FernFolio

Young Kojo, who lives in a small village in Ghana, has had to quit school to help his widowed mother collect firewood to sell at the local market.  The twenty families of Kojo’s village have agreed to save money so that each family in turn can borrow all of the savings to buy something important.  When it is finally Kojo’s mother’s turn, she buys a cart to carry firewood to market and loans her son enough to buy a hen.
In its first week, that one brown hen lays five eggs, one each for Kojo and his mother, and three which he sells in the market.  It takes him two months, but the young boy eventually repays his mother for the loan, and then starts to save money to buy more hens.  In six months, he has three hens, and in a year, he has a flock of twenty-five hens.  With the income from the eggs, Kojo is able to pay the fees so that he can return to school.
At school, Kojo works hard to catch up with his classmates and learn about farming techniques.  He wins a scholarship to an agricultural college, and starts to dream of owning a poultry farm, one that will provide good jobs for all of the people of his village.
Charmingly told by Katie Smith Milway and beautifully illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, One Hen tells the story of how one small loan changed the lives of a young boy and his mother, and, eventually, those of entire community for the better, and celebrates the microcredit lending program.  A wonderful addition to the literature of social justice!
FernFolio Editor