that could protect them from directed threats and harassment.

The board’s decisions will be made public, though it will not compromise user privacy in its explanations. After a decision is issued, the board will have two weeks to publish its decision and explanation. In the case of non-unanimous decisions, a dissenting member may opt to publish their perspective along with the final decision.

Like a higher court would, the board will reference its prior opinions before finalizing its decision on a new case.

After deciding their slate of cases, the members of the first panel will choose a slate of cases to be heard by the next panel. That panel will then pick the third slate of cases, and so on. A majority of members on a panel will have to agree that a case should be heard for it to be added to the docket.

Because 40 people can’t reasonably represent the entirety of the planet, nor Facebook’s 2+ billion users, the board will rely on consultants and experts, as required, in order to gather together the necessary “linguistic, cultural and sociopolitical expertise” to make its decisions, Facebook says.

To keep the board impartial, Facebook plans to spell out guidelines around recusals for when a conflict of interest develops, and it will not allow the board to be lobbied or accept incentives. However, the board will be paid — a standardized, fixed salary in advance of their term.

None of these announced plans are final, just Facebook’s initial proposals.

Facebook is issuing them in draft format to gather feedback and says it will open up a way for outside stakeholders to submit their own proposals in the weeks ahead.

The company also plans to host a series of workshops around the world over the next six months, where it will get various experts together to talk about issues like free speech and technology, democracy, procedural fairness and human rights. The workshops will be held in Singapore, Delhi, Nairobi, Berlin, New York, Mexico City and other cities yet to be announced.

Facebook has been criticized for its handling of issues like the calls to violence that led to genocide in Myanmar and riots in Sri Lanka; election meddling from state-backed actors from Russia, Iran and elsewhere; its failure to remove child abuse posts in India; the weaponization of Facebook by the government in the Philippines to silence its critics; Facebook’s approach to handling Holocaust denials or conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones; and much more.

Some may say Facebook is now offloading its responsibility by referring the tough decisions to an outside board. This, after all, could potentially save the company itself from being held accountable for war crimes and the like. But on the other hand, Facebook has not shown itself capable of making reasonable policy decisions related to things like hate speech and propaganda. It may be time for it to bring in the experts, and let someone else make the decisions.

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/28/facebook-drafts-a-proposal-describing-how-its-new-content-review-board-will-work/

[fmservers]

Facebook drafts a proposal describing how its new content review board will work

In November, Facebook announced a new plan that would revamp how the company makes content policy decisions on its social network – it will begin to pass off some of the more contested decisions to an independent review board. The board will serve as the final level of escalation for appeals around reported content, acting something like a Facebook Supreme Court. Today, Facebook is sharing (PDF) more detail about how this board will be structured, and how the review process will work.

Facebook earlier explained that the review board wouldn’t be making the first – or even the second – decision on reported content. Instead, when someone reports content on Facebook, the first two appeals will still be handled by Facebook’s own internal review systems. But if someone isn’t happy with Facebook’s decisions, the case can make its way to the new review board to consider.

However, the board may not decide to take on every case that’s pushed up the chain. Instead, it will focus on those it thinks are the most important, the company had said.

Today, Facebook explains in more detail how the board will be staffed and how its decisions will be handled.

In a draft charter, the company says that the board will include experts with experience in “content, privacy, free expression, human rights, journalism, civil rights, safety, and other relevant disciplines.” The member list will also be public, and the board will be supported by a full-time staff who will ensure its decisions are properly implemented.

While decisions around the board makeup haven’t been made, Facebook is today suggesting the board should have 40 members. These will be chosen by Facebook after it publicly announces the required qualifications for joining, and says it will offer special consideration to factors like “geographical and cultural background,” and a “diversity of backgrounds and perspectives.”

The board will also not include former or current Facebook employees, contingent workers of Facebook or government officials.

Once this board is launched, it will be responsible for the future selection of members after members’ own terms are up.

