By Austin Bowden-Kerby | Project Director
Greetings to all of our donors and supporters. Just yesterday, 4th February, 2019 we began our lastest workshop for the communities affected by Cyclone Winston. Seven youth came by bus and carrier from remote Nandelei Village, in Ba province to our Teitei Livelihoods Centre and happy chicken farm, about five hours distant. US Peace Corps volunteer, Glenn Hall, organized the Nadelei youth group and found additional support funds.
Many of the participants lost their homes during the cyclone, and one of the participants had been badly injured as well, while others had family members who were badly injured as their homes crashed down on them- in the southern hemisphere's strongest ever recorded cyclone. While fortunately none were killed in the village, everyone suffered great material loss. The good news is that almost three years later, reconstruction is nearing completion, crops are now thriving, and most homes have been rebuilt.
The village had previously been known for its many chickens, but most ot the chickens were killed in the cyclone, as the huricane hit at night while the chickens slept in the trees. The goal now is to improve the local chicken farming methods, so that the chickens sleep in cyclone resistant houses, while continuing to be free-range, while also improving the size and egg laying ability of the breeds through crossing the surviving chickens with our improved Happy Chicken mixed breed.
The youth are very excited to be learning the happy chicken methods, while also learning about the bigger picture and facilitating the wider development of the village. For example, as coconut is so important to the food security of the community and as animal feed, and as there are so few coconut trees remaining, the planting of coconut trees must receive a major focus and so we plan on sending coconut seedings back with the group, along with the six-week old chicks we are also sending.
As electricity has now been restored to the village, we have promised to send a small incubator to the youth group, once the chickens are laying, so that the project can grow under local inititive. We will continure to follow up with the Nadelei community for the next 2-3 years, through our project officer Simi Koto and the Peace Corps volunteer and his replacement.
As the disaster response is coming to a close at three years, and as we are coming close to our original goal, we are now planning to merge the disaster project into the main "Happy Chickens for Food Secirity and Environment" project on Global Giving. If you wish to continue supporting our work, please give to the main project.
Vinaka vakalevu - thank you for making this important work of love possible.
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