OUR president welcomed members and visitors to our February meeting.

We were joined by Eugene and Margaret Schellenberg who talked about a lifechanging holiday they had in Ifakara, Tanzania, in 1998.

One day, they met a young nun and discovered that her convent desperately wanted to establish a bakery to ensure nourishing food for the local people all year round, even when the harvests were poor. However, they lacked knowledge, equipment and funds to start up such an operation and asked for help.

A preliminary business plan showed that this could be a viable proposition but no suitable bakery equipment was available in Africa.

£30,000 need to be raised to cover all initial start-up costs.

Lack of help from UK companies or charities was deflating but, undefeated, the Schellenbergs embarked upon various fundraising campaigns. By 2001 they had achieved their target and shipped a container of bakery equipment to Tanzania.

The container arrived safely at the bakery site and the Schellenbergs returned to Ifakara. Equipment was installed and commissioned, instruction books translated into Swahili and the sisters trained to make bread.

News of freshly baked bread spread like wildfire throughout Ifakara and 100 loaves a day were required to satisfy initial demand.

On a visit in 2006, the Schellenbergs noticed that the shipping container had been ingeniously converted into the first Ifakara bread shop, with the help of the local blacksmith! Today, the selffinancing bakery produces 900 loaves daily. Their profits now fund various needy groups and worthwhile local projects.