Dear Friends of Project Frango,

It is with great pleasure that we write this letter to tell you of the ongoing success of Project Frango.

• The complete training farm is built.
• It has capacity to raise 10,000 chicks every 7 week cycle and has gone through two successful cycles so far.
• It has both solar and backup electricity from the local grid.
• A meeting room for the association board of directors has been built.
• Families have received special training in general business practices, accounting, gender equity within the family, household nutrition and gardening.
• Families are receiving day by day on-the-job training in raising the chickens.
• A strong relationship between the supporting chicken sales business, New Horizons, and the community association has been forged and the association is receiving ongoing support to begin the process of assuming management of the training farm in the next year or so.
• A contingency fund is in place to cover the eventuality of any catastrophic loss or damage.

We have reached a point where funds and support from Canada are no longer necessary. The training farm is ready to run on its own and as all contractual obligations have been met, Canada Gives will be stepping back and completing their involvement with Project Frango.

At this time, we want to thank all of you for your fantastic support.This has been a labor of love and it is a joy to see families working hard together to learn new skills and gain a new lease on life.

We will be closing our website for Project Frango but if you have any questions you can contact us at rks_ped@yahoo.ca

Ron will continue to go to Mozambique and will check in regularly with Project Frango.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Ron and Connie Siemens
December 23, 2022

Building Community Resilience in Natikiri, Mozambique

Overview

Project FranGO is a self-sustaining Mozambican incubator project that will provide young families with the opportunity to learn how to manage a successful poultry farm while participating in family gardening and nutrition education. This ‘two pronged’ approach is intended to shift families away from subsistence farming, and its predictable devastating cyclical poverty. The project will foster a sustainable economy in Mozambican communities.

At full capacity, each year, sixteen young families will be enrolled at the farm. They will be mentored in the practice of raising and marketing chickens, which are a critical source of protein and integral to the Mozambican diet and culture. The participants will receive a portion of the profits from each two month growing cycle. Once the families exit the project they will have accrued sufficient experience and financial profits to start their own farms, leading to a strong resilient business environment.

Phase One of the project will begin in January 2020 with administrative appointments and farm construction leading to the first group of eight families starting in the September 2020. Phase Two of the project will expand the farm to accommodate the full complement of sixteen families.

A Unique Initiative

Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world. 98% of the population make less than $1000/yr. The country has extremely high rates of maternal mortality, a powerful health indicator that denotes extreme levels of poverty and lack of access to health care services.

Project FranGO aims to provide sustainable employment and through the unique partnership with the local university, provide education in health care and family planning to young families caught in the cycle of poverty.