Our Chicken Farming Program helps families increase their household income by CNY 3,000 to CNY 6,000 (USD 420 to 840) every year. This income enables them to spend more on their children’s education and overall well-being.
One of the beneficiaries of our program is Hailai Zuoli (43). When we arrived at her home, we immediately spotted her carrying a child on her back and about to head to the fields. When she noticed us, her face immediately lit up in recognition, and she gave us a warm smile. She walked towards us, inviting us to follow her inside. As she spoke, the child on her back began to stir, and, as if by instinct, she lulled it back to sleep. It seemed like she had done the same thing many times before.
Inside, we all sat in her humble home. Hailai is still careful not to wake the child behind her. She started telling us that this year’s harvest was quite good. She planted corn in their farm, and it gave her a bountiful harvest. It not only gave her enough for her family to eat, but they were also able to sell it to the market for extra cash. We told her that she must be thriving! She smiled but it immediately faded with a thought in her mind.
She said it was okay, but one decent harvest is not enough to support her entire family of eight. Her family had many expenses, and their only source of income was their farm. However, her tone carried no complaint. She remained grateful and optimistic that her family could still work around their financial problems. Their farm had so much potential, she said. She even mentioned that before we arrived, she was about to bring more corn that they planted in the fields.
When we asked her what happened to the chicks that our program provided, she excitedly shared that out of 20, 19 survived. The one died due to a broken leg that could not be saved despite their efforts, but all the remaining ones remained healthy. She showed us outside, where chickens freely roamed the yard. She mentions that the heaviest chicken now weighs 8 jin (4.8kg), while the smallest is 7 jin (4.2kg). When sold, the money will be used to partly cover their children’s tuition and living expenses, while a part of it will be used to purchase more healthy chicks to continue what they have learned from the training sessions.
She mentions that since participating in our trainings, she learned many science-backed ways to breed chickens that significantly improved their health and growth rate. We are delighted to hear that our efforts did not end when we gave her the chicks. The profit she made from it became investments rather than mere profit. She invested in her children’s education and the small chicken coop that she is slowly growing. That mindset is not something that we encounter with our beneficiaries every day, and we made sure we expressed that she is truly on the right track.
As we said our goodbyes, Hailai held our hands and repeatedly expressed her gratitude. Because of our program, she now has an added income stream that will help her and her children for years to come. She is no longer as helpless as she was before, and she will ensure to keep working hard to make their life prosperous. As we saw the sincerity and determination in her eyes, we dreamt with her at that moment—all will be well, and her life will surely become as wonderful as she allowed herself to imagine it.
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