Help Alfonso's bakery and support his family

“Daktari!”, Roselyne excitedly shouted as she laid down possibly the hardest high-five I’ve ever received, my hand seared with heat and the snap echoed off the minibus.

Roselyne, one of our formidable and dedicated eye project team members in Kenya was brilliantly different to everyone else we had met – there seemed to be an understanding across cultures. She spoke openly and wasn’t afraid to share her opinions.

Roselyne stood for something and wasn’t afraid to speak up against any injustice she witnessed, big or small. This often landed her in trouble, but it also meant change happened around her.

Roselyne on a field visit having identified a blind lady (guided by her grandson) who would soon have her sight restored

As we got to know our team in Kenya, we also got to meet and spend time with their families. Roselyne’s husband, Alfonso, is one of those human beings whom you can’t help but instantly warm to. His smile comes from the soul, he is quiet, thoughtful and gentle with a steely determination that can be seen behind tired looking eyes.

Alfonso

A few months into our time in Kenya we sat down to share a meal with our team and their families. “Rosalfo” (their code name for team “Roselyne and Alfonso”) lined up their seven children in age order as we were introduced to each in turn, eldest to youngest, 14 to 2 years old. There was something of Rosalfo in each of them: the smiles, the look in their eyes, the temperament, the determination.

Roselyne and Alfonso and their family became a part of our lives in Kenya. Their spirit and that of the team encapsulated the heart and soul of what became Peek – which nearly ten years on is a thriving social enterprise with a global team working with eye care providers to strengthen service delivery across ten countries in Africa and Asia.

At the same time Peek was being established, my wife Madeleine and I also began another project. What started as a baking blog (One Family, 100 Kenyan villages, One Kenwood Mixer, 100 bakes....) to keep in touch with everyone at home and motivate the team as we pursued such a challenging eye project. Madeleine’s baking and our stories seemed to capture the imagination and before long the idea of a Kenyan bakery that could provide employment and a healthy alternative to processed bakes was born.

The initial bakery – the Ujima Bakehouse was established in 2014, headed up by bakers Jastan (a young, entrepreneurial man with hands made for baking) and Alfonso, Roselyne’s husband, a truly dynamic duo. For both, it was a chance to provide for their families and their community, to try and break the cycle of poverty they had both grown up in. After several bumps (some major) in the road the bakery was up and running and the duo were proving to be a great team.

Alfonso being congratulated by Roselyne when he first found out he had been offered the job as baker

A few years later tragedy struck.

I was in our London office, walking between meetings when Alfonso called me. Roselyne had been in an accident and had died. It is hard to put the loss of life into words, the suddenness of it, the sense of disembodiment and disbelief.

Then followed the concern for Alfonso and his children. Life was hard enough for them, but they had always found a way though as a couple and had such belief that they would provide a platform for their children that would make all their struggles worth it. How could all of that just be taken away in the blink of an eye?

Alfonso who had been working in Naivasha, several hours from where Roselyne and the children spent most of the week had been commuting back and forth once a week, but this would no longer work. He had to be with his children which sadly meant the end of the baking dynamic duo. The strong foundations have meant Jastan has successfully continued and grown his bakery in Naivasha and continues to prove that with hard work and focus it is possible to thrive.

For Alfonso, with no wife, no plan B, no savings and seven children to care for this was a dark time.

As we’ve seen before with Alfonso, his light shines brightly. Just a short few months later he called me with an idea. He wanted to honour his wife and he still believed his children could and should thrive. His eldest daughter had been offered a place at Nairobi medical school – a truly extraordinary feat given their circumstances and this being the most prestigious university in east Africa. But the fees were unaffordable and school fees for the others were mounting.

“I want to begin a new bakery, a bakery to remember Roselyne and to provide for my family – I will call it “Rosalfo Bakehouse” and I will make it a success, I have to”

We supported him to get started, he secured premises, equipment and was ready to go, then Covid-19 hit…

The human spirit is something powerful and beautiful, often only truly seen in adversity. Rather than give up, Alfonso and his children baked for their community, using their start-up funds to make sure no one went hungry. The effect of lockdown meant all those in the informal economy lost jobs and income over night. Most had no savings and little food. Rosalfo Bakehouse’s generosity (risking their own position) meant their neighbours were supported through a difficult time.

Now we want Alfonso's dream that for the Rosalfo Bakehouse to receive the same generosity.

For just £15,000 – Alfonso will be able to scale up baking production to break-even, cover school and medical-school fees for 2022 and, if all goes well, have a profitable enterprise in 2023 that will enable self-sufficiency for the family going forward.

If you feel able to support Alfonso, please support his GoFundMe campaign, he deserves a break.