After speaking with some friends I saw how our important it is to convey the success we did have with our first round of the Food for Thought Chicken Project. 600 chickens were delivered to families that did not have any. Let me say that again. 600 chickens were delivered to families that did not have any chickens. Maybe I should shout it out- it's such good news- and how often do we get good news???
Chickens were sent back to the lunch program to share with all the poor children we now feed. So many chickens were sent in and at the same time chicken prices went up we all agreed the families could sell chickens at the higher price and send money to the lunch program. Pork and yogurt were purchased with the extra money. This meant that the 55 children we provide lunch for had wonderful nutritious lunches.
Food for Thought Chicken Project began in the fall of 2009. We started giving chickens to a few families in the spring of 2010. We started small to monitor the program and see if it would work. It did and we added families. Most of these families gave food back to the lunch program. Through our Food for Thought Lunch Project and our Chicken Project from 2009 we have served over 18,000 lunches to the children of Lang Son!
We need support for our Chicken Project and for our Food for Thought Lunch Project- there is also a garden project. We are providing cooked lunches and at the same time growing a garden, growing the chicken project one family at a time and looking forward to the sustainability of the these projects! The garden and the chickens can give forward - and the nourished educated students in Lang Son can also give forward for a finer future for all of us.
FYI
The following words are about chickens and the Vietnam people- :I share them so you can appreciate the many many thank yous that are given for your generosity and caring from the students and their families and all of us at the Lelean and Lacey Love Education Fund.
lớn tuyệt vời cảm ơn bạn!!!!
(a great big thank you!!!)
Marketing poultry products
Egg and meat products are used to fill household needs. Some of the products are sold to
markets or neighbours. Poultry is sold live. Poultry products serve as credit for households.
When farmers need cash for medical services, medicine, school fees, and children books,
etc., they sell eggs or chickens. Poultry is slaughtered when guests visit. Frozen chicken
meat is not popular for rural people. It is considered unfresh or less tasty. Other hand,
without the necessary infrastructure and equipment, frozen chicken meat cannot reach the
rural areas
The relationship between poultry and Vietnamese society
Poultry industry has one of the longest histories of the different animal husbandry systems.
It contributes approximately 30 percent of farmers’ total income. It is a very important
resource for farmers’ living conditions and culture.
The cultural associations of poultry products
One beautiful Vietnamese tradition is bringing eggs to neighbours, to the sick, or to pregnant
women as a gift.
If the poultry herd of a farmer dies from disease, their relatives bring him or her some
poultries to replace those lost. Sometimes, children receive poultry as birthday gifts.
According to legend
Four thousand years ago, My Nuong, the daughter of Hung King, was proposed to by both
Mountain King and River King. Hung King ordered a betrothal gift that included nine elephant
tusks, nine cock spurs and nine horses’ manes.
Folk paintings and poetry
Paintings of poultry have been popular for hundreds of years in Viet Nam. The most popular one is of a Ho chicken herd, which includes a hen and an intelligent baby chick setting on her back while looking for food in the garden. In the Tet holiday (the Lunar New Year), people buy this painting to signify a fortunate,
successful and healthy New Year.
Chicken herds symbolize peacefulness in rural areas, as in a famous poem by Hoang Cam.
From:
FAO. 2008. Poultry production systems in Viet Nam. Prepared by Nguyen Van Duc and T. Long.
GCP/RAS/228/GER Working Paper No. 4. Rome
Providing chickens for poor families in Lang Son province touches their lives in practical and emotional ways. This is what you did when you provided hundreds and hundreds of chickens to the families of Lang Son. Your gift touched them in practical and emotional ways. Please help us help them help each other through our give forward shared resources Food for Thought Project. To donate, click the link below:
http://familiesinvietnam.org/love_education_fund.shtml