Facebook believes the ideal term length is three years, with the term automatically renewable one time, for those who want to continue their participation. The board members will serve “part-time,” as well – a necessary consideration as many will likely have other roles outside of policing Facebook content.

Facebook will ultimately allow the board to have final say. It can reverse Facebook’s own decisions, when necessary. The company may then choose to incorporate some of the final rulings into its own policy development. Facebook may also seek out policy advice from the board, at times, even when a decision is not pressing.

The board will be referred cases both through the user appeals process, as well as directly from Facebook. For the latter, Facebook will likely hand off the more controversial or hotly debated decisions, or those where existing policy seems to conflict with Facebook’s own values.

To further guide board members, Facebook will publish a final charter that includes a statement of its values.

The board will not decide cases where doing so would violate the law, however.

Cases will be heard by smaller panels that consist of a rotating, odd number of board members. Decisions will be attributed to the review board, but the names of the actual board members who decided an individual case will not be attached to the decision – that’s likely something that will could them from directed threats and harassment.

The board’s decisions will be made public, though it will not compromise user privacy in its explanations. After the decision is issued, the board will have two weeks to publish its decision and explanation. In the case of non-unanimous decisions, a dissenting member may opt to publish their perspective along with the final decision.

Like a higher court would, the board will reference its prior opinions before finalizing its decision on a new case.

After deciding their slate of cases, the members of the first panel will choose a slate of cases to be heard by the next panel. That panel will then pick the third slate of cases, and so on. A majority of members on a panel will have to agree that a case should be heard for it to be added to the docket.

Because 40 people can’t reasonably represent the entirety of the planet, nor Facebook’s 2+ billion users, the board will rely on consultants and experts, as required, in order to gather together the necessary “linguistic, cultural and sociopolitical expertise” to make its decisions, Facebook says.

To keep the board impartial, Facebook plans to spell out guidelines around recusals for when a conflict of interest develops, and it will not allow the board to be lobbied or accept incentives. However, the board will be paid – a standardized, fixed salary in advance of their term.

None of these announced plans are final, just Facebook’s initial proposals.

Facebook is issuing them in draft format to gather feedback and says it will open up a way for outside stakeholders to submit their own proposals in the weeks ahead.

The company also plans on hosting a series of workshops around the world over the next six months, where it will get various experts together to talk about issues like free speech and technology, democracy, procedural fairness and human rights. The workshops will be held in Singapore, Delhi, Nairobi, Berlin, New York, Mexico City, and other cities yet to be announced.

Facebook has been criticized for its handling of issues like the calls to violence that led to genocide in Myanmar and riots in Sri Lanka; election meddling from state-backed actors from Russia, Iran, and elsewhere; its failure to remove child abuse posts in India; the weaponization of Facebook by the government in the Philippines to silence its critics; Facebook’s approach to handling Holocaust denials or conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones, and much more.

Some may say Facebook is now offloading its responsibility by referring the tough decisions to an outside board. This, after all, could potentially save the company itself from being held accountable for war crimes and the like. But on the other hand, Facebook has not shown itself capable of making reasonable policy decisions related to things like hate speech and propaganda. It may be time for it to bring in the experts, and let someone else make the decisions.

Via Sarah Perez https://techcrunch.com

[theinvinciblenoob]

For Lori Systems chief executive and co-founder Josh Sandler, deals like the one between his company and the Kenyan government to solve last-mile solutions around the national railroad are about far more than just logistics.

Sandler, whose family battled apartheid in South Africa as social workers, township doctors and (more dangerously) as financiers for the Spear of the Nation (the armed wing of the African National Congress), looks at logistics as an economic cornerstone for building more stable and democratic societies in sub-Saharan Africa.

His parents had immigrated to the U.S. in 1990 when Sandler was still a young child to escape the violence that accompanied the negotiations to dissolve South Africa’s apartheid state. Sandler’s father had worked as a doctor in township hospitals, while his mother was a social worker who was setting up a support network for abused children.

“A lot of the family was getting arrested and the country was breaking up and people feared a civil war and my dad got a fellowship in America and moved to Florida,” Sandler says. 

