Bread of Life - Colombia

The person-to-person contact of selling bread across the bakery counter and on the street led to increased communication & awareness about the harsh conditions which Colombia's ageing population have to endure. Once the bakery was established, a competition was held called Delicas de Antano or 'Delicacies of Yesteryear' where grandmothers baked specialty goods from their heritage & dressed up in traditional costume to sell these treats at the counter. The sales counter was then used as an information centre to raise awarenessfor ageing issues.

Ageing, Population, Nutrition, Economic Development

Pro Vida initially visited 30 elderly people's homes where they found a lack of money & subsequent poor nutrition. Upon receiving funding for a 'development project', Pro Vida decided to set up a bakery operated by the elderly & which would serve to improve nutrition & inject funds into ageing support channels. Community support was evident when a "competitor" generously offered the services of a master baker as a trainer for the first year. The bakery provided local old people's homes with a weekly supply of good bread free of charge in addition to employing older people in baking & sales. "Some older women were employed at the sales counter & other elders were given a regular daily basket of bread which they could sell from door to door, keeping the income as their wage". The Delicias de Antano competition brought much publicity to the bakery as grandmothers dressed in traditional costumes to market their wares at the counter. Pro Vida acted on the increased popularity of the bakery & used the counter as an information centre to raise awareness of ageing issues. It was not long before the bakery was making excellent profit; (even with the product of a night shift being donated to old people's homes), enough to finance a medical & dental clinic located in rooms above the bakery. The Delicias idea is also used in Cairo, Egypt where "elders are on stand-by to bake & prepare delicacies as needed for large private parties or functions in restaurants".