Project H.E.N. aims to build independence through farming initiative

A poul­try farm­ing project de­signed to give young adults with dis­abil­i­ties re­al job skills and in­come op­por­tu­ni­ties is now up and run­ning at the La­dy Ho­choy South Home in Gas­par­il­lo.

The Healthy Ed­u­ca­tion Nu­tri­tion Project, known as Project H.E.N., blends agri­cul­ture, vo­ca­tion­al train­ing and hands-on work ex­pe­ri­ence to pre­pare par­tic­i­pants for em­ploy­ment while sup­port­ing the Home’s food sup­ply.

The ini­tia­tive forms part of a TT$600,000 In­no­va­tion Chal­lenge for Per­sons with Dis­abil­i­ties, fund­ed through a part­ner­ship be­tween Dig­i­cel Foun­da­tion and the Glob­al En­vi­ron­ment Fa­cil­i­ty Small Grants Pro­gramme.

Project H.E.N. in­cludes pur­pose-built lay­er hous­ing sys­tems, a stor­age fa­cil­i­ty and an on-site ad­min­is­tra­tive of­fice. Staff and vo­ca­tion­al stu­dents be­tween the ages of 18 and 30 are al­so re­ceiv­ing train­ing in poul­try health man­age­ment, feed­ing pro­to­cols and biose­cu­ri­ty.

More than 200 chick­ens are al­ready housed at the fa­cil­i­ty, with plans to ex­pand with­in five months.

Four for­mer vo­ca­tion­al stu­dents have se­cured em­ploy­ment in an­i­mal hus­bandry roles, while cur­rent stu­dents are gain­ing prac­ti­cal ex­pe­ri­ence as part of their train­ing.

The project is al­so ex­pect­ed to im­prove food se­cu­ri­ty at the Home through a steady sup­ply of fresh eggs and gen­er­ate mod­est in­come to off­set op­er­a­tional costs.

Or­gan­is­ers say the ini­tia­tive stood out among 47 ap­pli­ca­tions, be­com­ing one of on­ly six se­lect­ed for fund­ing un­der the In­no­va­tion Chal­lenge. It is now be­ing po­si­tioned as a mod­el that can be repli­cat­ed at oth­er La­dy Ho­choy in­sti­tu­tions in Ari­ma, Co­corite and San Fer­nan­do.

Dig­i­cel Foun­da­tion Project Man­ag­er Kwasi Cud­joe said the pro­gramme was de­signed to cre­ate last­ing op­por­tu­ni­ties.

"At Dig­i­cel Foun­da­tion our com­mit­ment to em­pow­er­ing com­mu­ni­ties goes be­yond num­bers. The In­no­va­tion Chal­lenge for Per­sons with Dis­abil­i­ties was con­cep­tu­alised and cre­at­ed to im­prove liveli­hoods through in­clu­sive in­no­va­tion and en­tre­pre­neur­ship. We view each part­ner as a mul­ti­pli­er of change and im­pact."