But South Africa remained the touchstone for Sandler’s family life and he would often return to visit those activist relatives who remained to help shepherd the country through its early years as a democracy. It was during one visit to the country — when Sandler was working in a refugee camp — that the need for better economic solutions to the region’s problems became clear.

In the aftermath of the economic collapse of Zimbabwe and the long-simmering civil war in the Congo in 2008, refugees from the region were flooding into South Africa — and it triggered a response in the country’s citizens. Xenophobic violence resulted in rioting, looting and the murder of immigrants at camps — and Sandler had gone to volunteer at the shelters that were caring for these refugees.

“I had been debating between investment banking and the peace corps and went with investment banking because there needs to be a macroeconomic solution for this,” Sandler said. “Finding the core challenges from a macro perspective and preventing this from occurring by establishing strong systems and an economy that can prevent… all of these crises.”

So Sandler studied development economics. His work focused on supply chains — specifically working with the Kenyan government to analyze what went into the dramatic cost increases that are attendant with the sale of every good and service in the country. “When you buy a mango on a farm, it’s half a penny and then in the supermarket it’s 80 cents,” said Sandler.

From Kenya, Sandler moved to study Nigeria and worked on problems with supply chain management in pharmaceuticals. “I did a lot of trips and treks back to the continent and what I kept seeing is challenges in the supply chain — part of it is middlemen and part of it is haulage.” Sandler said. “That’s a big issue that’s due to a lack of flexibility and coordination in the system.”

After seeing the elegance of the marketplace model that Uber had set up for ride-hailing and given the penetration of smart and feature phones in Africa, Sandler thought he could do something to create a marketplace for the trucking industry.

“Before, providers were managing individual trucking companies with a difficult marketplace and no transparency,” says Sandler. “By driving that through our system and having more pricing visibility we’re able to bring down the cost of bringing bulk grains to Uganda by 17.3 percent.”

Lori Systems first launched in Kenya and started working with a network of trucking companies. Around that time the company also came to the attention of TechCrunch.

Yes, Lori Systems has been on a TechCrunch stage before — as competitors (and eventual winners) of our inaugural TechCrunch Battlefield competition in Nairobi.

Lori Systems wins Best of Show at Startup Battlefield Africa

Since appearing on stage at our Nairobi event, Lori has grown quickly. The company counts 70 employees on staff — up from 20 — and now has 70 cargo operators responsible for a network of 2,500 trucks using its service.

The staffing changes at Lori include some big new executive hires, including Andrew Musoke, who has come on board as director of commercial products, and a former director of Maersk, Mehul Bhaat, who will be running operations in East Africa for Lori, Sandler says.

Lori has also expanded internationally — working with fleets in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Africa while also increasing the types of cargo that its fleet operators are transporting. “We went from just doing grain and fertilizer to now we do all freight bulk,” says Sandler.

Not everything about the TechCrunch experience was positive for Sandler and the company. After their victory, Lori, and Sandler, were subjected to criticism from some African press. “There were really bizarre implications with the underlying tone being white male privilege,” says Sandler. “It’s an important conversation to have around white male privilege… [but] it was coming out on a very personal level on a gossip column.”

The accusations aside, Sandler said the victory in the Startup Battlefield Africa competition validated the company with potential new hires.

As for the opportunity, Sandler says there’s $180 billion in hauling income across the African continent, and very little of it has been optimized with software. Ultimately, if Lori succeeds it will mean lower prices and increased spending power for consumers across Africa.

“If you’re earning a dollar a day and 40 percent or 60 percent is going to logistics that could be going somewhere else, that’s a problem,” Sandler said. It’s exactly the problem that Lori is setting out to solve.

via TechCrunch

[newstfionline]

Homeland Security Increasingly Means Putting Agents Outside the Homeland

By Ron Nixon, NY Times, Dec. 26, 2017

ABOARD A P-3 ORION, over the Pacific Ocean--The Department of Homeland Security is increasingly going global.

