Educate! Scholar Turns a Problem into Opportunity

In order to make ends meet, Rona's mother used to rent out the spare room in their home, but every rainy season the room would flood, making it impossible to keep long-term tenants and keep a stable flow of income.

Rona, an Educate! Scholar, looked for innovative solutions using the resources she already had at her disposal to overcome this challenge. Rona pitched a new business model to her mother—instead of housing tenants, the room could house something else: chickens! Rona realized that she could build a raised chicken coop within the room using readily available and inexpensive materials, allowing the chickens to roost above the flooded floor when the rains came. With the support of her Educate! Mentor, Rona drew up a business plan to map out her start-up costs and ensure that her chicken project would be profitable. Her mother was impressed and agreed to the plan.

Because of Rona’s ingenuity and hard work, her chicken project provides a steady flow of income throughout the year, allowing her family to live more comfortably and securely.