Chicks for Chickens

Chicks for Chickens is a student-led project involving ten teens from seven different Seattle-area schools, all working together to provide chickens to families in the city of Kolfe in Addis Ababa. The “Chicks” of Chicks for Chickens are a group of girls who began a relationship with their non-profit sponsor, the Blue Nile Children’s Organization (BNCO), in 2010 when their soccer team was inspired to sponsor a thirteen year old girl from Ethiopia named Genani.

Funds from the Mother House Seed grant will jumpstart the project by paying for the initial 180 chickens, coops, fencing, feed, hay, clean water, and some miscellaneous tools. There are currently 26 families in Addis Ababa, and recently orphaned children on a wait list. Each family will have five chickens and the rest of the chickens will go to the incoming orphans or produce eggs for the malnourished patients and afterschool programs at the BNCO’s Richard Oslund Memorial Health Clinic, which provides free health services and community health education.

Community members in the city of Kolfe in Addis Ababa, setting up chicken coops

The girls ultimately hope the students in the city of Kolfe in Addis Ababa will be able to perform better in school by being well nourished. To achieve this goal; the Chicks for Chickens project will provide the much needed protein from the chicken eggs to sustain, nurture and improve the lives of the children and their community. In addition; they hope to accomplish community development between the foster families and orphans due to the collaboration in taking care of the chickens, cleaning coops, watering, feeding, collecting and sharing the eggs.

This is an amazing group of teens who are committed to improving the situation in the community of Kolfe. Their application stood out as an exemplary illustration of youth building local and global community through acts of compassion.

Chicks for Chickens team members getting ready for their next big fundraiser