Projects
Tamu Bakery empowers women and fights against gender-based violence, running training and special projects in partnership with grassroots women's organisations around the world.
Projects include:
- Baking therapy workshops
- Women's empowerment training
- Speaking about in human rights
- Consultancy in media campaigns and advocacy
Africa
Kenya
Tamu empowered girls and young women from the Maasai community, survivors of forced marriage and female genital mutilation, in Kajiaido, Kenya.
You can listen below to a documentary made by Yana about the lives of these brave young women and their hopes and dreams for the future.
Tanzania
In Tanzania we worked in rural areas near Kilimanjaro in partnership with the Tanzania Development Trust.
We ran baking workshops with primary school children, and succeeded in challenging gender stereotypes.
Middle East
Lebanon
Tamu ran a baking workshop the Children and Youth Centre at the Shatila camp, in Beirut, Lebanon.
Originally built for 3000 Palestinian refugees, the overcrowded camp is now home to over 23,000 people.
You can read more about my experiences at the Shatila refugee camp on the Cake Hour blog.
Oman & Saudi Arabia
Currently based in the Middle East, Tamu Bakery is working to empower young female entrepreneurs, collaborating with educational institutions to further enhance their vocational skills and awareness of international best practice.
Also worked with up-and-coming Saudi chefs to promote Saudi Arabian cuisine through a cause-related cookery book showcasing the unique flavours of this region.
Asia
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka 94% of women have suffered sexual harassment on public transport, 62% of women have been sexually harassed at work, and 54% of women have suffered domestic violence.
Tamu Bakery raised awareness of such gender-based violence issues; working with victims of abuse (in partnership with Emerge), running training workshops and organising a media campaign.
Vietnam
In October 2016 baking therapy workshops were run with vulnerable girls and young women in Hanoi, Vietnam at the Blue Dragon centre.
It was a very humbling experience to work with young people who were street kids and/or had been the victims of human trafficking.
India
Partnered with the Sambhali Trust to empower women from the Dalit community in Rajasthan, India who face discrimination and abuse due to their perceived low caste status.
Ran baking workshops and gave women's rights lectures.
Photograph courtesy of Jayati Saha (www.jayatisaha.com)
Nepal
Tamu delivered empowerment and baking workshops at shelters run by Sasane; an organisation based in Kathmandu which rescues girls and young women from human traffickers.
Europe
Kosovo
Worked in partnership with the Medica Kosova Centre in Gjakova to provide therapeutic baking sessions to Muslim war widows who had suffered rape as a weapon of war during the conflict with Serbia.
Montenegro
Ran empowering baking sessions with Roma girls.
Therapeutic workshops with Montenegrin women fleeing domestic violence.
United Kingdom
Ran events and gave talks to raise awareness about the issues of gender-based violence.
Provided consultancy to agencies such as the NHS and the police.
Baking therapy workshops with survivors of domestic violence and abuse and with women refugees.
Ukraine
Worked to ease the plight of people internally displaced by the war by providing psycho-social support.
Tamu also delivered public lectures about human rights issues such as human trafficking.