We couldn't be more proud of our HI PEP Peer Educators who have become confident, well-educated, exemplary role models at SEED Secondary School! In their most recent workshop on Prevention Methods they exhibited a strong understanding of the subject material and comfort teaching. They have come such a long way from the shy students we started working with several months ago. Three Peer Educators have even volunteered to form a committee to continue the program next year!
Progress at Nakasoga Primary School
We have reached the wall plate level on the Nakasoga Primary school Classroom/ library block. We shall be finishing the roofing and plastering this week. The building has been constructed using our Interlocking Stabilized Soil Bricks which has made it look very lovely. The hope is that the library will increase literacy level at the school.
My Pads Program Begins New Training of Trainers Model
On Tuesday, Suzan Kyambadde, our My Pads Program Coordinator, and Robin Rentrope, our Peace Corps Health Volunteer, traveled to Arua in the West Nile region of Uganda to conduct a two day training of teachers for our My Pads program. Suzan and Robin have been working diligently to redevelop the training, and it turned out to be a huge success. Sessions included: building knowledge and skills to deliver sexual and reproductive health lessons; building leadership in youth development work; Modeling lessons - teacher practicals and feedback on lesson delivery; and creating an implementation plan for the program at school. These pictures are from the first day of the workshop.
Stakeholders Meeting Held to Introduce Brick by Brick Maternal and Newborn Health Program in Rakai
Our initial Maternal and Newborn Health Program inception meeting with the Rakai District Health Center officers started off with very promising results. All members participated fully in the discussions and planned the promising next steps for our new health program. The stakeholders were happy about this project, and said that this is a great opportunity to assess and improve the current maternal and newborn health practices in Rakai. They hope that when this project is fully implemented the maternal and infant mortality will significantly reduce.
Marketing to the Base of the Pyramid
Our team has been conducting market research using the skills we've gained from our +Acumen classes 'Market Analysis for the Botton of the Pyramid' and 'Human Centered Design'. We've learned how to best design and market products to appeal to and be useful to people making under $2.50 a day. We have interviewed over 50 women in the past two weeks to get a sense of how to market our My Pads re-usable menstrual pads (RUMPs). Thanks to what we have heard from these ladies, we have a pretty good idea of how best to sell this product in villages. We are hoping to make a small profit from selling My Pads locally so that we can expand our youth sexual and reproductive health and RUMPs making program to more schools in Uganda.
Marketing to the Base of the Pyramid
For the last month, our whole staff has been taking an online marketing course facilitated by Acumen called "Marketing at the Base of the Pyramid". We have learned a lot about tailoring our services to the low-income, entry level consumers in our region and are excited to start implementing these changes
Building the Capacity of School Libraries in Uganda
Our Library Capacity Building Project Has Begun With a Bang! The preliminary workshop with multiple representatives from all 5 schools was a great starting point for the upcoming project. All schools shared their goals and plans for organizing and integrating classes into their newly developed libraries.
EcoSan Composting Toilets In Masaka
We are expanding our Eco-San Toilet project! A new gardens café plot in Masaka has contracted us to build a large multi-stance eco-san toilet structure. We are thrilled that people are beginning to realize the environmental sustainability and opportunities that Eco-San presents.
Providing Clean Water and Training Students at Gayaza Vocational School
We have begun training vocational students at Gayaza Vocational School in the creation of ISSB Bricks. In addition to supplying a sustainable water source in the form of an underground rain water harvesting tank of 60,000 liters (our biggest tank to date), we are spreading the environmentally sustainable technology of ISSBs for future generations!
Brick by Brick Attends East African Water and Sanitation Conference
Program Coordinator Max Ssenyonga participated in a joint Water and Sanitation Conference between East African Nations Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania in Kisumu, Kenya. #Water #Sanitation #InternationalDevelopment #BestPosterPresentation
Brick by Brick Construction Company Welcomes New Engineering Intern
Our new Engineering intern David Mutsesaasira working with the senior masons to plan our new project to build a two story chicken coop. David has been a huge addition to our team providing great insight and direction for our construction company.
Making Progress in Water and Sanitation
As we monitor and evaluate the success of our Water and Sanitation implementation project with International NGO: Link to Progress, we find that the households and schools that we partnered with have improved their sanitation habits drastically.
Reading Makes a Difference
In every school community that Brick by Brick partners with, we have created lending libraries. This year we are establishing a Library Working Group to improve the quality of the five school libraries we have established. In each school, we will work with teacher and students to improve their libraries, establish a Dewey Decimal System and ensure that all students have the greatest access to their books. In addition to establishing teacher-student committees to manage each library, we are partnering with Word Possible, which will allow each school to have an Intranet, providing students the ability to learn critical computer skills and perform independent research. You can stay updated on this project by following this blog and Facebook.
HI PEP (HIV Intervention Peer Education Program) Is Launched
Today is World AIDS Day. Brick by Brick will be launching a new HIV Intervention Peer Education Program (HI PEP) in 2015. Led by Brick by Brick Intern Jeremy Brecher-Haimson and Community Health Educator Susan Kyambadde, this innovative program will train secondary school students to serve as peer educators, promoting healthy choices amongst their schoolmates.
Thank You John Trimmer!
