It was a sunny, warm afternoon in Kalisizo, Uganda and a very cold morning in Brooklyn as Brick by Brick celebrated a landmark worthy of celebration. For the past 100 weeks we have held our weekly staff meeting on Skype, reviewing our work and establishing our goals for the future. For some, this may seem like only a modest accomplishment but for our staff both in Uganda and in the US we took a moment to acknowledge each other for a job well done.
Two years ago, in a thorough analysis of our strengths and weaknesses our U.S. Board of directors identified our lack of clear lines of communication between our Ugandan and American staff as a major threat to our work. It took some time and an investment in training, a few laptop computers and a USB modem but it has paid off. Almost two years later, we are still meeting every week, led by our Kalisizo-based Program Coordinator Max Ssenyonga. The meetings allow us to share ideas, set targets and goals and keep our work moving forward. But the meetings are not all work, as laughter, the sound of neighborhood children and the occasional goat or rooster are often heard. We are all looking forward to the next 100 staff meetings and a year filled with good work performed together.