FAREWELL
TO BHAKTI PATEL
Bhakti joined Farmer’s Choice in 1991 as Personal
Secretary to the Managing Director, when the company was
little more than a wholesale butchery outlet situated on
Thika Road.
Shortly after this, Farmer’s Choice commissioned
their export licensed pork processing plant which adjoined
their slaughterhouse situated at Kahawa West. Bhakti was
part and parcel of the setting up of a small export department
to service our external customers; initially in neighbouring
African countries and then as one of the first pork suppliers
into the relatively unknown UAE.
Our small but consistent supplies into Dubai and Abu Dhabi satisfied
the conservative expatriate market and demand for our full range
of fresh and processed pork products grew tremendously uring
the 90s and into the new century, as Dubai exploded onto the
world tourism market.
Bhakti moved from the Managing Director’s secretarial
office into the division that she helped create and ably
managed the company’s export department until December
2006 when her family decided to emigrate to the United States
of America. Whilst thanking Bhakti for her tireless efforts
in successfully placing the Farmer’s Choice brand on
the world market, we wish her and her family every success
with their new life in the US.
Meanwhile, Purity Karau, the company’s Export Administration
Manager, moves up to fill the slot that Bhakti has left and
we wish Purity and her capable export team every success
in expanding the Farmer’s Choice brand worldwide.
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Tabitha Ngigi, Human Resources Manager and
a member of the Farmer’s Choice HIV/AIDS Peer Educators
Volunteer Group, presents food items to children at Kahawa
West, Nairobi to commemorate World AIDS Day.
|
 Farmer’s
Choice acknowledges that HIV/AIDS is a National Disaster that
affects and cuts across the board for all in one way or another.
It is a workplace issue that if not tackled can affect the very
essence of business existence and can have a direct impact on
the costs of production due to increased absenteeism, staff turnover,
loss of skilled labour and decline in staff morale.
It is for this reason that Farmer’s Choice has invested
heavily in the HIV/AIDS Peer Educators training programme.
The current Peer Educators volunteered for this noble cause
at the launch of the Farmer’s Choice HIV/AIDS Policy
by the Managing
Director, Jim Taylor on 12th November, 2005. The Policy addresses
issues surrounding prevention, treatment, prophylaxis for opportunistic
infections and provision of anti-retroviral therapy for those who
need it.
In line with the motto of “Corporate Social Responsibility” the
Farmer’s Choice Peer Educators and the Kahawa West
Community Health Workers came together to mark the World
AIDS Day, on 1st December, in honour of street children,
HIV/AIDS orphans and people living with AIDS (PLWAS) within
Kahawa West and its environs.
The Peer Educators believe in: -
• Care, Compassion and Counselling to those already infected and/or affected.
• Fairness and unconditional support.
• Provision for care and support for those in need.
The Farmer’s Choice HIV/AIDS Policy confirms the
company’s awareness and
commitment to the well-being of all its employees and creation
of a working
environment where socio-economic development and socio-health issues
are
discussed in a non-discriminatory approach. The policy discourages
discrimination
and stigmatisation against infected employees.
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