large bakery ovens, to feed the street children of lilongwe

Malawi is a country in East Africa with about 20 million inhabitants. It is particularly underdeveloped also due to the lack of landlocks, in fact it is surrounded by three large states, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique which limit its border.

About 85% of the population lives in rural areas so more than two thirds of the economy is based on agriculture.  However, strong demographic growth is creating ever greater internal migratory pressure on the big cities by young people.  In particular, the suburbs of the capital Lilongwe are experiencing a sharp increase in migration.

Together with the Franciscans of Malawi, Rosa Rossa supports street children on the outskirts of Lilongwe, through the weekly distribution of good quality bread. This was possible through the donation of a professional oven that allows fresh bread to be baked every day.  The oven makes it possible to produce high quality bread, replacing the low-nutrition / low-quality sliced bread available locally.

Though small, this project was particularly complex, since Malawi is landlocked and without railway, thus very difficult to reach.  The bakery oven had to be sent by container ship to the port of Dar es Salaam (in Tanzania), and then traveled more than 1000 miles by land (by truck and jeep) crossing 3 customs posts.

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