CHICKENS FOR CHANGE-HAPPY EASTER 2014

When I was back in Australia before my travel days, before I had moved to Kenya, Easter took on a new light when my God-daughters were born.  It is like having kids around at Christmas time, they just bring a magic back to the holidays and it is nice to see such innocence, simple pleasure and belief in any type of holidays, whether religious or not.  My God-daughters are now 6 and 8 and when I was back in Australia in December I was fielding questions about Santa and his elves.  What do the Elves get paid?  Do they get married?  Do they die?  How can Santa and the reindeers eat so much food on Christmas Eve?  Does Santa have a wallet?  Where does Santa go to the toilet and the questions kept coming.  It made me smile every day as I walked the girl’s home from school trying to answer their questions and hoping I wasn’t contradicting what they had been told by their parents along the way.  It may be the last year that they believe in Santa, they are getting to that age now, but I will never forget those days. 

As I am now in Kenya, I am not there to see the girls over Easter this year.  I normally bought them a stuffed toy for something different as they are plied with so many chocolates from school friends, grandparents and parents.  This year I received an email from one of the volunteer programmes I am signed up for and they have a programme that they run each year called Chickens for Change.  This year, would you consider buying a chicken for a sustainable livestock program in Rwanda?  Encouraging self-sufficiency and empowerment among the community? That's sweeter than any chocolate eggs a bunny could leave you.  On average, each hen lays 40 eggs a month - which is 480 over the course of a year! These can be a source of food and good nutrition for the family, or sold on to generate an income.

Your gift of a chicken for change helps provide a family in need with a chicken, the necessary housing and feed, along with training on animal care that will help turn your donation into an empowering opportunity to help break the cycle of poverty.  Don't worry, they won't be airmailing any livestock to Rwanda! With the funds raised this Easter, they’ll locally source chickens, purchase the necessary feet and housing, and provide training on animal care. They’ll also email you a Gift of Change certificate within two working days of making your donation.  Last year, their Easter Appeal was a great success!  Give a chicken for change! In Rwanda, the eggs produced by your chicken will improve nutrition for the family of the owners and the surplus eggs will be sold to generate income for the family.  Each new chicken owner working with our partner project in Rwanda receives training on how to care for chickens, a small supply of feed and adequate housing for the chickens - not to mention a few "Chicken Littles" of their own. 

All for the cost of 13USD a chicken. 

Your Impact:

Chickens provide eggs and therefore are a source of nutrition, and a source of income for the owners.

So cluck... cluck... click "add to cart" to sponsor the purchase of a chicken in Rwanda and help a family this Easter.

http://gvnfoundation.org/artshop/new/home/product/54?inf_contact_key=e8e3b9b6431b4ccb5be1d78c1fe988086aed3023e2637d19bb9c3e9acb539b41

I decided to buy 2 chickens this year with the money I would have used to buy something for my God-daughters.  When the certificates are emailed I will send them onto Australia where they can be printed out and given to the girls to let them know where Aunty Bernie’s Easter money went on their behalf for 2014.  I think it is a great idea and to think that we have made a difference to a family in Rwanda is, well it is a good feeling, a heart-warming feeling and if it changes one life, then that is where the first step starts. 

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Gandhi

Happy Easter!