The Bakery School Project
Support for disadvantaged and vulnerable girls in Sri LankaThe Bakery School Project
Located in Galle, Sri Lanka, the Bakery School provides a transformative pathway to employment, financial stability, and family reunion for young women who experience vulnerability and disadvantage due to sexual violence, poverty and other socio-economic factors.
Led by Janaka da Silva, 10-12 girls receive commercial bakery skills training in two four-month semesters, giving them hope for a new start in life. This project has done exceptionally well in its first ten years of operation, with 90% of graduates securing an internship leading to secure employment upon completion.
RoundTrip has partnered with the Bakery School since 2014 and our primary objectives for this project are:
- continuing to support the provision of two training semesters a year through our own fundraising and partnerships with other philanthropic organisations
- supporting a diversity of employment pathways towards financial stability
- helping the girls reunite (where appropriate) with their estranged families
- assisting the Bakery School to transition to a self-sufficient social enterprise that will include training facilities for the Bakery School and a retail outlet serving fresh bakery goods.
The Bakery School in 2025
RoundTrip is seeking support to raise $50,000 to provide two semesters of transformational training for girls at the Bakery School in 2025.
Although there are signs the severe Sri Lankan economic crisis is now moderating, rising costs have had a significant impact, increasing the cost of the program by 40 per cent.
It costs approximately $2000 to provide training for one student for one semester. What this means in real terms is that a gift of $2000 – or collection of smaller gifts each contributing to $2000 – can completely transform a life.
As well as the school’s running costs, we are also raising funds for much needed kitchen equipment.
Running costs: baking ingredients, chef salaries, uniforms, electricity, insurance and transport.
Equipment needed: digital scale, industrial blender, microwave oven, small freezer / refrigerator unit, two small stainless steel top tables, pastry flattener machine.
RoundTrip currently provides most of the Bakery School’s funding. We welcome donations and if you can contribute, even in a small way, we, and more importantly the students, would be very grateful. It’s a wonderful way to have a very positive impact.
The Bakery School has benefited from the support of the
Tucker Foundation
Background of the students
The Bakery School began as a means of providing a path to financial stability for vulnerable teenage girls who were victims of sexual violence and estranged from their families, many of them under the protection of the Henehasa School in Galle. These girls are mostly the victims of rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence. The girls in the home ‘need protection’ because the cases against their perpetrators (usually family members or someone close to the family) can drag on for years in Sri Lanka’s court system. During this time the girls’ lives are often in danger. After leaving the school at 18, with limited skills, support or resources, the girls are at high risk due to their extreme vulnerabiliity. More background information about previous students and how they came to be placed in the girls’ home is also available.
In recent years the Bakery School program has expanded to also accept young women from poverty-stricken households, also in need of skills and support to overcome disadvantage.