A chicken rearing project in Uganda will be happening thanks to the Rotary Club of Ottawa - Stittsville and the Gaia Java Coffee Company shop of Stittsville.
The Rotary Club and the Gaia Java shop have partnered to provide the $1,200 in funding needed to launch the chicken rearing project which will become selfsustaining as the chicks grow and are sold, generating income and allowing the enterprise to continue.
The Rotary Club of Ottawa - Stittsville has contributed $500 towards the project while the Gaia Java shop has provided $700, funds generated through the "tip" jar at the shop. All donations to this jar at the coffee shop go to support projects of the Canada-Africa Community Health Alliance (CACHA), an Ottawa-based organization that supports health and educational initiatives in communities in Uganda as well as Tanzania and Benin. Ever since it opened the Gaia Java coffee shop has donated all of the proceeds from its "tip" jar to CACHA and specifically to projects in Kamengo in Uganda which is where this chicken rearing project is happening. To date, Gaia Java has raised about $7,300 for CACHA through its "tip" jar.
The CACHA work in Kamengo in Uganda is due to the involvement of Jimmy Sebulime who was born there, who now lives in Ottawa and who worked for CACHA for several years. This involvement all began when Jimmy returned to Kamengo to visit his grandmother and witnessed youth just wandering around the streets, victims of the HIV crisis which killed so many parents. Jimmy started by helping just one youth and now his efforts are responsible for over 150 youth attending school with their school fees paid or partially paid. In addition, Jimmy inaugurated a community centre where the youth can go to play sports in a safe environment. This has led to other initiatives such as income generating projects such as chicken rearing, produce gardens and raising pigs.
This chicken rearing project being funded by the Rotary Club of Ottawa - Stittsville and the Gaia Java coffee shop will be looked after by some of the older youth, aged 16 to 18, who rotate among themselves the various jobs associated with the chicken rearing. The funding allows for the purchase of the chicks as well as the purchase of the feeding equipment and other set-up expenses.
By the end of the first year of operation, the chicken rearing project will have recouped the initial $1,200 investment and will be self-sustaining going forward.
The Rotary Club of Ottawa - Stittsville likes to fund international projects that are sustainable such as this one, Rotary Club president Rosemary Brummell said in presenting the Club's $500 donation to Jimmy Sebulime at the Gaia Java coffee shop last Friday evening. The Rotary Club decided to help out in Kamengo following a presentation made to the Club at a meeting last July.
The Rotary Club of Ottawa - Stittsville is no stranger to helping out in Uganda as it has developed a library in another community in Uganda. It shipped a container filled with books and computers to Uganda to get the library started and Rotary Club member Brad Spriggs even travelled to Uganda to be involved in the library's start-up.
Paul Jay of the Gaia Java coffee shop presented the coffee shop's $700 donation for the chicken rearing project to Jimmy Sebulime at the coffee shop last Friday evening. Mr. Jay is no stranger to Kamengo as he himself has travelled there where he provided computer instruction to community members. At the presentation ceremony, Jimmy Sebulime praised the staff at the Gaia Java coffee shop for foregoing their tips in providing them to CACHA to help strangers in Uganda. He noted that 90 percent of every dollar donated to CACHA ends up on the ground in Uganda.
