Growing big from a chick...
Some lovely feedback one year on from our egg project at Amidu Village
Mr and Mrs Elise Issa hail from Amidu village in the Balaka district, Malawi. They have 10 children within their family as they care for some local orphans and they have 4 children of their own. After longing for a poultry farming business for years, Mrs Issa’s dream came true in December 2010 when she was selected as a beneficiary of The One Foundation’s egg project. She was trained in business planning and chicken rearing, and received 50 mikolongwe chicks as start up capital.
Nine months down the line, Mrs. Issa now has over 100 chickens and collects at least 15 eggs a day. This has enabled her to sell over fifteen crates of eggs at K750 per crate (£3 per crate), per month.
“I am already getting orders from other organisations, like The Sue Ryder Foundation, which has placed an order for 150 six week old chicks, at K300 each (£1),” said Elise.
Mrs Issa could not hide her happiness at her farming business, she told us “I am so happy, I am now able to send my three children to good schools and pay their school fees (her oldest daughter attends St Michael’s Secondary School, which costs K12,000 - £46), I can now provide everything for my family, school uniforms, groceries. We are also constructing a decent house project - a burnt brick house that we want to roof with iron sheets and we hope of buying a car in a few years”.
Elise also has K29,000 (£113) in the village bank making interest, and predicts a better life for her and her family in the next three years.
Mrs Lenny Nasiyaya is also a beneficiary of our egg project running at Amidu Village, she is a widow taking care of her three children. She received 50 chicks in December 2010 that started laying eggs in April 2011. The initiative has increased her income significantly. She makes an average of MK12500 per month (£48) from the sale of eggs.
Mrs Nasiyaya was all smiles when she said “I never thought I would be able to eat eggs regularly with my children. I am also able to buy groceries without problems due to these eggs. I want to thank The One Foundation for supporting me. Now my children have hope of a better future”.
Pick up some One Eggs when you're next shopping and help us to change more lives.
About the Author
I guess I’m ‘Little Miss Everything’, if you need to know something, come to Nikki. I have a wide range of responsibilities ranging from donor communications, case studies, to supporting the marketing team on various campaigns/projects. Everyday the team have me doing weird and wonderful things.
Duncan, being an old friend, asked me to come and work for him for just one day a week, he was drowning in admin and needed saving. He’s a trickster though, because he knows that once you enter the family of One, you are hooked and one day a week soon becomes a full time living, breathing passion.
Three years on, Global Ethics isn’t just a job, it’s a way of life. From the pride you feel when you hear what you have achieved for thousands of beautiful children in Africa, to the late night emails that the team send while sitting there at 10pm working like a trojan with a glass of wine, to the belly laughs we have in the office. I’m very fortune to work with such an inspiring, passionate bunch of people, who really are my One family.
