The Project of the STIFTUNG HAUS der action 365 -

A Motivational Boost!

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On March 16, José Angel, one of the leaders for the chicken project, sent pictures of the day when the laying hens sponsored by action 365 arrived in the village of Tuiboch at the Cooperativa La Todosanterita. At the beginning of April, thanks to the young technical assistant Victoria, I had the opportunity to have a video conversation via WhatsApp with Imelda, one of the 20 beneficiary women.

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She is around 20 years old and still lives with her parents. When the chicken project was initiated by USAID, she didn't start with laying hens but raising turkey poults. She was so successful that after selling them she was able to buy a large number of laying hens, who thanked them for her good care by laying an egg every day. In October 2023 she had 55 hens, today there are 250. The need for fresh eggs in the village is so great that, despite the project, the supply is barely enough and Imelda can sell her entire production without any problems. If you calculate the profit per month, you end up with an amount that is higher than the Guatemalan minimum wage - and that's amazing!

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Looking at the pictures I received a few days later, you can see how well the chickens are treated and how safe they are in their corral. Experience shows that this is important because when they move freely, they are exposed to numerous dangers and are easily affected by illness. It is not uncommon for families to lose all of their chickens in a short period of time.

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At the group's last meeting, the women decided to continue running their Banco Comunal - a private savings fund. The mandatory minimum amount to be paid is 25 quetzals ($3) per month, some women deposit a higher amount, up to 150 quetzals (€18) per month.

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Today there are 30 women who benefit from the project of action 365. Nine are themselves members of the Cooperative Todosanterita as coffee producers, 21 are family members of the Cooperative. Thanks to Victoria and her colleague José Angel, I also got a document with the names of the women involved in the project and the number of chickens they have. This shows that Imelda is the big exception. 19 women stated that they owned exactly 12 chickens, i.e. as many as they received thanks to the donors of action 365. The total population is 790 chickens. It will be interesting to track these numbers over a period of time to see whether the project as such is successful.

 

Maybe you would like to ask them questions to find out more about working with chickens, producing coffee, life in Tuiboch? It will definitely be possible to establish contact in some form between action 365 and the women's group!

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Thank you for your support and your interest!

Jurik Rockenbach, Ulrich Gurtner Kappeler Foundation