Rethinking Everything

Last night I stayed awake because I couldn't stop thinking about the project. I was discussing the building with my family at dinner and my wife suggested that an enclosed building might be too hot for the birds. My work on a commercial farm has conditioned me to think in terms that might not translate directly to Haiti. I began thinking as if I was in the country and how I would utilize the natural state of things. Rather than importing a design that relies heavily on electricity in the States, I started from scratch and realized that we had already addressed a couple issues that the building was meant to address. First, for security we had already decided that a wall or fence will be required around the property. This nullifies the need to protect the birds inside the building with another wall. Secondly, the weather will supply all the heat the birds will ever need. Here in Georgia we build to trap heat inside. Our birds come to us the day they hatch, and require 90 degrees to survive and thrive. In Haiti that portion will be done in the primary and secondary brood sections. Once they get to the main section the natural temperatures will be just fine, and bordering on too hot at times. We cannot turn on fans to cool the birds, so we need to get rid of the walls. by replacing the building with a pole barn we will save a lot of time and espense in building it, and the birds will have shelter above and cooling from the sides. The nest boxes will be moved to the center to protect from rain blowing in the sides when it storms.

The other thing I thought about was how to tackle this project as far as actually getting the work started. I had learned that the road would need work, the property would need water and a fence/wall before the building could start. I came to realize that I could break the project into phases and raise support for each phase separately and begin work as each phase was ready. By pledging to a particular phase each donor will understand exactly what is being done with the money, and if any phase fails, no one will be asked to make good on any pledges for future phases. This will build trust in the project and the project can be documented as it progresses. So, Phase 1 will be the road and water pump. Phase 2 will be the wall or fence. Phase 3 will be the pole barn. And phase 4 will be the Brooding building. Additionally, we can look into placing the brooding building back at the church where there is some electricity. The grid can dharge the batteries when it is active and we can save the money on the solar panels. Every three weeks the oldest birds will be transported out to the farm site. One other aspect that we are going to look at is replacing Fred's car with a truck. I'll list that as an optional phase for people to pledge to if they would like.

I want to encourage those who are interested in supporting this project to begin sending pledges in. No money, just pledges for phase 1. Use the contact form to email me directly and I will enter the amount. I won't use names unless I am asked to. I've initiated the pledging by making my own pledge for the amount of $200 to phase 1. That leaves us with $2300 to go.