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Baking project helps those who knead it most

Esther Han
Esther Han

Baking with benefits: Paul Allam.
Baking with benefits: Paul Allam.Peter Rae

This year a dozen refugees will be kneading and baking their way out of unemployment.

Bourke Street Bakery, lauded for its sourdough bread, has started a program called the Bread and Butter Project which aims to teach refugees and asylum seekers the art of baking. They will have six students on board by June, and six more within a year.

"The mission is to make them experienced bakers so they can gain sustainable employment," the founder of the program Paul Allam said. "It's a TAFE-accredited, one-year, on-site traineeship."

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The project will also benefit the baking profession, which is struggling with a dearth of well-trained, qualified bakers, Mr Allam said.

The unemployment rate for refugees is high in Australia. A 2011 report by the Immigration Department revealed that even after three years, a third of refugees remained unemployed.

Phin Tang, the social enterprise program co-ordinator at the Migrant Resource Centre in Parramatta, helps to connect refugees to the Bread and Butter Project. He said securing stable jobs was a big hurdle for many refugees.

"Many aren't proficient in English and need to attend classes. They lack local experience and don't have drivers' licences, which many jobs demand," he said.

Mr Tang said employment opportunities for refugees were rare.

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"Only a few times a year do we have these kinds of requests to employ refugees," he said.

Two refugees from Sierra Leone have trialled the program at the bakery's Marrickville kitchen.

It took refugee Haruna Sillah, 27, three years to find a job.

"It was very, very hard to find a job. The thing [now] I am most happy about is that I work with friendly people and I feel part of a team," he said.

For Sorie Bangura, 34, being paid to bake meant he could pay the rent and look after his wife.

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"The money is important but not as important as my happiness," he said.

Sourdough from the Bread and Butter Project will be sold at the Herald Growers' Market in Pyrmont this Saturday.

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Esther HanEsther Han is a homepage editor at The Sydney Morning Herald. She was the overnight homepage editor based in New York City, and previously covered state politics, health and consumer affairs.

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