Friday was a very exciting day for the 9 women who are starting chicken businesses, because we delivered day-old chicks and feed to each of them! We paid for 50 chicks for each lady (with each of them planning to eventually expand to 100 chickens) and the store gave us 6 extra each for free. This is because it's their first time and they are expected to lose 2 or 3 in the early stages just due to inexperience. However, the anticipation of what this responsibility, hard work, and benefit this can have on their families, was overwhelming when we arrived.
Each woman received 56 chicks, a vitamin mixture to add to their water, 55 pounds of starter feed, 110 pounds of grower feed, and 220 pounds of finisher feed (who knew that these little balls of fluff would eat so much??). They also received additional booklets, calendars, and information on exactly what the process is to successfully raise these birds, which they should already know from the classes they took and our meetings together. Though, it's always good to reiterate important points.
Each woman received 56 chicks, a vitamin mixture to add to their water, 55 pounds of starter feed, 110 pounds of grower feed, and 220 pounds of finisher feed (who knew that these little balls of fluff would eat so much??). They also received additional booklets, calendars, and information on exactly what the process is to successfully raise these birds, which they should already know from the classes they took and our meetings together. Though, it's always good to reiterate important points.
 Mai Tracy is ready to go! |  Moleen receiving her chicks |
These chickens are broilers, so the women will raise them for 5 weeks and sell them live for meat. This is how they do it here. On the occasions that Elizabeth eats chicken, she buys one from one of our neighbors. She walks in the gate, carrying a live chicken and does the slaughtering, defeathering, and prepares it to be cooked. This eliminates the need for a freezer.
Once they are sold, the women will purchase new day-old chicks, vitamins, and feed and begin the process again.
Once they are sold, the women will purchase new day-old chicks, vitamins, and feed and begin the process again.
 The chicks came in boxes of 51  We are thankful for the ministry vehicle that is not only able to make it to these homes on the poor roads, but could also carry 1,500+ lb. of feed in one load  We explained all of the information in their packets |  Gogo Dondo receiving her chicks  Delivering feed  Gladys and Nyasha |
It was obvious how excited and thankful Mai Maka was to receive these chicks and start her business Mai Maka (pictured left) is the only one whose home is not connected to electricity. It is very important that the chickens have a heat lamp and a regular light nearly all the time, especially early on. If they can't see where their food and water is at nighttime, they will die. Mai Maka didn't have any kind of a light source or heat source, so we got her two solar powered lights, since one won't last through the night. Everyone else has a heat lamp, but without electricity, this wasn't an option. One of the other ladies provided her with special containers that hold hot coals, so that the room can be warm enough for the chicks.
Everybody also has a thermometer, so they know if the temperature is correct or not. It is supposed to be 82-86 degrees at this stage.
Below you can see that they made signs to put up at their homes, advertising chickens for sale. They know that they need to work to get customers lined up before it's time to sell, because their feed will last 5 weeks and 4 days and obviously can't have chickens on hand without feed. This is just the right amount of time for them to grow to a perfect size for them to sell.
Everybody also has a thermometer, so they know if the temperature is correct or not. It is supposed to be 82-86 degrees at this stage.
Below you can see that they made signs to put up at their homes, advertising chickens for sale. They know that they need to work to get customers lined up before it's time to sell, because their feed will last 5 weeks and 4 days and obviously can't have chickens on hand without feed. This is just the right amount of time for them to grow to a perfect size for them to sell.
Many of the women live in places where children live who attend our VBS, so as we were delivering the chicks and feed, we constantly heard little voices say, "Mr. Andrew, Miss Yolanda!" Additionally, it is extremely rare for there to be white people in these areas. So when toddlers who didn't know us, saw us pass by in the truck or walk by on foot, they exclaimed, "Murungu!" which means, "white person." Then we would see a bunch of tiny hands vividly waving in our direction.
 |  An interesting t-shirt, considering the situation in Zim |
The children were very interested in seeing what we were doing and all that was going on
All of the women were very thankful to God for His provision in getting started with these businesses. They thanked us over and over for it, but they know that it was God who provided. In addition, we know that God provided through many of YOU who gave toward this project and we are thankful to each one of you for making the decision to empower these women to provide for their families in ways they have never experienced in the past. While they will always have many stressors in their lives because of their environment, we are thankful to you for helping decrease their stress levels several notches and help them sleep easier at night.
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