Funding the Kazunzu Village of Hope with cake 🇹🇿🔨🏘️ (coconut rum cheesecake recipe 🍰)

Hi everyone! Thank you for clicking onto my page, and welcome And what a beautiful reason there is behind my first post!

Please keep reading to find a service that I may be able to provide as a fundraising activity ??… and also for a bonus recipe ???

Fundraiser: Charlotte Levy
Location: Britain’s Ocean City (A.K.A Plymouth)

Donation page: https://www.vinetrust.org/u/f62fc
Target amount: £1,000 (GBP)
Target dates: 26/07/2019 – 23/10/2019

What am I doing to raise funds?
I’m trying to engage in as many activities as possible that I have experience and accessibility to do so:

• Cake and sweet postal services; ????? (my Instagram has some photos of the sorts of stuff I may be able to bake for!)
• Providing cleaning services; ??✨
• Cooking delicious and varied meals; ??
• Selling and posting/mailing handcrafted edibles; ????
• Giving my ‘Science of Chocolate’ talk; ????
• Informal chats over tea and homemade cake. ☕???

Please email kungfucafe.uk@gmail.com to enquire about items and/or negotiate prices if you are interested in any of the above (or even anything not listed!).

Thanks for the lovely photos, @tangalangalang21 ?

I have even made doggie biscuits ???

Why am I raising money?
I’ve engaged in various fundraising and volunteering events before, such as running a half marathon carrying a stretcher of weight for Help for Heroes, organising and funding the SheWOD for a few years, being a Reservist in the Royal Navy, giving various talks to promote Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) to young people, working as an au pair, teaching martial art classes, judging the odd competition at my local gym, etc.

And right now, I have a very rare opportunity right now to make a real difference in the world. And this is why I’m writing this post.

My amazing employer is paying for a group of 20 of us to physically go to the source and build homes with the Vine Trust that’ll change lives. And, one thing I absolutely LOVE♥ about this charity is that they are ?% into sustainable projects, which means that those they help will be able to help themselves long after their charity work is completed.

More about the Village of Hope ?
This is the largest building project ever to be undertaken by the Vine Trust!

The work of the Jubilee Hope Programme highlighted the plight of widows and orphans living on the islands of Lake Victoria, and particularly young women who are susceptible to exploitation by the migrant fishermen. HIV is a particular issue on the islands.

Kazunzu Village of Hope will be a centre of excellence in providing a future, education, and training, constructed on a piece of land to the West of Mwanza, on the shore of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The village will consist of clusters of around 40 individual homes, housing up to 6 orphans and a ‘mama’ figure, providing a stable family environment in which they will grow and flourish. Each cluster will share a small ‘shamba,’ or cottage garden, to grow crops for their own consumption and the possibility of selling on excess produce they don’t eat.

A Vocational Training Centre will provide hands-on learning opportunities for those in the village and the broader community, and will offer training in farming, carpentry, and crafts. Schooling will be provided in later phases for the children living at Kazunzu and the surrounding farms and villages.

Sustainability will be key to the success of such a programme and we hope to create an array of income opportunities for the villagers. There will be an area of land set aside for farming cash crops (of peppers, tomatoes, and cut flowers in poly-tunnels), and we are also exploring the possibility of a series of fish ponds where the villagers can farm Tilapia; 1.5 kg of Tilapia fetches TZS 8,000 (£2.80).

The first phase of construction will focus on building the first 15 homes as well as the Vocational Training Centre and addressing some of the infrastructure elements such as water and sanitation.

What will I be doing?
My 2 weeks out there as part of a team of 20 will see the building of 3 houses to lintel level as part of Phase 1 of the project. I’m raising £1,000 of funds, which all goes directly to the construction of the Village of Hope.

I really can’t wait to get out there, put my fitness to good use, and make a difference; whatever balance remains of my target will come from my own personal pay check. If you wish to help me make a difference, even if only the minimum of £1, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Please email kungfucafe.uk@gmail.com to get in touch

Donation page:
https://www.vinetrust.org/u/f62fc

More about me:
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram

Here’s a collage so you can put a face to a name ?

Kung Fu Café is the name of my old blog, which I’ve resurrected this month, and an aspirational establishment that I run in my dreams.

Kung Fu Café has a poignant meaning for me behind it. Not only because of my deep love for old school martial arts, but because of the profound significance of the name.

Briefly, Kung Fu is a classical Chinese martial art, and all styles of Kung Fu can be divided into four aspects, number 4 being philosophy. Not only does Kung Fu Café have a nice ring to it, but it also encompasses mine and my brother’s love for martial arts, their culture, and their philosophies. “Kung fu,” or “gōng fu,” refers to skill. But not just any skill; it refers to the skill in anything that is acquired through hard work.

Therefore, one can have good kung fu in cooking, or gardening, or in playing tennis, or, well, anything! This name represents what I hope to achieve through this volunteering opportunity: good kung fu in giving back to communities less fortunate in order to foster the sense of community and family, and these are values I embody in life as much as I can ?

Thank you very much for reading ?

For making it all the way to the bottom, please find a bonus recipe below! I’ve been told to take it to the grave with me, but, because you’ve made it to the end of my post, I think I’ll share this time ?

Thank you for the amazing review, @jmarsh91 ?
I’m glad the Clover tub disguise worked to stop anyone from nabbing it ?

Ginger, chocolate, and coconut rum cheesecake with coconut buttercream
Adapted from: BBC Good Food
Makes a 20″ cake

Ingredients
Base:
• ~225 g gingernut biscuits
• ~75 g butter

Cheesecake:
• ~170 g dark chocolate
• ~215 ml double crem
• 300 g soft cheese
• 3x eggs
• 3 generous tbsps of coconut rum

Coconut buttercream:
• 300 g icing sugar
• 200 g softened butter
• 200 g block of creamed coconut

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Base:
Whizz the biscuits in a food processor to make into crumbs. Melt the butter gently then mix in the crumbs. Press into the base(s).
Bake for 10 minutes.

Cheesecake:
Gently heat the dark chocolate and cream over the hob until the chocolate is just melted, periodically stirring to combine; you don’t want to cook the chocolate and cream.
Stir in the cream cheese and beat vigorously until combined.
Beat in each egg, and then the rum, until homogenised.
Pour into the case/over the base and bake for 55-60 minutes. Leave to cool.
Sprinkle with more rum if desired.

Buttercream:
Cream the sugar and butter together.
In a saucepan gently melt the creamed coconut and mix in with the butter/sugar mixture.
Use as appropriate/required.

Leave to cool overnight in the fridge.
Enjoy!

Baked on 26.07.2019 @ the Kung Fu Kitchen!