Chickens, Eggs and Hope for a Future

Chickens watch Antonia and Mr. Chacon read the loan papers

Gerald signs the original loan contract and passes it to Claudia for signature. Gerald is 16 and sole support for his mother and brothers/sisters. He also attends school!

The past 2+ weeks have seen some very exciting changes in La Ceiba. The hens have laid an average of 86 eggs per day since they arrived in their new digs. The “instant success” was really not expected somehow (too good to be true??). Initially, there was a lot of rushing around every day to find buyers for the eggs, because there would be 86 more to sell the next day! This initial flurry of activity quickly turned from chaos to order as the beneficiaries met the new challenges of caring for the chickens, making minor improvements to the hen house, feeding and adding daily vitamins and antioxidants to the water, gathering eggs, cleaning the hen house and selling the eggs. They’ve “gelled” as a group, which seemed to be the biggest challenge (in our minds). But when the hens actually arrived, they put their perceived differences aside and worked together in an organized fashion. It’s April 5th and 1,634 eggs later … and the group not only performs their work, they also meet weekly to pray, discuss business and deepen their new friendships. Their goal is to pay the loan before its official due date. We shook hands, celebrated with three homemade cakes, and enjoyed a moment of unity that transformed their thinking to include a hope for their futures … one they now realize has always been part of the Plan. Their smiles were deep. Their hope has been reborn. And we were happy to be there to document this in our hearts and share it with you.

Thank you for helping make this possible! It was a fine hour in transformational development of La Ceiba's people. We look forward to whatever is next.