Time for a change .

As we are looking forward to the spring and summer and what they have in store for us.  We have been discussing what we will be doing, how we will be expanding and what we we can do better. 

We also look back to where we started .. 

Maybe it is time for an upgrade 

 In the beginning we started with a donkey and cart that we purchased for $100.  This did not work not as we had anticipated .  long trips to the orphanages and market were not possible and even around the farm the donkey was unruly at times.. and I still have the scars to prove it  .  

Next up was the uaz truck .  This has been a great help around the farm.  has taken more trips to the mountain then we could count, and is a great workhorse. 
the problem with it is that it is not very safe, steering is loose, and the brakes at their best are bad.   It is not a vehicle we can travel into the city with on deliveries, and not safe to carry passengers in  

with all the produce we carry we need something that can haul a load and carry passengers to help on deliveries 

We thought we had this problem solved when we added the hunter to the fleet .  It could carry both passengers and some baggage , and was great up and down the mountain.  The problem came when we traveled at road speeds on drives of more then 1/2 hour.  We ended up with many breakdowns when we pushed it in that way, so it was used more for transportation to the Kashar (mountain ranch ) and back .. then we hit a snag last year when the engine packed it in.  We have been over a year with several different mechanics trying to get it back on the road. This has meant that we are hiring other trucks a lot, as well we do not have suitable transportation to get guests to the yurts and back so we are loosing a lot of bookings. 

During the coal season we had one of the other NGO's help us, along with the truck we had hired.  They have a great size truck that carries a good size load, and is good on the rough roads as well as safe and comfortable on the highways for the longer deliveries ... but it still had a problem with not enough room for passengers .

Then we came across this.  It is made by Hyundai or KIA, both have a similar truck.  It has a double cab design the call it.  It has a tone of room inside as well as a good cargo deck on the back.     All the reviews show it to be an excellent option for what we have intended for it. 

 










We feel a bit like when people talk about the realization they need to move from there sports car or suv to a family mini van haha.. Not as fun as a Hunter and not as much of a conversation piece as the Uaz, but it really is the practical alternative for us. 

We have decided that we will work toward this.   We have the Uaz truck repaired and ready to sell and the Hunter will be fixed in a couple weeks, and before either of them break down again we will sell them and use that money toward the purchase price of the new truck.  

How new a truck we get will depend on how much we are able raise .. In an ideal world I would like to add between 6 or 7 thousand dollars so that we get a newer one with less mileage, and a newer model with the better safety standards... something that will meet our needs for years to come.

As you think about this, if you would like to consider helping with this purchase please let me know.   I will start a fund for it , and if you just put the word "Truck" "in the memo line in the donation box we will make sure it goes to that, as well I will start a thermometer on the side of the blog that we can see the progress.