Grace wants to be a dancer. The 15-year-old lives with her brother, three sisters and her mother in a two-room concrete house in Rwanda.
“Her father died (in the genocide) and the mother just remarried,” Laura Waters said. “Apparently the husband just doesn’t take care of the kids and they are pretty much abandoned. They were going to school but then they didn’t have the money for any of the kids.”
SweetHearts Bakery of Santa Barbara began with a “life-changing” trip to Africa, where Waters found her passion while spending time with kids like Grace, she said. All of the bakery’s profits help fund youth schooling, meals and shelter.
“There are no options for her so I wanted to help,” Waters said. “There are no jobs, so the young people are really frustrated because they want to go school, make money and support their family but they can’t.”
The Santa Barbara resident had the chance to travel to Rwanda in March through the Mustard Seed Project, a nonprofit dedicated to serving the children of Pastor Deo’s Street Children and Youth Ministry. There are more than 100 children enrolled in the organization, which provides a nutritious meal, Bible study, a bath and clean clothes three times a week.
“People are so used to seeing the ‘street kids’ that they are desensitized,” Waters said. “Some sleep under bridges or live in a hut with no running water. They are really in poverty.”
Waters is a baker by day, works at Alisal Guest Ranch Resort and also cares for an elderly woman. At 5 a.m., Waters starts baking organic desserts, gluten-free food and vegan baked goods at Ultimate Bagels at 1226 State St. She also sells handcrafted goods made by Rwandan women.
“I was married and had a career, but I felt there was something more I needed to do,” Waters said.
Women’s Economic Ventures helped Waters write her business plan and get SweetHearts Bakery off the ground.
“I really got all the help I needed, especially with the financials and the business plan,” she said.
Waters said her ultimate goal is to raise enough money to provide one meal seven days a week and to build a shelter.
“It’s refreshing to find a bakery that not only provides delicious, quality products, but supports such a worthy cause,” Santa Barbara resident Carla Iacovetti said.
When Waters was in Rwanda, 12-year-old orphan Jean Marie Vianney told her that she is a part of his family.
People have a chance to expand their family by donating and supporting the bakery, Waters said. Click here for more information.
“They don’t have anything but they are happy, they are starving but they don’t know anything different,” Waters said. “We can change that.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Alex Kacik can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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