An estimated 2,000 Homeland Security employees--from Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents to Transportation Security Administration officials--now are deployed to more than 70 countries around the world.

Hundreds more are either at sea for weeks at a time aboard Coast Guard ships, or patrolling the skies in surveillance planes above the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

The expansion has created tensions with some European countries who say that the United States is trying to export its immigration laws to their territory. But other allies agree with the United States’ argument that its longer reach strengthens international security while preventing a terrorist attack, drug shipment, or human smuggling ring from reaching American soil.

“Many threats to the homeland begin overseas, and that’s where we need to be,” said James Nealon, the department’s assistant secretary for international engagement.

A surveillance mission earlier this month with Homeland Security agents in drug transit zones near South America highlights the department’s efforts to push out the border. Just after takeoff from a Costa Rican airfield, a crew of agents aboard a Customs and Border Protection surveillance plane began tracking a low-flying aircraft that appeared to be headed south toward Ecuador.

The aircraft, which intelligence reports reviewed by agents indicated had no flight plan, flew just a few hundred feet above the ocean--an apparent attempt to avoid detection by radar.

“When they are flying that low, they’re probably up to no good,” said Timothy Flynn, a senior detection agent, watching the plane on a radar screen.

An hour later, and hiding in the cloud cover to stay out of sight, the American P-3 pulled up behind the plane. An agent with a long-lens digital camera snapped a string of photos of the plane’s tail number and other identifying details. Mr. Flynn radioed the information to authorities in Ecuador who were waiting when the plane landed, arresting seven people and seizing more than 800 pounds of cocaine aboard.

Ecuador may embrace the Homeland Security agents, but other allies say the department’s foreign reach is a stretch.

In Germany, some lawmakers have questioned the department’s counterterrorism Immigration Advisory Program, where travelers at foreign airports are investigated and sometimes interviewed by plainclothes Customs and Border Protection officers before they are allowed to board flights to the United States.

Those American officers can recommend that airlines deny boarding to foreign passengers. A Government Accountability Office report found that the customs officers stopped 8,100 known or suspected terrorists, or individuals with connections to terrorist groups, from traveling to the United States in 2015, the most recent year that data is available.

But Andrej Hunko, a member of the Germany’s Left Party, said the actions amount to an extrajudicial travel ban and accused the United States of moving its “immigration controls to European countries.”

Canadians flooded their prime minister’s office in August with letters and emails protesting legislation to allow American customs officers stationed at Canadian airports and train stations to question, search and detain Canadian citizens. Unnamed government officials told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the volume of mail received was “unprecedented” and took officials by surprise.

The measure passed two weeks ago after Ralph Goodale, Canada’s public safety minister, assured Parliament that the American officers would rarely use their authority to question or detain Canadian citizens. More than 400 Homeland Security employees are stationed in Canada--the most of any foreign country--which Mr. Goodale called a benefit to both nations.

In Tanzania, Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators were accused in May of using “Mafia-style” tactics for helping to extradite suspects accused of drug smuggling to the United States before their appeal to block the transfer was concluded.

The costs of the Homeland Security operations abroad also have raised questions by critics in the United States.

One congressional report found that the cost of stationing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent overseas is about four times as expensive as a domestic post. And in September testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee, the National Treasury Employees Union raised concerns about plans to deploy additional customs officers abroad amid “critical staffing shortages at the nation’s ports of entry.” The union represents 25,000 Customs and Border Protection employees.

Lawmakers have asked Homeland Security officials to evaluate the costs and benefits of deploying thousands of employees overseas while the department is looking to hire 15,000 new ICE and border patrol agents in the United States as part of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Kevin K. McAleenan, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said nearly 1,000 agency employees are stationed abroad, more than from any other a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. They screen passengers at airports, inspect cargo being loaded on ships bound for the United States and train other nations’ customs and border officials.

Additionally, a special tactical unit of border patrol agents, known as BORTAC, has worked in nearly 30 countries to train in counterterrorism and counternarcotics missions.

