Empowering community matriarchs through culinary skills

Mama Engelina Molete, from Dobsonville in Soweto, proudly shows off her baked goods after spending long hours in the kitchen. Picture: Supplied

Mama Engelina Molete, from Dobsonville in Soweto, proudly shows off her baked goods after spending long hours in the kitchen. Picture: Supplied

Published Oct 16, 2024

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The Clover Mama Afrika hosted a group of women last month who play a pivotal role in their communities by taking part in an intense cooking and baking course.

Clover Mama Afrika is an initiative that identifies women who continue to make a difference in their communities by providing them with income generating skills to become self-sustainable.

These are matriarchs who aim to restore dignity and are actively involved in building their communities.

Upon arrival, the group of women found fully equipped stations and ingredients to kick off classes, from aprons, measuring equipment, dishcloths, and baking tins – each item was carefully prepared.

Referred to as “Mama Afrikas”, these tenacious women learned advanced baking techniques under the expert guidance of Australian expert baker, Juandi Kamp.

Kamp led the cake decoration course, where she demonstrated various decorating methods, after which the Mama Afrikas practised and produced beautifully decorated cakes — all without burning a single item.

After spending long hours in the kitchen, having started class at 6am until 7pm, the Mama Afrikas completed 14 500 steps each day.

The Mama Afrikas’ baking treats included a string of mouth-watering and eye-grabbing cakes such as Barbie doll cakes, a luxurious chocolate ganache cake, carrot cake and chocolate-caramel cake, and giant cupcakes.

To ensure their creations were preserved, mama Engelina Molete took on the responsibility of freezing the cakes, using her two fridges to store them safely so the Clover Mamas could take them home and share with their families.

“The planning for this marathon course involved several trips to gather necessary ingredients and equipment,” wrote the organisation.

Here is a look at the event:

From Kwazulu-Natal, mama Feziwe Gambo, also showed off her baking skills. Picture: Supplied
Expert baker from Australia, Juandi Kamp, taught the Clover Mama Afrika a few decorating lessons. Picture: Supplied
The women learned advanced baking techniques under the expert guidance of Australian expert baker, Juandi Kamp. Picture: Supplied