How One Hen Made a Big Difference
by education.com
When Kojo, a young boy in a small village in Ghana, had a few spare coins to rub together, he knew that he wanted to use them to help his mother, who worked long hours gathering firewood to sell. And he knew the perfect way to do it. Kojo bought one hen, and when she started to lay eggs, he sold them at the market. From that point, a chain reaction of events pulled Kojo's family, village, and country up by its bootstraps in a remarkable tale of making a difference.
In One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, Katie Smith Milway's text and Eugenie Fernandes' luminescent illustrations bring to beautiful life the true story of Kwabena Darko, who the character of Kojo is based on. The story takes the familiar form of “The House That Jack Built” to show how one small event can have big repercussions (“This is the school Kojo attends with the fees he paid from the money he made selling his eggs”). But the simple plot line is given a visual boost by colorful and vivacious full page illustrations which blend West African scenes and patterns with whimsical additions, such as chickens dressed in traditional garb blending in with village women.
The book's main draw, however, is in its message: that one small boy with one small idea can make a huge difference for not only himself, but an entire community. Kojo eventually saves enough money to go to school, where he learns all about agriculture, and dreams of having a chicken farm of his own. He manages to get a loan from a bank, and his farm becomes the largest in Ghana, employing hundreds of workers and allowing their children to attend school, too. When a village girl asks the now successful man for a small loan, he agrees: on the condition that she eventually make a loan to another person with an enterprising idea. The fact that Kwabena Darko, on whom the story is based, is now a board member of a global microfinance nonprofit organization, is an inspiring example that any beginning, no matter how small, can make a difference.
Click here for purchase information: One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference
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