Good news fellow procrastinators…we’ve extended the deadline for the 2011 Chicken Coop Design Competition from 12/31/2011 to MARCH 1, 2012!

Kansas State University architecture professor, Katrina Lewis, contacted the Poultry Project last year after the 2010 Chicken Coop Design Competition (CCDC) expressing interest in getting her students involved in the next coop design competition.  Almost immediately after the 2011 CCDC launch, Katrina’s second-year architecture students started working on their designs. A few weeks ago, the students shared their coop design models with the community at their “Chicken Coop Celebration.” The students are still working on the Uganda modifications of their coops. Here’s a look at their exhibit.  THANKS KANSAS STATE!!!!!

It’s been over a  year since we launched the first chicken coop design competition and we’re ready to do it again! We are still ironing out the details, but to all the eager designers, makers, chicken keepers, architects and creatives out there — plan on an end of the year (2011) deadline. Check back in the next few weeks for competition details, application form, entry rules, and all that good stuff.

Peter sent more photos of the chicken delivery. Now, all the families in Soroti, Tororo and Mbale have their 5 chickens (4 hens + 1 rooster) and a gorgeous chicken coop designed by Emily Axtman. Thanks to all of the Poultry Project’s donors, supporters, and the amazing team at TASO for making this Expansion + Coop Build Initiative a success!

After three weeks in the care of a poultry farming/animal health expert, the chickens were delivered to families in Mbale, Tororo and Soroti. The chickens spent those three weeks eating wholesome feeds (maize bran; vitamin supplements; protein-ants, maggots, fish; greens; minerals-crushed bones, shells, and salt), drinking clean water, getting de-worming treatment, and receiving vaccines to prevent new castle disease and fowl pox. In the meantime, the build team finished building all the coops. So, the participants received healthy birds that are almost ready to start laying eggs and they have a new coop to give the birds shelter. We’ll have more photos of the delivery this week, so keep checking back!

Emily Pavlick is a nutritionist, aspiring ayurvedic chef, master granola baker and yoga instructor by trade. But its her immense heart and compassion, her warm presence and careful touch, her understanding eyes and unwavering generosity, her open mind and unwavering determination, and her belief in the connectedness of humanity that make her work with the Poultry Project so important.

Emily helped start the Poultry Project back in 2006, two years before she stepped foot on Ugandan soil. She was moved to act when she learned about AIDS orphans and their caregivers struggling to make ends meet during that first summer when the project was just a dream. She wanted to make sure that James, a 5 year old boy who had lost both parents to AIDS, had access to food and transportation to his clinic appointments at TASO for meds and TB treatment. She wanted to help Hanania get a roof over his head and help Jude care for his younger siblings. As a full-time student and waitress in Boston, she used whatever spare minutes she had to raise money to get the project going. She baked and sold her granola, asked friends and professors for support, and sent hundreds of emails. Fundraising is hard work, but Emily knew that at that time, it was the best way for her to help. When she finally got to Uganda, she worked hard to add 6 families to the project, build a house and restore a roof for some of the participants, provide basic nutrition counseling and education to participants and TASO staff, and work with her husband, Joe, to devise a division and savings match program for the farmers, strengthening their support network and adding incentives for saving money. This year, she planned an amazing fundraiser at the Woods in Brooklyn, baked almost 50 lbs of granola to sell, planned and co-facilitated the new farmer workshops, and took a month of unpaid leave from her job at the New York City Health Department to go to Uganda to build coops, lead workshops, add families to the project and do a little bit of nutrition counseling.

Whether shes in Uganda or stateside, Emily makes herself available to do any task. A jack of all trades, she gets the job done with grace and efficiency. Sometimes the work is hard and it brings her to her knees. At these times, after a child has passed due to an AIDS-related illness or she sees a child with malnourishment and stunted growth, Emily tries to stay strong, but the tears flow and feelings of helplessness and even failure creep in. “Are we doing enough?” she’ll ask. Together, we realize that we are doing the best we can, that we cannot erase suffering or stamp out poverty, and that we can seek change within ourselves. Having these conversations, grieving together, encouraging each other to move forward, celebrating the successes, making life-long friends with the farmers and TASO staff, and knowing that we have changed their lives and they have changed ours–these are some of our personal benefits from this work.

Emily Axtman (a DesignCorps fellow) submitted one of the winning designs for our Chicken Coop Design Competition. We asked Emily to work on a design for a chicken coop that could be used by our farmers in Uganda. She jumped at the opportunity, because she is committed to public service and she believes that design can promote social, economic and environmental change. Before her work in Uganda, she designed and built chicken coops for migrant farmers in rural North Carolina. After Uganda, she went to Austin, TX where she’s participating in the Public Interest Design Program. She’s part of a growing community of architects and designers making big change with small scale projects.

In the months leading up to her volunteer stint in Uganda, she read books on the region and HIV/AIDS in Africa, researched materials and construction methods common in rural Uganda, communicated with our partners in Mbale to learn more about Ugandan poultry farming and building practices and designed a model for the Poultry Project coop. Once in Uganda, Emily and the team got to work. Emily conducted a workshop with Poultry Project farmers to refine the coop and make sure it fit the farmers’ needs. With a few changes and three days of hard work, the demonstration coop was complete and the on-site coop builds at farmers’ homes began. Emily helped train the build team and together, they built 7 coops.
Emily exudes creativity, curiosity, ambition and compassion. She approaches her work with the utmost sincerity, humility, dedication and focus. She never presumed that she had all the answers and she frequently sought feedback from the build team and the farmers. She rarely put down her hammer to take a break. I loved watching her teach the Poultry Project farmers and beneficiaries how to build, use and maintain the coop. It was amazing to see a group of people turn a pile of wooden poles, a roll of wire mesh, papyrus, nails and a tin roof into a gorgeous, streamlined chicken house. And after the roof was put on the coop and the last touches and adjustments were made, we drove away from the home feeling proud about what we built, together.

