Chickens!

A few weeks ago we started the first of our small projects here at home in an attempt to move towards self-sustainability. Donations have been inconsistent as ever, since it is impossible to feel the intensity of needs from a world away. When there is no money for rent and the landlord calls repeatedly, or when there’s no money for food and we have to figure things out on this end, the need is felt here, more so than at the sending end of a paypal account. Thus we’ve been looking for grants to start projects here at home to generate income (we might start raising pigs and rabbits in December if we find the seed money).

Three weeks ago we bought 100 baby chicks and started rearing them inside the house just outside of our bedrooms (they smelled great…!?). Five of the boys at home are too old and too far behind to start formal schooling, so they have been waiting for a year for the funds to be able to do an internship at a garage here to learn mechanics. Funds have been promised and have never come through, so these boys are now in charge of the chicken project in order to use the proceeds to start their own fund for their internships. They have not been thrilled about rearing chickens, to say the least, but slowly but surely they’ve begun the daily tasks feeding them, cleaning their house, and of heating up the charcoal fire so they don’t freeze to death. Our hope is that they learn to rear chickens as a life-skill as well, that could serve them in the future when they’re on their own, trying to provide for their families.

We’ve had two causalities thus far… one got smashed by a piece of plywood and another got eaten by one of our dogs, but we’re hoping that the rest can make it to a ripe old age (four more weeks, that is, until they get sold and eaten).

100 chicks in our house just outside of our bedrooms! They sing us to sleep every night.

 

Boys from the Ssenge home where I used to live preparing chickens for dinner. They rear chickens, goats, and cows to help fundraise for their home expenses and they're much more in touch with the circle of life than I was at their age...

One of the boys in the chicken project, Matthew, is 17 years old and is from Northern Uganda. His mother died when he was young and his father was killed by LRA soldiers. He ran to Kampala and lived on the streets for many years and is still struggling to overcome the addictions and hopelessness that defined that extended period of his life. He just came home in August, when Amanda found out he had been taken to prison for “idling” (the most common offense here used to throw anyone and everyone behind bars until their families/friends pay bribes to get them out). He came home straight from prison and has been here for four months now.

He is the boy that looks over the chickens with the most genuine care and concern and is always conscious of their needs. Though he is big in size, his huge smile and playfulness reveal the kid that is inside of him that now has a safe enough space to show its face. These boys test my patience every single day and I try (and often fail) to keep a calm, patient demeanor even when I am at my wits end, so as not to be another person that misunderstands them and leaves more wounds in their hearts. Matthew, with his huge smile and child-like spirit, is no exception to the rule. He loves seeking attention by pushing my buttons.

One of his favorite past-times is to lye on my bed at night, act like he’s sleeping, and refuse to get up and leave when I want to kick the boys out and go to bed. I’ve tried every trick in the book with him (including trying to pull his huge limp body out of my room) and nothing has worked. A few nights ago, however, I told him that I “begged” him to get up and go to his room. Matthew doesn’t speak English, so I was speaking to him in Luganda, and in Luganda “to beg” and “to pray” are the same word. He looked up at me and said, “ok, pray for me.” I put my hand on his head and prayed aloud that he might be given the strength to fight his addictions and that his heart might heal from all of the loss he’s experienced in this life. I prayed that he might be able to be resettled in his village with his surviving relatives so as to not be so alone in this world. He looked up at me and smiled, then got up and left my room to go to bed. Thanks to the double meanings in Luganda, I finally found the trick to send Matthew to bed.

Amanda, Vicent, and Matthew (Vicent is modeling the headbands that are available for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/lot2545 to support the home:)

Matthew and I at home.

If you have any ideas for other small income-generating projects, don’t hesitate to share them. Be well wherever this finds you and happy almost Thanksgiving!