For the past three years Brick by Brick has been blessed by having Peace Corps Volunteer John Trimmer as a part of our family. This past Friday John ended his extraordinary service to the people of Uganda. With his high level of knowledge and unwavering commitment to #excellence, we have been able to expand Brick by Brick Construction to a company with a national scope. John is moving on to complete his Masters in Environmental Engineering and plans to pursue a PhD. John will be missed by all who worked with him but we know his time with Brick by Brick will prepare him well to continue to bring sustainable development to the world's poorest communities. Webale-Nyo John! Thank you so very much!
Brick by Brick's Expanding Mission
[portfolio_slideshow id=1995] For the past five years Brick by Brick has widened the scope of its work with partnering communities in rural Uganda. Since our founding in 2003, our focus has been on improving the quality of education by building sound infrastructure for free Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools. With the success of our social enterprise, Brick by Brick Construction, which employs 12 skilled masons and has turned a profit in each of its four years, we began to realize the value of a more holistic approach to development. Brick by Brick has a unique opportunity to partner with local communities to promote sustainable development. Over the last three months, our Board of Directors has been developing a new 5-year Strategic Plan. After receiving valuable feedback from both Ugandan and US staff and stakeholders, we will now expand our work to partner with communities to address the following critical needs:
- Access to quality health care: Brick by Brick will now work to address critical gaps in health care delivery, focusing on improving the physical infrastructure of health centers and hospitals and the knowledge and skills of providers.
- Health Education: We will continue to expand on the success of our My Pads Program, which educates young women about reproductive health, while teaching them to fabricate their own reusable menstrual pads. In 2015, we plan to launch a new program, an HIV Peer Education Program (HI PEP) for secondary school students.
- Water and sanitation: Brick by Brick has already built water and sanitation systems throughout Uganda and we will continue to implement community-based solutions in this critical sector.
- Economic Opportunity: We will continue to expand Brick by Brick Construction Company, which provides good paying jobs and training for our communities, while providing revenue to support our programs.
As our new Mission Statement affirms Brick by Brick will:
Create partnerships that improve education, health and economic opportunity in East Africa.
Together with our Ugandan partners, we have accomplished much in the last eleven years. We look forward to even greater change in the future!
Nearing the Finish Line at UMEA Primary School
We have begun one of the last major steps towards completing our partnership with UMEA Primary School, a Sister School of Kennedy-King Elementary School in Brooklyn, New York. This valuable partnership has thrived for over five years. Kennedy-King has helped UMEA to complete the steps necessary to reach a level of infrastructure that qualifies as a Brick by Brick Standard UPE school. This current project involves the renovation of a two classroom block with an office in the center. The renovation will cover the removal of the old iron sheets, plastering, flooring, installing the verandah, painting the walls, as well as shuttering the windows and doors.
As you can see in the picture
, the roofing has kicked off our construction in order to prevent the upcoming rainy season from interfering with future construction. We plan to complete the full renovation in just under a month. The UMEA and Kennedy-King partnership has been incredibly productive and we couldn't be more excited to finally complete all construction plans to reach all appropriate standards of infrastructure.
Lessons Learned at Ndeija
We have finished our pilot tank project with British NGO: PEAS: Promoting Equality in African Schools. They contracted us to build one 30,000 L tank for the Ndeija School they funded near Rukungiri. We have learned a lot from this project due to some unforeseen difficulties. Due to poor quality, thicker soil during the construction process, our tanks had some small leakages for the first couple weeks after construction. This was the first time in our short but busy history that a tank suffered any problems similar to this upon completion.
Our commitment to excellence ensured that we followed up consistently with our stakeholders in this project: the construction manager of PEAS as well as Comrade, the director of the Ndeija school. We sent a crew of masons to plug and repair the leaks and worked closely with Comrade to alleviate any concerns about the tank that still remained. The experience was invaluable in proving our positive partnerships with clients and consistent efforts to provide the quality of work that has grown to be expected of us throughout Uganda.
Empowering Girls Through Health Education
The excited looks on these girls faces was incredible! They had just completed the fabrication of their own Re-usable Menstruation Pads. (RUMPS) This was the final class of a 7-week program that educates girls in primary schools regarding reproductive health. Throughout the program we addressed topics such as: Healthy Choices, Adolescent Pregnancy, Puberty, HIV/AIDS, and other STIs. The girls have been incredibly responsive to this program thus far: providing thoughtful responses in class and picking up on the making of their RUMPS quickly.After the success of the My Pads pilot project last year, we have completed this second phase in two schools: St. Tereza Kajaguzo Primary School and Nakasoga UMEA Primary School. The initial results of the post-course tests have been very promising with a solid improvement of scores from the pre-test. We are very excited to continue and expand this program in the coming year.
Brick by Brick Seeks To Improve Health Through Quality Housing For Health Care Providers
According to the Ugandan Ministry of Health, only 20-25% of health workers have housing at their place of work. In combination with inadequate salaries and housing allowances this situation results in many providers living far from their health centers or hospitals and is a major contributor to the 'brain drain' of trained professionals from rural under-served communities where they are most needed. The inevitable result is a lack of qualified personnel, increased absenteeism and long response times to life threatening emergencies. Brick by Brick is currently looking at how we can help alleviate this problem through the construction of quality housing for doctors, nurses and midwives. By leveraging our experience in environmentally-friendly construction, we can begin to address this barrier to greater access to quality health care for Ugandan families.