Turns Out Raising Chickens is the Answer
With her husband Va traveling away from home to work as a seasonal laborer, Sovanna was often left to take care of her five children all alone. Sovanna also had to join Va at times, leaving the children with family or neighbors, a precarious situation for the children.
When World Hope International’s Sexual and Gender Based Violence Team learned that the family was facing severe income constraints, leaving them vulnerable, they stepped in to help.
Close family members suggested that Sovanna and Va could benefit from learning to raise poultry as a business, and the family’s diet could be supplemented with the eggs and meat. World Hope’s Livelihood Team conducted an initial needs assessment on family resources and conditions and indeed found that a poultry business would be a good fit.
So Sovanna and Va received training in simple chicken-raising techniques, a medium-sized cage-style coop, and 15 hens. With training they both work tirelessly to follow the technical steps of vaccination and farm management, and are now feeling genuine hope that they will be able to make their children’s lives better.
Sovanna and Va no longer need to migrate far away from their children for a living. Besides raising poultry, this couple practices sustainable farming, improving their soil quality with chicken manure, growing bananas to supplement chicken feed, and saving a significant amount on daily expenses by eating a portion of what they produce.
Sovanna counts her family-scale farm as a sustainable income generator and is relieved and grateful to be able to keep her family together. She is committed to attending regular training on agricultural topics. In short, guidance in parenting and poultry raising have empowered her to be a responsible mother, wife and small-business owner.
Cambodia Mondulkiri Program
Led by World Hope International