Written: 15 March 2017
Posted: 16 March 2017

See a video of Penduka, and my work here, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ck5vSuwOs.

“Penduka helps empower women and their communities to improve their own lives.”

That is the Penduka Trust mission statement, and Penduka Village needs your help in this mission. The village management is starting a broiler chicken program (meat chickens, as opposed to layers for eggs) and they need the equipment and initial day old chicks to get it going.

Once it is started, the program is FULLY SUSTAINABLE! It will provide income for Penduka Village, and protein for the Katutura community (one of the lowest incomes areas in Namibia, and THE lowest income area in Windhoek), indefinitely – probably for years, maybe decades. No further funding will be required – ever! The Peace Corps is running a donation site that ensures 100% of the money goes to the project with no administration fees.

Over the past year, the women have proven their ability to run a successful poultry operation. We have 109 of the original 150 chicks received one year ago (there were a few “learning experiences”!). They are very healthy, and producing eggs profitably! Egg production rates are around 4.7 eggs/layer/week even six months into their egg producing lives.That is very good!

The laying hens as of 14 March 2017

Liina with one day’s egg harvest.

The village needs US $3,500 to add to the US $1,500 they have already raised or contributed locally. Contributions can be made at the Peace Corps donations web site for this project. There is no fear of the money going to any other purpose or individual.

Care for the Layers and Broilers is the responsibility of Fillipus Iita, one of the two men of the 30 employees of the village, and over 200+ women that depend on Penduka for their livings for themselves and their families. Fillipus takes care of all poultry and grounds maintenance. He lives here at Penduka.

Fillipus Iita

A monthly Poultry Program Financial Review is run by Liina Shikongo, Sr. Manager for Hospitality. We just started that review process, and it was a requirement that it be successfully started before we went out for this grant.

Liina in her first financial review! Now it happens monthly.

The program will produce 100 new broilers every two weeks starting about two months after the first chicks are received. Markets near Penduka have agreed to carry some of the slaughtered birds, and some will be sold, live, on the streets of Katutura outside of Penduka. The birds will also supply the needs of the tourist restaurant at Penduka, and some will be sold to the women that work here. We don’t give them away to the women; this is as part of the mission to empower women to take care of themselves – not to just expect handouts.

The village already purchased, with part of their contribution, the next 160 layers. Those chicks are just over one week old.

New Chicks, one day old, on the day of delivery.

The cages that will be purchased with your help look like this. There is plenty of room for broilers, and they are raised organically with no hormones or chemicals other than a one-time inoculation against diseases when they are a few weeks old. The cages have a five year warranty, and are expected to last more than 20 years.

Cages from the inside – a chick’s eye view!

Please make a contribution of whatever you can afford. 100% of it goes to the project and there is no misuse of funds.With 20 more contributions of $100 we can fund this project quickly, but any size contribution is welcomed.

I will post updates to the project on this blog at key events (such as the cages being received and assembled, the first batch of broiler chicks, the first time all four cages are full (six weeks into the program) and the first group of broilers ready for market, plus a time or two in between. You will also see the layer chicks as they grow. It takes them 22 weeks to start laying, and they are just over one week old now.

Liina with one-week old chicks

Just click “Follow” on the lower right of this screen and you’ll get an email of new blog posts when I make them. No other advertising or bother – just an email of the update blogs.

Unless you post anonymously (which is possible), I will get a list of donors and will ensure you get a note of thanks from Kauna Simon, the General Manager of Penduka Village.

Kauna Simon, General Manager of Penduka

Penduka was founded in 1992, and is the oldest continuously operating NGO in Namibia. The Deed of Trust for the registered Trust is to support low-income and disadvantaged women, with an emphasis on women with disabilities, who would otherwise have difficulty finding employment, learn self-respect and be able to earn an income on their own with a small business, or to be employed by other organizations in Namibia.

Penduka fell on very hard times about 10 years ago and was in danger of failing 2-3 years ago, but are in “recovery” with Namibian women managing the village for the first time in its history, and a lot of help is learning how to manage! We have a web shop at PENDUKA.COM and you can see the products made here.

Please donate anything you can! The women are doing a great job of being responsible and making a living for themselves. Their salaries and payments for the piece work done by 180+ women are paid ONLY from revenues they generate – they get nothing from grants or donations, which are used exclusively to start new income generating projects.

Feel free to write if you have questions. Also PLEASE spread the word to your friends or organizations that may be able to help fill this grant! You can tell people to go to www.peacecorps.gov/donate, and search the project either under “Namibia”, or under my name: Andrew Garrison. The project name is “Sustainable Poultry Project“.

Thank you!

Andy