In June 2022, with our benefactor Andrew, we visited the family of Ingabire Doreen one of the children he supports to access pursue a carrier in nursing and donated £50 to help the family to start an income-generating project of chicken project.
On 28th January 2023 after getting a good bread of chicken and preparing the family to be in a position to keep chicken, we handed 10 chicks and 30kgs of feeds to start the project.
Each chick was bought at UGX12000 which is equivalent to £2.8.
Doreen’s Mother and Maria (Doreen’s younger sister) have been looking after the project for 3 months.
Until they were ready for sale.
Each chicken weighed 3.5kg and each was sold at UGX 35000 equivalent to £8.3.
Again Andrew Hince donated more money to expand the project and we handed them 40 chicks and 100kg of mixed feeds ready to be served to the family.
The total expenditure on the first phase of the project was 148000 equivalent to £35 and on this amount, the family contributed £23.
The total income from the sale of the chicken was UGX350, 000 equivalent to £84. When we add all the expenditure the family was able to make a profit of 202000 which is equivalent to £48.
The project in the first place has enabled the family to learn new skills in rearing chickens the skills, they never had before.
In her conversation with us, Maria told us that
" I have learned how to mix chicken feeds and also administer drugs to the chicken. It has also kept me active at home since I missed joining my first term at school due to the failure of my mum to raise school fees."
By the time the birds were sold out they provided eggs to the family and they helped to feed the family and Doreen’s father who is sick and recently went through a medical operation.
The family earned money from the project that has helped them to cater for some of the medical bills of the father who is sick.
The money from the sale of the first phase of the project is going to help to support in buying some of Maria’s scholastic materials to help her join the Advanced Certificate of Education that she missed to join due to the failure of her mum to raise money.
The new stock of chicken has helped the family to make some decisions of whether to add in more chicken or to use the income to support Maria to join the school.
In a discussion with Doreen’s mother, she said
“After selling the chicken, I had two options either to buy school requirements for Maria or to Buy chicks in order to continue with the project and I pray to find other means to support Maria to go back to school since I never wanted to end the project. But when I received the call that I should prepare for more chicks my heart was filled with joy and now I know that I can at least buy books for Maria to support her join school again. And these new chicks will help us a lot”.
Challenges faced.
During the second month, the chickens were attacked with Newcastle disease and it retarded their growth though they were treated well.
The Price of the feeds was unstable and kept on increasing.
Some of the feeds on the market were fake and this affected the chicken.
Skills gained that will help to proper management of the project.
Identification of good quality feeds on the market and dealing with suppliers with quality feeds.
Identifying sick birds and separating them from healthy ones to avoid losses.
Keeping records to help in understanding the income and the profit and also the progress of the project.
Plans for the new project.
They are planning to rear birds and sell only cocks and leave the hens to lay eggs. It will help them to get income from both the sale of eggs and the cocks and also use eggs for food.
When we sell the cocks we shall use the income to expand the project and also access our financial needs at home.
Thank you message
“My thanks go to Andrew for becoming a strong source of support in our family. We thank you for always thinking about us. We always put you in our prayers that God may grant you good health and all your desires. And to Youth With A Vision we are so grateful for all your support and guidance in each and every step. God bless you.” Uwineza Christine (Doreen’s Mother)
As Youth With A Vision, we feel happy to see an impact created in vulnerable families. We Thank Andrew for all your support towards Doreen’s family and we have hope that we are now moving a step in changing their story.
We believe it’s possible.
Through such small income-generating projects we aim at creating families that can sustain themselves through the income generated from their respective projects.