Provide Egg Laying Hens for Haitian Families

Provide a constant source of food for Haitian school children.

Often the only meals Haitian students receive, come from the meals offered at school. Most meals in Haiti are composed of simple carbohydrates only. Because of this, many of the students are underweight, malnourished, and tired all the time, making it difficult for them to stay awake in class. We have partnered with Haitian schools to increase protein intake among Haitian school children.

By providing egg laying hens to schools, you can contribute much needed sustenance to these families. Additionally, "animal husbandry" programs are incorporated into the students curriculum so students better understand how to build coops, take care of the hens, and collect eggs.

You can help. Just $5.00 helps provide egg laying hens to Haitian families.

Report from the Field

In January 2018 we had an opportunity to visit two schools in Haiti that benefit from your donations to this incredible egg laying project. We visited Institute Edeline in Croix-des-Bouquets and the Matenwa Community Learning Center on the Island of La Gonave. Thanks to your generosity these hens continue to increase daily protein in-take for students and their families.

Collectively since starting this program:

• Total number of hens bought: 400
• Total number of hens distributed to student families: 279
• Average number of eggs distributed at school
  per week: 2.5 eggs for 339 students per week
• Coops built: 5
• Hen care was integrated into both primary and secondary curriculum at school

October 2017

Nachnaika is one of our students (4th grade) and she loves animals. She was so excited that we asked her to help pick out the hens for Institut Edeline. We are hoping to give her the skills necessary to possibly work with animals and this experience will help further her education.

Nachnaika helps our newest hens to feed. She wants to help collect eggs in the mornings so she will come in early to school to assist the caretakers of the hens.

August 2016

After distributing a hen to each of the 279 Haitian students, Matenwa Community Learning Center set up a student competition to see which student could take the best care of his or her hen and whose hen would lay the most eggs. Ninth grader Madonna Cyka Magliore's hen has laid two sets of eggs, ten eggs total. Out of all of the students, Madona is in the lead with the most new chicks.

"My hen was very small when I first got it. I fed it well and it gained some weight. I put it in a safe place to sleep at night, in a tree surrounded by a tin fence, so wild cats wouldn't eat it. In February, after mating with a rooster, she had 5 chicks, 3 males and 2 females. I took good care of the mother hen and its chicks. She had another set of 5 chick after her eggs were fertilized a second time. This time around, one of the chicks died, but the other 4 are well. They are still small and I don't know their sex yet."
-Madona Cyka

May 2016

Our initial project goal of distributing 1 hen per Hatian student has been reached!

Thanks to your generous support 279 hens were distributed to 279 Haitian students (164 primary and 115 secondary). Many students are excited to raise their hens and let their chicks grow so they can have more hens to sell and buy bigger animals.

Unfortunately, 95 of the hens distributed have died. 61 hens were lost due to Newcastle Disease—a viral poultry disease that is very contagious—34 unhoused young hens were eaten by other animals at students homes. Our new goal is to raise funds to distribute 95 more hens to the students who's hens died. According to a study the Matenwa Community Learning Center did with students at the school, over 70% of students had someone in their household who felt hungry or who went without eating for the whole day because there was no food available.

It is our goal to ensure that all students have a hen to ensure a sustainable solution to hunger on La Gonave. We need your help to make this vision a reality.