The school I am teaching at is a private school. Some of the students at the school come from a local orphanage. Mama Betty is the director of the school and has a heart of gold. She can never turn away a student, even if they don't have money for school fees. They also feed the kids everyday a meal of beans and maize. Too often they are running out of money to cover all the expenses, including teacher's salaries sometimes. I have decided to continue the project of a teacher that was here in December and help them start a chicken coup where they can keep chickens that will lay eggs to both provide food for the students and will generate money they can use to cover some of their fees. We have been researching poultry projects and even visited the farm of a woman that works for the ministry of agriculture! We have the coop all paid for through a scholarship that I received, but now we are trying to raise money to buy the chicks. Each chick costs about $1.40 and we are hoping to buy between 100 and 200 chicks within the next two weeks.
This is where you come in. I am wondering if any of you would be interested in purchasing a chick (or multiple chicks) for the school. I am so excited about this project because it is one that can really last and will be a way that the school can become more self-reliant. In the past, the school has been primarily supported by volunteers coming from different countries. Mama Betty has sat by and supported past volunteers as they have begun similar projects with other people in the community and has never once asked someone to help her start a project for the school. She is one of the most selfless people that I have ever met. She always tells me that she is just a vessel. Whatever God blesses her with isn't meant for her, but is meant to be passed through her to someone else. Even this coop won't benefit her or her family personally, but will be used to provide for the students and people in the community. I am excited that through this project Mama Betty won't have to rely so much on donations from volunteers to support the school, but she will be able to have her own source of income to support it. I think this is true community development because it is empowering her and the school to be a sustainable organization.
So, if you are interested in supporting this project, please send me an email at annawellemeyer@mac.com or a message on Facebook. You can let me know if you want more information or if you have decided to partner with us, how many chicks you would like to buy. Also, we are hoping to raise all the money this week because I leave in just two weeks (where did the time go right??!)!!!!
Jehovah Jireh
Below are pictures of Mama Betty and the coup in the process of being built! It is now almost done!
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