Wambui Machua is a dedicated food entrepenuer who found a way to incorporate her ingrained passion for African food with her community and economic development skills. Machua developed a sense of entrepreneurship early in life. Her father was a successful businessman in Kenya, who owned his butcher shop, and her mother shipped hand-woven baskets to India and Brazil that were made in the family home workshop. At the tender age of 10, Machua opened up her collection of novels for lease by the neighborhood children in her village. Today she wants to help the village children get the books for free.

 

After visiting California as a tourist, and a year long stint as a high school exchange student in Scio, Machua came back to Oregon on business to sell African Art. However, after numerous observations and research, she switched her interests to education; of African food and culture, drawing on her long standing cooking experience passed down through generations of family matriarchs.  She has not looked back, and  founded Spice of Africa in 2008, a cooking school and catering company that promises a unique cultural experience to it's extensive list of patrons.

 

Spice of Africa has educated over a 1,000 individuals through their cooking classes and dinners. Machua teaches what it takes a rural African family to get food on the table, while extolling the virtues of using fresh, locally sourced and preservativel free ingredients for healthy cooking. 

 

In 2015-2016, Spice of Africa partnered with Rotary International, to ship 40,000+ books to the village of Gachie, and surrounding schools on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya to start a library and community center.  In December 2015-March 2016, Wambui and a team of volunteers distributed the books, opened up a community kitchen and a sewing project to stimulate community and economic development in Gachie village. After all community development is just that- it takes a whole village- So let's join hands with Wambui Machua, and feed our villages.

 

For cooking classes, dinners, and catering, please contact us through our contact page or click here.