Kiva Chicken Farm

We have ten chickens, which lay around sixty eggs per week; enough for ourselves and a few friends.  Noah's been helping to look after the chickens over the past couple of years, so we asked him to run it as a small farm - a bit like a real life simulation game - with the profits going to help low income individuals in developing countries lift themselves and their families out of poverty.    

Noah collects the eggs and helps with feeding the chickens and cleaning the enclosures.  We give him a notional payment of 50c per egg.  This income is used to pay for the necessary food, bedding materials and a small weekly 'rent' for the animals and their enclosures. The income and expenses are recorded in a ledger.

At the end of each month, any profits are used to make loans to low-income entrepreneurs in developing countries through Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/.  This inspirational non-profit organisation makes it easy for people around the globe to make micro finance loans to individuals struggling to improve their lives.  It works on the principle that the poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given the opportunity.

Kiva are currently running an awareness campaign that allows existing lenders to invite friends to make a free loan, so why not give it a go:   http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/noahrubyandsam6578