This week, Peter Welikhe (Poultry Project’s Uganda Director) shared some devastating news with us. Eric Wafana, age 10, passed away. Eric and his mother, Sophie, joined the Poultry Project  back in 2006. Sophie worked hard to grow her project, purchase a cow with profits and in 2011, she bought a small coffee farm.

When we met Eric, he was just a toddler. Last summer, he was a robust youth, doing well in school and full of smiles. Despite access to ARVs, medical care and education and the unconditional love and support of a powerful, courageous mother, Eric could not fight the odds against him. We don’t have all the details, but it is likely that TB, malaria or another curable, communicable disease weakened his compromised immune system.

One of the main purposes of the Poultry Project is to spread awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Stigma, controversy and ignorance still hinder national and international prevention efforts. Aid dollars often never reach the folks, like Eric, in need. And then there’s a plethora of historical, structural, economic and political issues that complicate HIV/AIDS prevention, service, and treatment. Add extreme poverty, weak social/medical/academic infrastructure, malaria and TB to the mix and it seems like Eric was up against the world.

It’s days like these that make us recognize the fragility and miracle of life. We are humbled to have walked hand-in-hand with Eric.  And we honor Eric, his family, his mother, his fight, his life. Rest in peace, sweet Eric.

Due to an underwhelming number of entries for our second chicken coop design competition, the Poultry Project decided to make some changes to the competition guidelines and relaunch the contest.

SIMPLIFY.

THE GIST: Design a coop for 10-15 chickens. A large coop. A coop that can be used in a community garden (one near you, perhaps?) or by  farmers growing their flocks. And don’t worry about modifying your design for use in Uganda. We’ve eliminated the Uganda coop modification requirement for entries, as we’ve realized this component of the contest results in most applicants submitting two projects. That’s a lot of work, and we want to make this competition simple and accessible to a wider audience.

ENTRY FORM: download CCDC2012 Entry Form. (learn more here)

DEADLINE: August 1, 2012

Send questions to kflamos@poultryproject.com

GOOD LUCK!

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.