One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference

One hen continues the theme of microfinance. In this story “Kojo” borrows a few coins from his mother when she gets a community loan. With those coins he buys a hen. His hens lays enough eggs so that he and his mother can eat and he has some left to sell at market. When subsequent coins he buys more hens until he has enough money to go back to school. From there an egg empire emerges.

The book explains the concept of starting small and then documents all the ways that one small loan can help sustain a community, region and even nation (in this case Ghana).

The book is very loosely based on the story of Kwabena Darko whose mother married a man who had a small chicken farm, and once he graduated from ag school he built his own farm and began making loans to thoses. He created Sinapi Aba ( Mustard Seed) and through this organization has provided loans to more than 50,000 Ghanaians.

The website http://onehen.opportunity.org/ is a part of Opportunity International, now the parent organization of Sinapi Aba. Ideas for using the book in the classroom can be found there.