The Baobab Tree
Last night we held a team meeting at Grayson's office; in attendance was Dave, Grayson, Matt, and Simon. The focus of the meeting was the community center siting, programming, and design. We first presented updates to the project:
- regional and village water system plans plus the water system illustrations were mailed to the village along with two calenders. to better faciliate communication between the village, AMREF, and MG, each group now has a consistent record set of plans. the calender is to be used for record keeping and note taking. extra copies were made for distribution.
- MG is interested in organizing a meeting between EWB, the library group, and themselves next week. we spent time discussing different siting options, design options, and scheduling issues. we are particularly concerned about siting and design because a library was never discussed with the school. though it would be welcomed - and taken advantage of fully, and would not disrupt the proposed site plan, we never had discussion on how it would be operated, or how it would be utilized and incorporated into the school day. several options will be brought to the meeting to review. either way, we are thrilled that this group is willing to help reshape the school.
- grants and fundraising are a priority at this point in the project. with substantial completion of the school design and preliminary designs of the community center underway, our attention must now turn to funding. i encourage every member to take time to seek out or investigate sources of funds including foundations, corporate institutions, charities, friends, relatives, or any other means. once a money is secured for the first phase, we can begin construction and scheduling team member travel.
Community Center (CC)
The village has never had a CC. Currently, large gatherings or public meetings are held under the shade of a centrally located baobab tree in the village. This poses a challenge because it is difficult to predict how the space will eventually be utilized. We have a solid understanding of their needs - established committees, cooperatives, or working groups - yet up until this point, neither have worked out of a built structure. During the meeting we decided to move the CC site from adjacent the village water tank, north to the school lot NE corner. Conveniently located along the dirt road that leads to the highway, and off the narrow path along the village tank, the site is also graced with a beautiful baobab tree. The site will provide convenient access for all villagers, a main pedestrian & bicycle "thoroughfare " for advertising announcements, a symbolic outdoor space under the baobab tree, and all within the school/village property. Within the site, we hope to position the CC to open up into a space under the baobab while creating a courtyard like area for large gatherings and festivities.
The CC building design was discussed and will now contain three components: 1) a large group gathering space, 2) storage rooms or areas equipped with locks, 3) two - three "conference" style rooms for committee meetings, small group meetings, or formal private meetings. Our last design showed individual offices per committee, but this was scrapped instead for an increased number of medium capacity rooms. Our understanding is that at no point will more than two committees meet simultaneously, and in fact, have more than enough time to schedule around one another. Adding two or three leaves space available for last minute or spontaneous meetings. At this time, it is unclear if any space will be used as a modified health clinic. This was never discussed as there is an existing health clinic located on the villages northeastern border along the highway.
One of the more interesting features discussed is having a portion of the CC building open up into a large outdoor area. We want a place that can handle the 1900 person village population, but our budget does not allow for such an enclosed space. What we are proposing is to integrate an outdoor amphitheater-type space with the building interior. The semi-arid climate allows for a fairly stable weather pattern outside of the two rainy seasons. Weather conditions daily are typically warm, dry, and sunny.
- regional and village water system plans plus the water system illustrations were mailed to the village along with two calenders. to better faciliate communication between the village, AMREF, and MG, each group now has a consistent record set of plans. the calender is to be used for record keeping and note taking. extra copies were made for distribution.
- MG is interested in organizing a meeting between EWB, the library group, and themselves next week. we spent time discussing different siting options, design options, and scheduling issues. we are particularly concerned about siting and design because a library was never discussed with the school. though it would be welcomed - and taken advantage of fully, and would not disrupt the proposed site plan, we never had discussion on how it would be operated, or how it would be utilized and incorporated into the school day. several options will be brought to the meeting to review. either way, we are thrilled that this group is willing to help reshape the school.
- grants and fundraising are a priority at this point in the project. with substantial completion of the school design and preliminary designs of the community center underway, our attention must now turn to funding. i encourage every member to take time to seek out or investigate sources of funds including foundations, corporate institutions, charities, friends, relatives, or any other means. once a money is secured for the first phase, we can begin construction and scheduling team member travel.
Community Center (CC)
The village has never had a CC. Currently, large gatherings or public meetings are held under the shade of a centrally located baobab tree in the village. This poses a challenge because it is difficult to predict how the space will eventually be utilized. We have a solid understanding of their needs - established committees, cooperatives, or working groups - yet up until this point, neither have worked out of a built structure. During the meeting we decided to move the CC site from adjacent the village water tank, north to the school lot NE corner. Conveniently located along the dirt road that leads to the highway, and off the narrow path along the village tank, the site is also graced with a beautiful baobab tree. The site will provide convenient access for all villagers, a main pedestrian & bicycle "thoroughfare " for advertising announcements, a symbolic outdoor space under the baobab tree, and all within the school/village property. Within the site, we hope to position the CC to open up into a space under the baobab while creating a courtyard like area for large gatherings and festivities.
The CC building design was discussed and will now contain three components: 1) a large group gathering space, 2) storage rooms or areas equipped with locks, 3) two - three "conference" style rooms for committee meetings, small group meetings, or formal private meetings. Our last design showed individual offices per committee, but this was scrapped instead for an increased number of medium capacity rooms. Our understanding is that at no point will more than two committees meet simultaneously, and in fact, have more than enough time to schedule around one another. Adding two or three leaves space available for last minute or spontaneous meetings. At this time, it is unclear if any space will be used as a modified health clinic. This was never discussed as there is an existing health clinic located on the villages northeastern border along the highway.
One of the more interesting features discussed is having a portion of the CC building open up into a large outdoor area. We want a place that can handle the 1900 person village population, but our budget does not allow for such an enclosed space. What we are proposing is to integrate an outdoor amphitheater-type space with the building interior. The semi-arid climate allows for a fairly stable weather pattern outside of the two rainy seasons. Weather conditions daily are typically warm, dry, and sunny.
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