Inventing a pastry oven to pay for the teachers

Zahana relies heavily on education to facilitate the implementation of development activities in its areas of intervention. With this in mind, Zahana has launched a concerted action with the community to ensure the financial survival of an existing school in the village of Tsaramandroso. (This is the 3rd village where Zahana carries out its activities.) Despite a very successful school, with high student attendance, it is having difficulty paying the teachers’ salaries.

Building on existing efforts, Zahana made a suggestion to overcome the financial difficulties the school is facing: A pastry oven to generate money for the school.

A 4-day workshop was organized in this direction with the supervision of 2 pastry specialists that joined us for the workshop from the capital. They brought all the equipment and baking materials and their know-how needed for the workshop.

The goal of a pastry training for students and parents of our students was to create a source of short-cycle income to support the school.  This approach is in line with the priorities of Zahana. The idea was well received.

From the beginning it was agreed that the products should be within the reach of the purchasing power of the people living in villages in the area.

The second day we asked them to use the solar oven to see if it works as well. Based on the experience, the solar is good to bake but we need the artisanal oven to brown the brioches. (This is another story).

ady made the order for 120 pizza for a meeting they are organizing soon. The croissant looks like the head of zebu (barea) and they called it Mofo Barea. They will also sell the brioches in the weekly markets nearby Tuesdays and Fridays. They mastered the way to make brioche, croissant, pizza and as a bonus crepe stuffed with fruits like banana and peanuts.

After this successful workshop, the school is ready to receive orders now. Having learned a lot from this experience, Zahana will continue the adventure with one of the pastry chefs at a more advanced level.