Kevin Martinson, the Customs and Border Protection attaché at the United States Embassy in Nairobi, said a training program for Kenyan customs officials and its Rural Border Patrol has led to record seizures of narcotics and other smuggled goods.

Mr. Martinson, who coordinates the agency’s efforts in nine African countries, said the training has also helped Kenya secure its borders and guard against groups like the Shabab, a militant organization based in neighboring Somalia. He said the American-trained Rural Border Patrol recently repelled an attack by the extremists and captured one of its assailants.

In South Africa, Homeland Security Investigations special agents who are stationed at the United States Embassy in Pretoria have targeted drug smugglers, wildlife traffickers and Nigerian scammers. The agents, who work for a division of ICE, are among 300 investigators in nearly 50 countries worldwide.

For all of its foreign-based programs and far-flung employees, the mission of the P-3 surveillance plane may be the Department of Homeland Security program with the longest international reach.

The plane patrols more than 42 million square miles in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean--an area almost 14 times the size of the continental United States. Customs and Border Protection maintains a fleet of 14 such surveillance aircraft; they are sometimes airborne for as long as 12 hours in drug transit zones.

Last year, the P-3 aircrews contributed to 145 drug seizures, helping American and foreign authorities capture a combined 34,108 pounds of marijuana and 193,197 pounds of cocaine, according to Customs and Border Protection records.

On its most recent mission out of Costa Rica, the surveillance crew tracked a small boat off the coast of Colombia. The boat sat low in the water, with three men aboard.

William J. Schneider, a P-3 pilot, said the boat was most likely carrying a large load of cocaine as it made its way north toward Mexico, and ultimately to the United States. The Homeland Security agents notified the Colombian navy of its location, but flew on, unable to stop it alone.

Mr. Schneider said these missions help in “catching drug loads at their largest.”

He continued: “If they make it to the border and get broken down into small packages, it’s much harder to stop.”

[ktkski2017-blog]

Getting comfortable

February 17, 2016

After our safari adventure we returned to work bright and early Monday morning. Chapel was a bit easier to swallow as the sermon didn’t involve sinners and homosexuality and other cultural/religious intolerance. We then proceeded to the morning rounds to hear about the admissions/discharges/deaths  from the weekend and to create a plan for the week. Jason and Derek left for a conference in Thailand and Dr. Ikunda, Dr. Christine (Ob/GYN) went on vacation as well, so Emily, Provi, and Clark were the attending physicians on the wards along with two surgeons that were sharing call. So to divide and conquer: Provi and Jen both started on the pediatric’s ward, Clark joined Janet and Musa on men’s ward (and Jen joined them after Peds), Lena held it down with Eric on women’s ward (and Provi joined them later), and I followed Emily and Boase (spelling?) to the OB ward (and then would make cameo appearances on men’s ward in the afternoons). It sounds like over our safari weekend they were even more short-staffed as Provi was trying on wedding dresses in Nairobi and Clark was with us on safari (sorry Emily and Jason!)

OB was a nice change of pace from the medical wards, as is to be expected when you switch from sick patients to young healthy ones. Certainly there were still complicated cases and unfortunately infant deaths – however this OB unit was much better managed than in Blantyre, Malawi when I was a medical student. In the antenatal ward we had quite a few “rule out labor” patients who were then admitted not in labor and kept for 4-5days as we waited for urinalyses and QBCs (CBCs) to be completed and to convince everyone that they were actually not in labor (although some of them stayed long enough that they became term or then naturally ended up going in to labor). Some mothers were anxious because they had had previous bad outcomes (a nice way to say they lost their previous babies for various reasons related to complications during pregnancy or poor resources after delivery or some infectious disease when the children were no longer newborns). We had one patient at 32 weeks with uterine fibroids, one of which was the same size as her unborn child – they had been trying for 16 years to conceive and carry a child to term. The fibroids were pushing on her diaphragm and making it difficult for her to breathe – typically these patients go in to pre-term labor due to lack of room for the baby. Unfortunately the survival rate for infants that young is very poor, so we encouraged the mom to keep it up and try to keep baby as long as she can (with close follow-up in the outpatient clinic they have at the hospital). Other mothers presented not due to anxiety or any major complaint, but “their husbands told them they needed to have the child.” This is a very confusing cultural thing as we at the hospital are certainly not going to deliver a pre-term newborn by c-section in an otherwise normal pregnancy. This mother said that she couldn’t return home until her baby was born… which meant that she was going to be in the hospital for another month as she was 34-35week estimated gestational age and we wouldn’t deliver a normal baby by repeat c-section until 39weeks or she is in labor.

