Safe Motherhood

BRICK BY BRICK NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2016

Alice Male, Program Director Brick by Brick Uganda

BRICK BY BRICK UGANDA HIRES NEW PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Since its founding in 2004, Brick by Brick has always depended on a small core of dedicated Ugandan staff and American volunteers. We have experienced extraordinary growth over the past six years. From a single paid staff person in 2011 we now have 10 full time employees working for Brick by Brick Uganda, and an additional 14 skilled staff employed with our social enterprise, Brick by Brick Construction Company.

With this rapid growth has come the need to build and strengthen the capacity of our organization in terms of program management, monitoring and evaluation, ensuring that all of our programs are well directed and that every dollar spent is invested wisely. A key part of our long term strategy is to rely on the knowledge and experience of our Ugandan staff. In the hiring of Alice Male as our new Program Director, we have taken a significant step in ensuring strong leadership for Brick by Brick Uganda, now and in the future. Here's what Alice has to say about this new opportunity:

What excites you most about the opportunity of becoming Brick By Brick's first Ugandan Program Director?

"By deciding this is the right time to have a Ugandan as a Program Director, the organization has shown it has trust and confidence in the abilities of Ugandans to effectively manage and expand our organization.... Brick By Brick is a prominent organization in this part of my country, Uganda. It has a good reputation and proven record of delivering development initiatives that are both locally appropriate and sustainable. I therefore consider it a great honor to head its programs. I am representing Ugandans at this realm of directorship - a call I find a great personal achievement. This opportunity gives me the platform to bring the Ugandan perspective to program development and management. It also offers me the opportunity to showcase what Ugandans have and can offer in the overall program development sphere. Like any other Ugandan, I bring on board the national's perspective and understanding of development challenges that can lead the way to birth solutions that are not only relevant, locally appropriate but also sustainable."

Where do I see Brick By Brick Uganda 5 years from now?

"I see Brick By Brick implementing programs that are:

  • Wider – expanded geographical coverage, reaching a diverse category of beneficiaries in large numbers
  • Deeper – implementing high-impact projects, tackling deep-rooted underlying development issues
  • Diversified – expanded range of interventions to include thematic areas new to the organization

I envision Brick by Brick Uganda as a national, strong and solid organization of experienced professionals that successfully delivers on its promises and commitments, meeting or exceeding project goals. We will be known as a lead organization championing staff career development, personal growth and development achieving this through a model  of mentorship, coaching and supporting staff to achieve their dreams as they commit their time, resources and efforts in working for and with disadvantaged, marginalized and oppressed communities. We will become the organization of choice for prospective donor organizations and development agencies looking for credible local organizations to partner with for emergency relief and development programs. I can see Brick by Brick Uganda in the forefront of harnessing and developing new practical, innovative and sustainable development interventions that are scalable."

Tell us a few things about yourself and your family?

"I am 39 years old, married to a loving husband who owns his own construction company. Together we live just outside the capital city of Kampala with our two beautiful children Samantha, who is eight years old and Samuel who is five. A Muganda by tribe, I grew up in a family of nine siblings, with five sisters and four brothers. I was born and raised in Kitetiika village located eight miles from Kampala. My late dad’s passion was to educate all his kids at a time when girl-child education wasn’t a priority in Uganda. This however, did not deter him since he took us to some of the best schools around Kampala; a move that paid off in the long run. Today two of my sisters are lawyers; one brother is a doctor, 3 of my siblings are teachers, 2 social workers and myself a  Public Health professional."

We are all very excited about having Alice join the Brick by Brick team. Thank you Alice, for your commitment to the communities that we serve together.

And please share this great news on social media by clicking below:

BRICK BY BRICK NEWSLETTER JUNE 2016

Inline image 1

Print

For our first E-newsletter we are focusing on our most ambitious program to date, our:

Babies and Mothers Alive (BAMA) Program.

Every year 6,000 mothers and 34,000 newborns die needlessly in Uganda from complications that are easily treated in the U.S and elsewhere. Why are so many women and babies dying in Uganda and throughout the developing world? We know that the majority of these deaths can be prevented by addressing each of 3-Delays:

  • Delay in seeking care
  • Delay in reaching care
  • Delay in receiving care

Women living in rural communities often lack the knowledge of when to begin to seek maternal health care services. Gender inequality robs many women of the power to make this life saving decision. Once a woman in labor chooses to seek care at a health facility she often faces tremendous challenges due to poor transportation systems, roads and lack of funds. The final insult is that once a woman reaches a hospital she often finds providers who lack the knowledge and skills needed to handle even the most common of obstetric complications, shortages of life saving medications, surgical equipment or the facility to provide blood transfusions.

Access to quality maternal and newborn care is a human right. After completing a needs assessment of the 24 health centers and hospitals in the Rakai District, in partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Health, we have begun a training and mentoring program for doctors, nurses and midwives to dramatically reduce maternal and newborn mortality in our district. We go beyond improving the knowledge and skills of providers and work to strengthen the management of health facilities to ensure that improvements are sustainable over time.

In the coming months we will provide updates, photos and personal stories documenting both our successes and challenges. Please watch the deeply moving video below that tells the story of why our mothers, sisters and daughters are dying and what we can do to avert this on-going tragedy.

Thank you for all your support that makes our work possible. If you would like to find out more about our work, please e-mail me with any questions or feedback at marcsklar@brickbybrick.org

To help us expand our impact click here to help keep, Babies and Mothers Alive
Why Did Mrs X Die

[video width="640" height="360" mp4="http://www.brickbybrick.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Extract-from-Why-Did-Mrs-X-Die-Retold-SD-1.mp4"][/video]

BAMA Program Opens New Offices In Kalisizo

The Babies and Mothers Alive (BAMA) Program is a partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Health to improve the quality of Maternal and Newborn Health in the Rakai District. To date, we have preformed a needs assessment in the 24 public Health Centers and hospitals that deliver care to mothers and their babies. In this comprehensive report, critical gaps in care were identified. In the coming months, we will begin training and mentoring activities for health providers in our district, as well as capacity-building in health management. Opening our program offices in Kalisizo, close to the people we serve, will allow us to build strong partnerships with local communities and the Ugandan Government. BAMA Staff at Our New Offices in Kalisizo