CONGOLinda
Mugaruka
QUEEN OF BEANS▼
‘WE WILL
MAKE SURE
THAT WHEN
PEOPLE HEAR
THE WORD
CONGO, THEY
WILL THINK
COFFEE,
NOT WAR.’IF ANYTHING CAN PULL THE DEMOCRATIC
Republic of Congo out of its economic
slump, it might be high-end coffee. After all,
eastern Congo was one of the world’s biggest
producers of coffee before war decimated
the plantations. But it takes more than new
seedlings to grow an industry; professional
tasters are needed to help growers and pro-
ducers make the best out of their beans.
Linda Mugaruka, 25, is one of only a
handful of professional coffee cuppers,
or tasters, in Congo, and
the only woman. Knowing
how to identify the quality
of Congolese coffee allows
her to both help growers
improve their methods and
woo international buyers
who pay a premium for
quality processed beans. That
translates into more jobs in
a country that desperately
needs them.
For that reason, Mugaruka,
who works at a coffee-tasting laboratory in
Bukavu, is training a new generation of cup-
pers, introducing Congolese women to the
complexities, textures and aromas of their
coffee terroir in weekly tastings so they can
improve their crops. She hopes her work-
shops ensure that the next generation of cup-
pers will include more women. “Yes, I am the
first, but I certainly won’t be the last,” she
says. High-end chocolate- and tea-makers
also require professional tasters, and
both have the potential to cre-
ate jobs in Congo.
Mugaruka now has her
sights on a Q certifica-
tion, the highest level of
coffee connoisseurship.
The more she learns,
she says, the more cup-
pers she can train: “To-
gether we will make sure
that when people hear
the wordCongo, they
will think cof-
fee, not war.”
—ARYN BAKERIt all began when Gurmehar Kaur decided to raise her voice. In
February, she and other students at Delhi University’s Ramjas
College decided to protest campus violence involving the Akhil
Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a right-wing student organization
linked to the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party,
which rules India. She posted a photo of herself on social
media holding a placard reading, “I am a student from Delhi
university. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone.”
As the image went viral, an earlier picture surfaced from an
unrelated online campaign to promote peace between India
and Pakistan. In it, Kaur held a placard about her father, an
Indian army captain who had died fighting militants in the
disputed region of Kashmir. “Pakistan did not kill my dad,” it
read. “War killed him.” In the context of her challenge to the
BJP-linked group, those were seen as fighting words.
Suddenly, Kaur was a target for online trolls and thrust to the
center of a national debate on free speech and dissent in an
increasingly nationalistic India. She was mocked by a leading
cricketer and criticized by a Bollywood actor. Kiren Rijiju, a
junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government,
tweeted, “Who’s polluting this girl’s mind?”
In the months since, Kaur has been targeted with verbal
abuse and death threats. But still she refuses to be silenced,
and has a memoir,Small Acts of Freedom, that is due to be pub-
lished next year. “Why should I keep quiet?” she says. “While
I never asked for it, I was pushed to the forefront. I realized
that people listen to what I say. And if I have something
positive to say, why shouldn’t I say it?”—Nikhil Kumar
INDIA
GURMEHAR KAUR
Free-speech warrior