Emily created this graphic to illustrate how a Poultry Project farmer uses their initial flock of 5 chickens to generate a lasting source of income and nutrition.

“The chicken coops that were built over the course of the project stand as a tangible product representing a system designed to provide the necessary resources for the participants to bring themselves out of poverty.”  – an excerpt from Emily Axtman’s blog.

Emily loved learning how to use a panga, so much that she took one home in her suitcase. The fresh pineapple in Mbale made her happy and before she left, she walked to the market to buy one for us to share. We wanted her to cut it up with her panga, but she used a kitchen knife instead. She’s saving the panga for building more life-changing, community-enhancing structures. Thank you, Emily!

[Photos 1, 3, 4 by Emily Pavlick; Pineapple photo by Kevin Kopanski]

Kevin, fresh out of photojournalism school, learned about the Poultry Project back in 2007. He’s been trying to go to Uganda ever since. With a great job at a local Cleveland photography studio, a few years of built-up anticipation, a compassionate heart and an eagerness to share his creativity and talent with the Poultry Project, Kevin was finally ready to set foot on Ugandan soil. Kevin generously volunteered to document the Poultry Project’s work with photos and video.

He immediately fell in love with Uganda, the people, the food and the lifestyle. By day two, he was plotting his return (two weeks was not enough time!). When he wasn’t making stunning photographs or filming, he was looking for other ways to help. Kevin built coops, befriended the participants (especially Willison, Robert and Shamim), taught a few children how to use his camera, loaded and unloaded coop materials, and always stepped forward when help was needed. On our way to Kampala, it started pouring rain and Kevin hopped out of the vehicle and onto the roof to untie and take down our luggage. Kevin has a lot of the qualities I admire in my dearest Ugandan friends–he’s patient, humble, agreeable and kind. His photographs are amazing. Check out his work on our blog (stay tuned for an upcoming gallery show and more of his Poultry Project work on our website) and on his site.

Kevin took this photo outside of the TASO Mbale nutrition clinic.

Eric and John are both supported by the TASO Mbale school fees assistance program. Peter (manager of the school fees assistance program) recruited them to join the build team, because he knew they wanted and needed part-time jobs. Eric helped build the model coop and during his school break he worked with the build team to build over 10 coops. He’s back at school now and John will take his place. Eric and John have parents living with HIV/AIDS, which is why they receive support from TASO. Milton lives in Tororo and he lost his father to AIDS-related illness. His mother was in an abusive relationship and disappeared, leaving Milton all alone. TASO Tororo helps him with his school fees and he boards at school, for free.

John

Being part of the build team has been a formative experience for these young men. They’re learning building, design and teamwork skills. They also make some money. And they get to do this while helping others. It’s a great service learning opportunity and we’re happy Peter had the foresight to include Eric, John and Milton in the project. Emily Axtman became really close with David and Eric during the builds and on her last work day in Uganda, she got to build a coop in Soroti with just David and Eric. She said they moved so gracefully through the process, without distractions from a dozen neighborhood children clamoring to play with the tools or me and Emily taking a million photos. David and Eric taught Emily how to use a panga and she taught them a trick or two about building and design. Joe and David, despite the language barriers, formed a strong bond too. Joe used to work in construction in the US, so he was able to share some tips in exchange for panga lessons. It was a mutual learning experience for the whole team and friendships were made. After each build, the exhausted, starving team would go to the best, local Ugandan-food restaurant to eat rice, beans, matoke and chapati. The favorite spot for the post-build meal: Tower Restaurant in Mbale (around the corner from the clock tower).

Loading and unloading heavy wooden poles and planks, traveling for hours in the back of the truck under the hot sun (or torrential rains), working nonstop to get the coop up in 4 hours, cleaning up the build site mess and getting ready for the next build, always with a smile–thank you Eric, Milton and John for your hard work!

Joe, Eric, David, Milton, and Emily A.

Before the chicken coop construction began, Peter recruited David, a TASO Mbale handyman, to help with the building. David is proficient with a panga, which quickly became the primary tool for the coop build. The model coop took three days to build. Originally, we expected each family to construct their own coop; however, after the first on-site build, the farmers asked for help. With the coop build time down to four hours, we decided to have the build team construct all 53 coops.We built 13 coops while we were in Uganda. This month, David is traveling all over Eastern Uganda to construct the remaining 40 coops.

This coop building job is a great supplemental income for David–he’s making double his usual daily wage at each build. He has eight children to support, so the extra cash is always needed. David goes the extra mile and he’s so reliable and hard-working. During the builds, he never idles. David and Joe aimed to finish the coops faster each time. At Shamim’s house, David walked her around the coop giving her a tutorial on coop use, maintenance and security. David also helps lead the other build team members that are younger than him. He also taught Joe how to count to thirty in Lugisu. He’s an amazing man and we’re so grateful that he’s part of the Poultry Project team. Thanks, David!