In the post-natal ward we saw a variety of moms post-delivery – from a cursory post-vaginal delivery once over/ “any questions”? To checking incision drainage and evaluating patients for retained placenta for the post-c-section mothers. The babies were managed solely by the nurses on this ward so we didn’t ask any newborn questions or provide any education. Similarly the nurses supposedly discussed post-delivery birth control with the patients. As I am nosy, I would often ask the mothers how their baby was doing after we had discussed the mother’s plan. This sometimes changed the flow of rounds but there were a lot of nursing students who seemed interested in checking out the babies and translating questions for the mom. Besides, Emily and the clinical officer were the main plan creators and I was mostly useful in the differential diagnosis and work-up planning for patient’s that were not doing as well. We did visit several moms who did not have babies with them. In Malawi, the post-natal ward had a routine rate of 50% of moms without their babies. Here the ratio was more like 15-20%. Unfortunately the moms without babies are often times mixed amongst the moms with crying babies, which I think would be difficult for me if our roles were reversed and I had just lost a child.

We also would round in the surgical ward on gynecology patient (or OB patients that had pre-viable-in-Kenya-standards fetuses up to 24weeks gestation). We had one patient who had had post-op infection of her cesarean scar and showed up with pus coming out of her uterine incision (which was low-transverse and then later converted to a vertical incision). Quick (graphic) anatomy lesson for non-medical people: with c-sections you typically cut the skin horizontally across the abdomen, just above the pelvis, unless it is an emergency – although there are a notable number of vertical incisions here in Kenya to make it seem like it is relatively routine. Then you separate the abdominal muscles (without a scalpel) which are naturally separate in a vertical manner (think washboard abs and the vertical space between then). Then you enter the abdominal cavity and separate the bladder from the very obviously large uterus, and finally you cut horizontally in to the uterus and deliver the baby’s head. For this patient – the wound was doing very well, with no more pus, and very little dead  tissue (that typically needs to be debrided). However the surgeon (supposedly ’at a different hospital’) had made a transverse incision through her abdominal muscles (maybe they thought it was her uterus?) and put in non-reabsorbable (read: permanent) sutures. We had left those sutures in place because we were unsure what they were attached to. The actual uterus? The peritoneum? Fascia? Eventually we will need to remove them as they are likely the source of infection (any foreign object in the body has risk for holding on to infection even after the infection seems to be resolved) – however we wanted to ensure that she had good healing prior to removing them and exploring what is present underneath, should the suture removal lead to opening of the abdomen or uterus. I will interject here and inform those who might not know that often c-sectins are done NOT by experienced surgeons, but by medical interns and residents that have received a limited amount of instruction by the hospital’s attending surgeon and then are later left to perform surgeries un-attended. In Malawi the attending OB-GYN surgeon was sometimes not even the person who would instruct the new interns (it would be another intern or a resident). They would begin their OB rotation and within 2-3 surgeries be performing surgery without supervision, often late at night after working all day. Here at Chogoria the residents are trained by the attending OB/GYN and she continues to attend the surgeries until she feels comfortable that they know how to perform surgeries.

