This is our “God is Good” page!
Mheed, an orphanage in the village of Kimwenza near Kinshasa, DRC (Congo)
Live Beyond Words, our original partner organization for DRC, presented our organization with an opportunity for helping a village school outside of Kinshasa in Kimwenza that helps educate children and orphans in surrounding villages. We held an initial fundraiser on May 15, 2016 and were excited to begin contract negotiations in April of 2018. Costs were about triple our expectations and what we had raised. At the end of July 2018, we were able to send over $2400 in funds to help them get started during their construction season and were amazed that in just a few weeks, our organization received over $1200 more that was sent over by the middle of August. We were well on our way to helping these people implement our program to help provide food, sustainable agriculture, and an economic boost in this area at this orphanage.
Below are some pictures of the old building they were using as a school, which were renovated by our funds to house poultry once more (they had been using this building as their school, but Live Beyond Words raised funds and they now have a new school facility!):
In March of 2019, Pennies for Poultry sent $800 to Mheed for finishing supplies, and to pay for 8 children to attend a summer agricultural camp where they would learn chicken husbandry skills to help care for the chickens when they arrived. And then in July of 2019, we sent $600 for chickens and their care supplies (feeders, waterers, the laying hens and their vaccinations). We had hoped the chickens were going to be there soon!
However, the process for this project continued to be very slow-going because of communication barriers, misunderstandings, weather issues with the building and chickens, and then COVID restrictions. We had originally hoped this project would be completed sometime in 2019/2020, but the truth is that the virus hindered communications (we did not hear from them for 16 months, despite many attempts to reach them) and new regulations forced the project to be revised. As our supporters know, funds that were donated to this project rehabilitated an existing building to house layer chickens for the school/orphanage there, but In July of 2020, the email we received from our DRC contact lacked any specific information about the progress of finding and purchasing chickens, thanked us for our involvement during the difficult time (our organization agreed for them to use the current funds in their possession for the chickens and supplies to be used to purchase food for the school/orphanage children instead), and stated that there were economic concerns due to the virus. Several emails were sent with no response over the next two months. Over fifteen months went by as we waited for a new budget proposal for purchasing the chickens and supplies. It was not until our DRC partner organization got involved that we heard from our contact again.
Our understanding from the next communication we received from our contact on November 1, 2021 is that new government regulations deemed the building we rehabbed to be too close to habitation (it would not be grandfathered in because no chickens were there yet). Without our knowledge, sometime in the fifteen months of no communication, a new, much smaller building was constructed at a different location to house the chickens. However, this new location was not close to the school/orphanage.
In January, after several requests for more information, we were informed that the building we renovated at the school/orphanage site is now being used as a learning center for single moms, and although the chickens will not be easily accessible for daily care by the school/orphanage children, they plan to rotate sending the older children to care for the chickens on their “farm plot” where we understand the “new” building has been constructed, and transport eggs back. These are the pictures we received of the “new” building:
From February to June of 2022, we made several attempts to receive more information, because the “new proposal” for chickens and supplies sent to us was NOT for a laying hen operation that had been agreed upon, so we sent a reminder of our original agreement, stated we would not be funding the construction of another building, and gave a breakdown of the monies we had already sent them. We could not afford to start a whole new, and different project in a different direction with them.
In November 2022, we again reached out to ask what their plans were moving forward. They responded back that despite the misunderstanding, they would commit to the original plans. However, on December 15, 2022, we received word that they ran in to weather complications due to flooding.
In January of 2023, the board met and decided that due to all the issues and misunderstandings throughout the last seven years, we would just send the remaining funds that had been raised and donated for the Mheed project to them. We hoped they would use it in whatever ways would best benefit them and the children since so many of their needs and visions had changed which were not in line with our original agreement. We sent them the remaining $1500 in the Mheed account with a request to know what their final decision was for the using the funds, and prayed God would use it to His glory for the children of Mheed. In total, thanks to our generous supporters and donations, Pennies for Poultry sent $6,500 in efforts to complete the original $5,000 sustainable poultry project to supply Mheed with daily eggs for food and income.
After almost two months went by with no word about how Mheed decided to use the $1500, we sent another request on the progress of getting chickens established. On March 15, 2023, we received updated pictures of the building we originally sent money to refurbish for the chickens that we were informed in November of 2021 was converted to the learning center. Apparently, regulations changed again, or there is just still misunderstandings on our part, but it is obvious that the chicken coop has been relegated to a small portion of the original building.
Here is the full building:
Here is just the coop section, inside and out:
And here are the learning center sections: a place for kindergarten and a cutting & sewing room:
Finally, on June 12, 2023, we received the email we had been waiting for! Mheed was finally able to begin purchasing chickens and supplies in May of 2023. Through all the barriers and hardships, lack of communication and miscommunications, misunderstandings, weather, a pandemic, personal events, and more, this project saw fruition through our loyal supporters, and of course – God. He made a way. We are not sure what finally took place in Mheed to get this completed, but we thank God for anyone or organization who stepped in to support the people of Mheed in Democratic Republic of Congo, especially Bienvenu, to get this project done. Please enjoy these pictures that brought tears to our eyes:
From Mheed: “To the whole PENNIES FOR POULTRY family dear friends and partners, Mheed and all the orphaned children express their gratitude for supporting us IN this project, they are sincerely indebted to you for the help you have given them which has allowed us the setting up of a poultry project for the orphan children of Mheed in Kinshasa with the objective of contributing to the improvement of the diet of the orphan children accommodated and while creating some jobs for the young orphans.”
We are SO grateful for our supporters who weathered this journey with us and for our board for having the determination to see this project through. We hope to continue communications with Mheed and help them support their new chicken agriculture.
LOVEtheLOU
While we have completed our initial agreement with LOVEtheLOU, we will continue to aid them with replacement chickens, advice, and support. We will now be focused on the “maintenance” of this project.
What started as an abandoned city lot on June 15, 2016…
soon became the home of several chickens on October 22, 2016 as Phase I of a three phase project agreement was set up as a test run:
Phase II of LOVEtheLOU was completed on June 10, 2017 with the set-up of a small pen for baby chickens that were hatched and donated from a school program. The pen is small and located on the caretaker’s property to ensure safety and allow for the baby chicks to grow and mature before being moved to the big pen when they are old enough for egg production.
On April 21, 2018, we returned to Phase I to reposition the coop, top the enclosure to ensure the chickens cannot escape and that no city animals can enter the space, and to replenish the chickens. The new coop position and set-up of Phase I will also help with the safety of the neighborhood children who are caring for the chickens and collecting the eggs.
We will have plenty of pictures and stories of success to move to this area to show you what Pennies for Poultry is accomplishing with your donations and God’s guidance. Be sure to stay connected through our Facebook page as well!