BEMA hosts virtual fundraiser to empower African women bakers

The one-hour telethon-style event will be held in tandem with BEMA’s Virtual Convention 2020 on June 25 at 3pm CST.

According to BEMA, TBW’s mission is aligned with its own ‘Turikumwe’ (We Are Together) campaign to connect, educate and provide resources for its members and the industries they serve.

The power of bread

The Women’s Bakery - headquartered in Denver, Colorado - was founded in 2014 by Markey Culver, following her two-year posting in Rwanda with the United States Peace Corps.

The social enterprise helps women in East Africa support their communities and sustain their local economies by baking and selling fortified bread. Today, TWB runs three wholly-owned bakeries in Rwanda and one franchised bakery in Uganda. It has also provided training for three others, which now operate independently.

According to TWB, using the power of bread, women receive access to the human rights of education, economic opportunity, and general health and wellness. Every woman involved in TWB has been able to double her pre-bakery income, which in turn directly affects the lives of hundreds of children.

‘Through education and employment, we are creating opportunities for access to more stability and helping women move from surviving to thriving,’ says TWB on its website.

“As TWB grows and our bakeries move closer toward profitability, I am most proud of the steps we take to further empower the lives of our women bakers,”​ said Culver.

“TWB’s Whole Women Programming is a key ingredient to our mission of empowering women and providing nutritious bread to the people of Rwanda. Thanks to the support of our champions, such as BEMA, TWB is poised to really grow.”​

Click here to register for both BEMA’s Virtual Convention 2020 and The Women’s Bakery Telethon.​ ​BEMA encourages fundraiser participants to raise awareness by sharing photos and videos of pledges on social media using #TWB and #Turikumwe.