I never dreamed that one day I would be able to support myself

Consolata is a young mother of two living in the Likoni slum in Mombasa, Kenya. She used to make beads and bead products for a living, but they didn’t sell very well. So she had to look around for something else that would provide more income for her family. The Real Gift training literally “fell out of the sky” for her.

She learned how to make briquettes and bake bread. She had always enjoyed baking, but never thought she would one day make a living at it. As part of the training, her group was given an oven that uses briquettes made from waste to heat the oven. Consolata and the other trainees learned how to make the briquettes and how to bake tasty, crusty bread in the oven that they can sell. Consolata was literally helped by this project to stand on her own two feet and take care of her household. She can’t get enough of the flexible working hours and increased income that baking bread provides.

I am extremely grateful for the Real Gift Project. The work I have learned to do thanks to it feeds me. I bake about 70 loaves of bread and more than 600 cakes a week to order. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be able to earn a living like this on my own.

Consolate Kalea, participant of the training

During the training, the participants learned, among other things, how to keep financial records of their business to keep track of expenses and income. Consolata only writes ch down on paper for now, but she plans to buy a record book so that she can record everything more thoroughly and keep track of her business data, expenses and profits.

The young African woman has literally “found herself” in all this and the business is doing well. She is gradually buying baking trays so that she can bake more products at the same time, in different shapes and sizes. “I already have 9 large and 11 smaller moulds for baking bread and cakes,” enjoys the likeable woman who had no idea of her potential and what she could do.

People have to eat every day, so baking bread is a much more reliable income for me than beads were. I want to learn even more recipes for various other cakes and also toppings, to expand my offer, to get as much information as possible about this beautiful craft. And once again, I want to thank AWAK, People in Need and God for giving me this chance

Consolate Kalea, participant of the training