Chronicle Editor
Raymond Jaravaza, Chronicle Correspondent
FOR four years Mrs Tryphine Ngubeni lived at John Smale Children’s Home in Barham Green suburb in Bulawayo where she learnt the basics of baking and she fell in love with the craft.
Mrs Ngubeni, then a young girl was a victim of abuse at the hands of a family member when she was taken in at John Smale Children’s Home, a safe haven for abused children and orphans.
Two decades later, Mrs Ngubeni, the proud owner of Tryie’s Cakes, a business that specialises in baking ingredients, equipment, cakes and confectionery, is happy to give back to the same place that gave her hope.
She recently invited five girls from John Smale Children’s Home with a keen interest in baking to her company premises located in Bulawayo’s city centre so that they could spend a day having a feel of how the industry operates.
The visit by the girls was a follow-up to a grocery donation and a Christmas party Mrs Ngubeni hosted for the children as a way of giving back to the orphanage that raised her.
“At the Christmas party I told my story of how I also grew up in the same orphanage just like those kids and also learnt everything about baking during my four years there,” she said
“Somehow, I could tell that most of the kids didn’t believe my story because they found it difficult to believe that I once slept on the same beds at the orphanage. My story was meant to give them hope but unfortunately they found it difficult to believe,” said Mrs Ngubeni.
She said the orphanage teaches a wide range of life skills.
“I had a keen interest in baking from day one and the matron at that time encouraged us to work hard on what we loved most,” said Mrs Ngubeni.
She said the five girls she invited to her company premises are between the ages of 13 and 18 and she describes them as “very enthusiastic young bakers”.
“Their interest in baking really surprised me so as a company we have made a pledge to pay for their tuition fees if they pursue baking after finishing school,” she said.
Mrs Ngubeni said when her father refused to send her to high school, she went to live with a relative in Gwanda who sexually abused her before she was rescued by police.
The perpetrator was arrested and granted bail after which he escaped to South Africa where he later died.
“I was moved to Bulawayo to John Smale Children’s Home in Barham Green and I met a lady who taught us baking and I never looked back.
I have seen, experienced and known poverty and my message to the girls who visited here was that they should never give up on their dreams no matter the circumstances,” said Mrs Ngubeni.
Online Reporter