Chicken Coop Connections

CDI has a small team working on community development in the midst of a Roma (Gypsy) community in southern Kyrgyzstan. Using woodwork and carpentry, they are teaching young boys a trade. Often the Roma people in this area have limited education and begging is a major source of income. Getting established in this tight knit community has proved challenging. Many landowners are wary of renting a workshop to outsiders. The team have been kicked out of the three different locations within the community. In April of 2023 their last landlord told them they would need to leave. He actually liked renting to the team, but he was leaving to work in Russia and was worried for their security if he was not physically present.

So the team once again did not have a workshop to work in. However they still had several young apprentices from the community that they were teaching and had built up relationships with. One of these boy’s fathers reached out to the CDI team, asking if they would help build a chicken/rabbit coop. Since they didn’t have a workshop, a team member offered to build it right in the father’s yard! He and two apprentices dismantled the old coop and built a new larger one. The boys were excited to build something new and practical.

As the father watched the building process, he noted how well the CDI staff member worked with the boys and gave them the chance to learn.

He knew that the team did not currently have a workshop, and after talking to his brother, they offered the team two small rooms in their own courtyard to use as a workshop.

The CDI team realized that as they spent time with their community and showed them who they were day after day, trust began to build up. As trust is established, community works to overcome obstacles.