Content
Many beneficiaries help out and learn new skills in housekeeping, baking and cooking, table setting, service, guest care, cleaning and stockkeeping, woodworking and pottery. Jobs are offered in cooperation with a carpentry workshop and weaving mill. The warehouse for building materials, relief supplies and technical equipment supports local initiatives.
HOUSEKEEPING and MAINTENANCE
In Hosman, girls and young women learn baking skills, work in the Stella Matutina canteen and provide guest services. Our garden in Hosman and the building maintenance staff take care of the buildings.
The heart of the ELIJAH community in Hosman is Stella Matutina. The children from the social centre in Hosman come here for a hot lunch. The communal room with kitchen and utility rooms is central. The house has five twin rooms for residents, helpers and guests.
Our horticultural project supplies our canteen with home-grown vegetables. The approach developed from the principle of self-sufficiency and served to enable committed Roma families to grow fresh food independently. Today, anyone who is committed can help and make our garden flourish. Committed beneficiaries also help our permanent staff with building maintenance and take care of all matters such as renovation and repair of Elijah’s buildings and houses.
Bakery
Bread is a rare luxury for Roma families. Our bakery in Hosman feeds many hungry children. Here we bake rye bread for families, for breakfast and for the children’s snacks in the social centres. The oven is also used to prepare savoury dishes for lunch.
New recipes and skills are practised in workshops with Austrian bakers. Apple cake, Linzer Torte, Striezel and biscuits are already routine and eagerly awaited on holidays.
Canteen Stella Matutina
Fresh meals are cooked daily in the Stella Matutina kitchen. We grow the vegetables ourselves in our gardens. Up to 1,200 portions are distributed monthly to the social centres in Hosman, Marpod and Nocrich. In Nou, the in-house canteen cooks for the children and staff on site. Staff members try out and improve new recipes in workshops.
PARTNERSHIPS CARPENTRY and WEAVING
The carpentry workshop in Marpod and the weaving workshop in Țichindeal offer employment opportunities – a blessing for many Roma families.
Carpentry Workshop
The previous manager, Andrei Lasac, has taken over the carpentry workshop independently. In partnership with ELIJAH, he gives young people the opportunity to find employment in his carpentry workshop. ELIJAH continues to commission the carpentry workshop to build boxes and beds, sand parquet flooring and repair furniture.
Weaving Workshop
The desire of the Vorarlberg-based carpet company Tisca to support ELIJAH led to the establishment of a small production facility in Țichindeal, with four wooden looms and a storage room. The carpet factory employs women who were previously unemployed. Initially, they were supervised in their work, but today they independently produce around 2,500 square metres of carpet per year. For the families, the weaving mill in the remote village offers a permanent job close to home and thus a regular income.
ART STUDIO
For those with a creative streak, we have set up a pottery studio, which is our art studio. The pottery studio is particularly popular with young women, with separate courses for the social centres. The popular ELIJAH Christmas cards are also produced in the studio using printing techniques.
Regular workshops are held under the direction of Angela King, who has been involved in our social projects for over 30 years. Participants learn how to use the potter’s wheel, model, fire and paint ceramics. They make ceramic ravens, bowls and jugs. The creative work boosts their self-confidence.
