Equipping the Bakery

 

On our return from Tanzania at the end of 1998 we prepared a budget for all the goods required for the bakery. Before we left Tanzania we established that nothing that we required was available in the country. We had to purchase all the machinery and equipment in the UK (dough kneader, mixer, moulder, five-deck oven, bread slicer) and equipment such as baking tins, baking sheets, scales, mobile racks including covers to turn them into proving cabinets, and stainless steel tables. As the electricity supply was very unreliable we also added a generator so that production could be guaranteed. It would have been very wasteful if the Sisters found that fresh batches of dough could not be baked off or the daily bread production could not be started.
 

Dough Kneader    Moulder    Racks    Baking Tins    Deck Oven
    Dough Kneader      Moulder        Racks         Baking Tins        Deck Oven
 
To ensure that all the goods would stay together particularly when they were to be cleared through Customs in the port of Dar es Salaam, we bought a 20ft container which would not have to be returned from Ifakara to Dar. The total costs, including the transport to Dar es Salaam came to £26,275.

We also sent plans to the Sisters in Ifakara about the modifications to the space earmarked for the bakery, including heightening the door access, tiling floors and walls, providing a sink with piped water, electric points for the machinery, as well as to make outside provisions for the placing of the generator. These costs, as well as the clearing of the goods through the port in Dar, the transport costs to Ifakara would also have to be borne by us and therefore, the final budget was close to £30,000.

 

Funds for the Bakery

 

All the charities, including some of the most prominent organisations we approached thought it was a wonderful Project but regretted that they could not make the slightest contribution. This was a serious blow to our expectations in raising the necessary funds.

However, we were determined not to let the people of Ifakara down and so embarked on a most demanding fund raising campaign. We gave talks at schools, various groups of organisations, church events and uniformed groups. We also gave talks to Rotary Clubs who supported us generously. A keen supporter ran in the London Marathon.

Whilst progress was slow we were continuously encouraged by people from all walks of life and were humbled by the sacrificial giving of many. Later we were able to approach Trust Funds and within two years we reached our target of £30,000 so we bought all the goods necessary and in April 2001 shipped them in our 20ft container.

The goods were cleared by Customs at the port in Dar by the end of July 2001. Although all the goods were sent as a gift we still had to pay over £1,400 for clearance costs. In August 2001 the container was delivered to Ifakara.

When the news reached us that all the work specified in the Convent for the new bakery was completed and the container had arrived safely in Ifakara we followed by flying to Tanzania in September (four days after 9/11) to install and commission all the goods for the bakery.