Veronica Cares for Her Chickens to Care for Her Family

Veronica de Sousa and her husband Joanico Pereira live on the very top of a mountain in a town called Faulebo in Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, is a mountainous country on the island of Timor in Southeast Asia. A large part of Timor-Leste’s population lives in remote areas and relies on agriculture and livestock to make an income. 

Like many of their neighbors, Veronica and Joanico rely on the income they generate from their vegetables and chickens to care for themselves and their two young children. Due to outdated practices, however, Veronica and Joanico used to leave their chickens outside of their coop to find their own food. This has led to many of their chickens dying because of diseases they pick up when searching for food. 

When Veronica was invited to attend a CWS chicken info session, she saw an opportunity to modernize and improve her poultry practices. At the training, Veronica learned how to feed and vaccinate her chicken and other updated practices to ensure longer and healthier lives for her chicken. She elaborated, “we never had the opportunity to attend any training. This time we got new knowledge about raising chickens and also got materials, such as nails, to make chicken coops.” 

Through the support of our partner, Latter-day Saints Charities, we have invited 25 other families like Veronica’s to attend training sessions and improve their ability to raise chickens. By providing these families with the tools that they need, we are helping build a more stable future for themselves and their children.