Then there were 300 chickens!

as we went about visiting the three satelite schools and enjoying lunch with the school officials, families came one by one to pick up their chicken. They came on foot and by bicycle with boxes and baskets to pick up the cute little chickens that offered so much to the family they were going to.
When ever I returned to the school between trips (on the back of the motorbike through the hillside- sometimes closing my eyes) I would check on the chicks, fill water and make sure they had food. Everytime a family would come, we would all be so proud of our accomplishment. We started with the idea to help last fall and now we are here in the middle of such a beautiful country side, reminded of both how much we have in north america and the importance and beauty of simple living. Tomorrow is a down day to shop and be a tourist and visit some family. Stay tuned for another post the following day when all the chickens should be at thier new homes and we visit the orphanage and meet with the officials to help set up the scholarship fund- oh...we have a party planned as well!

1000 Chickens..thanks to you!

Today was a whirl wind. Along with making certain the chickens find their new homes, also on the agenda is....
-visiting families sponsored through the NGO "Famillies in Vietnam" and delivering money, food, blankets and other much needed necessities compliments of the sponsor.
-visiting the satelite schools connected to the elementary school that is hosting the chicken project
-overseeing the construction of the most robust (brick and mortar) chicken coupe for school to house the teaching flock of chickens
-spending time (and giving out candy and treats to the kids at the elementary school. They are all very poor, but so many are beyond poor. Some of these kids are sponsored.
-visting the orphanage where a new scholarship will be set up- thanks to the generosity of a familiy that like us, also adopted a child from the orphanage.
-meeting with a number of government officials about the chicken project and scholarship project.

Where to start...how about with the 1000 baby chickens that arrived at the school this morning. Boy, are they ever cute! We were going to deliver them, but now the school has decided that the parents will pick them up. I will make sure they are all named appropriately and sung to as promised...

We did get on the back of scooters today to deliver the much needed food, blankets, clothing etc to the sponsored families. What an adventure that was! We were on little motorbike trails most of the way. The trails wound through the country side past people homes. No addresses or any markings of who lived where. My friend that was driving told me that they all just know. He goes to alot of new places so sometimes he takes a photo of the intersection of trails to remind him. I think I would get horribly lost on my own and end up living out my life trying to find my way out. Along the way, we wound through rice paddies, crops of potatoes often with water buffalo lounging around. It was peaceful and beautiful but you could not help feeling the poverty as we passed so many simple brick and mortar houses. All of the kids that are sponsored will also receive chickens.

On one of the trips to a sponsored family,we also took a pig on the scooter. It was not a tiny piglet either. It must have been about 40lbs. I was surprised that it was possible to pack a wiggly little pig!

Here is some of the soup served as part of lunch along with some rice, and other great nourishing delights.

Here are some kids at the school

1000 chickens....so cute....

here are a couple on their own showing thier "individuality"

the home of one of the sponsored families. Look at the motorbike trail, it is the only access. This family did not have a motorbike or transportation.

Where there are chickens....there is chicken feed (or...at least that is what I think it is!)

We made it!

We arrived in Lang Son province this morning after a crazy 3 hour drive. I am sure there are rules of the road....but I sure canèt figure them out!

We headed straight for the school and received the warmest welcome from the kids and the principal and other staff. We had an amazing lunch in the library (I had to be told it was the library) and started organizing clothing donations and other goodies. The kids were so excited to see all of the clothes and

Steve and Hannah were recruited for tomorrows task of chicken delivery. This means riding on the back of scooters with chicks while someone that knows the rules of the road takes the wheel. We will be delivering 1000 chickens (flocks of 30) not the original number of 600! I cant wait to see what 1000 little chickens looks like!

We will also be visiting families sponsored through Families in Vietnam. This is the american based not for profit group that the chicken project is run through.