During my week on OB, both Emily (Family Medicine boarded with OB Fellowship) and Boase (Resident, post-internship) were both doing c-sections while I was rounding with them. I joined Emily on several c-sections and was able to explore how the theatre (operating room) is run. The theatre is separate from all other buildings and has an entry room, recovery room area, and then operating room. When we entered the side area, left our shoes at the front and walked to the back changing room in our socks. Then we changed to scrubs, white rubber galoshes, and scrub caps. When we entered the OR right next to the table where the sterile instruments were being opened and placed on a tray, we had not yet scrubbed. We put on heavy aprons that reminded me of a butchers apron – heavy plastic fronted and soft coated back – that were long enough to skim the tops of my white galoshes. We scrubbed at the sinks that didn’t have drainage pipes and just emptied in to the free air and splattered in to a kind of gutter that surrounded the room. The scrub soap was a bar of some kind of mystery soap. I proceeded to drop it on the floor and was told to just pick it up and start scrubbing again. Mmmmmk. Once I turned off the sink, creatively using my bicep to try to keep my elbows and lower sterile, I dried my hands on a provided sterile towel and then they helped me step in to a green canvas re-useable gown that had sleeves big enough to fit around my head. I was instructed to use my washed hand to hold the sleeves closed/folded up so that when they helped me put my gloves on they would tuck in to the gloves. In the US your hand is considered dirty until covered with a glove, despite just scrubbing your hands sterile – so this was a bit different. Sweating heavily in my scrubs, boots, heavy apron, and canvas gown in a non-air conditioned room in Keyna at 10:30am, my glasses continually slipping down my nose, I did understand the utility of our attire when I realized that once the baby is delivered (and the amniotic fluid goes everywhere) the apron prevents the moisture from reaching your scrubs beneath – and anything less than galoshes would mean certain trash for any shoes. All surgeries begin with a prayer and a timeout. The patients, trapped under all of the draping and shelf-like contraption around their chest (having received spinal anesthesia) are introduced to the surgeons and everyone else in the room. I have this image of the baby’s nurse waving from the corner and the patient smiling and waving back with her hand that is held lateral from her body on a 90degree side extension from the operating table like she is lying on a cross. The surgeries went smoothly (Emily as the surgeon and myself as first assist – I am not scalpel- happy) however it would have been nice to have electrocautery to zap the bleeders. Nonetheless the bleeding slowed down and we closed up. The babies are kept in a warmer with like 10blankets off to the side. After the initial evaluations, if the baby was doing well the nurse would leave the baby unattended and help out with cleaning up etc. The only way you knew baby was still alive at times was a small rise and fall of the blankets or occasional cry and hand movement. The babies did well and I saw them again at discharge in the post-natal ward.

On Tuesday, after rounds, I joined male medical ward because Jen had reported that there were a lot of very sick people that needed to be seen again to ensure that they were getting the nursing care or procedures that they needed to survive. We proceeded to spend over an hour trying to get an IV site on a very sick patient who had lost his previous IVs and whose blood pressure was in the 70’s systolic. This poor patient had been admitted overnight with encephalopathy and then proceeded to fall on to the ground. The nurses had helped him back in to bed but left his bleeding face to clot on its own and his right arm swollen with possible fracture – this guy also had a bleeding disorder from liver disease and we suspected a brain bleed. All hands were on deck looking for an IV site: Jen leading the charge along with Gat, a resident rotating on surgery, Musa, myself, and even Clark tried for several veins. Nursing was difficult to find once we were handed four 500cc normal saline bags, so we spent a lot of time looking for more materials ourselves. After numerous tries Jen managed to get one on his wrist at the base of his thumb, so we secured it with strapping (after many repositionings and replacement of strapping). Due to its precarious position, we were unsure that it was going to be reliable, so Musa had gone to look for an intraosseous line drill. He arrived just after placement of the one tenuous IV, so he proceeded to place his first IO line in the patient’s left tibia. The US tubing does not match up with the syringes or IV bag tubing here in Kenya, so Jen quickly swabbed her hunting knife and cut the tubing so we could fashion a connector between the IO and the IV fluids – it worked! After he had to workable IVs he was stable for CT scan of the head to rule out bleed. Unfortunately he needed oxygen and other obstacles delayed his scan (including the CT tech going home for the day). I was told that eventually Gat and a nursing student hand-carried the patient to the CT scanner to get his scan done. Luckily the patient did not have a bleed and today we rounded on him (three days later) and he is much improved. He is still encephalopathic but stable and the next step is lactulose to clear his ammonia levels. Today the nursing staff was very much present and before we had even seen the patient, they were hanging normal saline. Unclear whether that order was placed several days prior or not – but it was a notable improvement.

On Wednesday after rounds, Leonard had arranged a tour of the hills behind Chogoria. We had originally hoped for a tea plantation tour, however due to the dryness of the season, no one was currently harvesting and the tea farms were closed. We loaded up in to a very nice vehicle and braved the non-graded dirt roads leading up in to the small mountains/large hills. We stopped to look at some tea fields and waved “Hi” to a very confused looking farmer who typically doesn’t see Mzungus walking through his tea. We then wandered around to get some good aerial-ish shots of Chogoria. We eventually ended up on a very narrow road that obviously does not have cars on it very often as it was barely large enough to fit and eventually ended on a walking path with a small field to the left. Leonard and his driver got out with smiles on their faces and walked us through someone’s backyard. We waved “Hi” to the owners who also looked confused – I called “Habari!” and the woman grinned at me and said “Mzuri sana” (I am doing very fine) and we spied a waterfall nearby (the secret mission Leonard was aiming for evidently). So we walked (occasionally slid) down the gorge to the base and enjoyed some nice waterfall photo ops. Leonard and his friend were snapping photos too. We hiked our way back out of the gorge and I wondered to myself “am I crazy to summit Mt Kenya?”

On Thursday after rounds we were invited to lunch by Leonard and the hospital for a “going away brunch” even though we are going to be staying another week – however because Luke and I are leaving this weekend and Clark/Jen/Lena are headed to Zanzibar before we descend the mountain, today was one of the last days we were going to be all together. They served a buffet lunch at Lenana’s for us and a few hospital administrators said some very nice things about us being welcome to their home and a part of the family. Leonard last-minute suckered Musa and Eric in to saying something nice for us and it was very kind of them to oblige with thoughtful words and repeating the sentiment that we were welcome. We let them know they are welcome in Michigan or wherever we end up afterwards. Clark said a few words on our behalf, and then we were given T-shirts to remind us of our time in Kenya. We were paired with hospital staff and my partner insisted on attentively helping me put on my t-shirt and holding my hand afterwards, welcoming me to the group. It was really heartwarming and kind. The minister said a few words and the head nurse said a prayer. Selfies occurred afterwards with Musa aallllllmmost as talented as Ethan regarding composition and certainly less enthusiastic looking – but he still held down the role like a champion. Thursday evening Clark hosted Provi, Janet, and Musa for dinner. Musa taught us how to cook ___ (unfortunately I forgot the name!) a greens dish with onion, carrot, tomatoes, and a local Kenyan spice combination. Luke and I taught Musa how to make a yellow curry. He stated there were too many steps to remember afterwards but I will send him a recipe he can follow. Prior to making food he had said he didn’t know how to cook and that he better find a wife soon so that she can cook for their guests. He later showed up to our meal preparation with a mandolin that he was given by his mother and that he travels with (no one travels with a mandolin that doesn’t know how to cook). Provi made some traditional Ugali and Clark put together a fruit salad. We had a supremely filling meal on Clark’s porch topped off with some fruit juices. We chatted for a bit about life in different places – we learned that negotiation is not typical in the markets around Chogoria (phew – I’m not a good negotiator and for the most part was just paying what they ask for anyways. How can you say no to a 20cent mango or one dollar pineapple?). However negotiation elsewhere is necessary (start with 50% of their initial offer). We also talked about foods in different places and Provi showed us some wedding dress options that she found in Nairobi. Unfortunately Musa was on call and we had to break up the party, but it was so nice and we all wondered why we hadn’t done this sooner and more often.

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