Brick by Brick Uganda has been partnering with the UMEA Primary School community since 2007. During these past six years we have built and stocked a library, renovated multiple classrooms, and addressed the water needs through the construction of rainwater harvesting systems. This month Brick by Brick Construction completed a new multi-purpose building. Now the students and teachers of UMEA Primary School will have a performance space, place to study, and space to meet and hold assemblies. In addition, this beautiful new building will provide much needed classrooms for the 420 students of UMEA.
Our work has been made possible through the support of the students, parents and teachers of Kennedy-King Elementary School in Brooklyn, New York. Thanks to Kennedy-King and many matching fund donors we have made much progress at UMEA Primary School.Thank you to all who have made the dreams of UMEA's families a reality.
Construction Continues at UMEA Kalisizo Primary School
Brick by Brick Uganda has been partnering with the UMEA Kalisizo Primary School for the past five years. Over that time, we have built a rainwater harvesting system, providing clean drinking water for UMEA's students and staff, constructed a library, built an energy efficient kitchen and renovated multiple classrooms. Now nearing the completion of our work together, we are building a large multi-purpose building that will provide classrooms, a study hall,and a performance/assembly hall. From the beginning, with matching donors, the students, teachers and parents of the Kennedy-King Elementary School in Brooklyn, New York have helped to raise funds for this important work that has literally re-built UMEA. Projected completion date: November 30th! 
Clean Water Overflowing at Lwamaya Primary School
As the poet Robert Burns wrote, "The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry." After building a beautiful rain water harvesting tank at Lwamaya Primary School in the Lwengo District of Uganda, we discovered that there was a flaw in the roof of the school building, so that water was not being funneled to our tank. With the support of engineers at Matrix New World Engineering and architect Clay Miller of Bergen Street Studio, here in the U.S., our staff in Uganda was able to come up with a creative and low cost solution.
The tank is now overflowing with clean, safe water for the over 300 students and teachers to use. 2013 is off to a great start!!
Brick by Brick Update
It's been almost a year since we established Brick by Brick, a locally managed construction business, using environmentally-friendly technology to build water and sanitation systems, as well as school classrooms and other buildings. Led by Manager Max Ssenyonga, our team of eight skilled masons have constructed ten rain water harvesting tanks, three libraries, and are about to begin our largest project to date, the construction of a classroom/library at Lwamaya Primary School.
We have also embarked on an ambitious marketing plan to broaden and expand our customer base. This will include appearances on local radio programs, road side advertising, and community education and outreach. In addition, at the request of our masons, we have designed and produced new uniforms, which have been received with tremendous enthusiasm. Our goal is to create a successful and profitable business that will address the need for quality construction, sustainable solutions to critical gaps in the availability of safe water and sanitation, while generating revenue for our community-based programs. So far, our business model is proving successful and everyday we are learning more of what it takes to make an ambitious project like this work. Stay tuned!
Three School Libraries Completed
Most primary school children in Uganda never know the joy of opening a book. Recognizing this gap in education, Positive Planet started its Library Project, with the goal that each of our participating schools have a working lending library. In 2009, we shipped over 6,000 used books donated by public schools in Long Island.
We then met with parents and teachers at each of our schools and developed a cooperative plan to make the dream of a school library, a reality. Last month, with the support of Brick by Brick, we completed three new libraries at Kirumba, UMEA and Matale Hill Primary Schools, including desks, chairs, shelving, and of course, books! This month, we will begin construction of the fourth library at Lwamaya Primary School.
Starting next year, local school administrators who have experience managing lending libraries, will assist their neighbors to ensure that their skills and knowledge are shared fully. For the first time, over 2,000 students will be able to do what we all take for granted, open a book and learn.
Brick by Brick Is Up and Running
The goal of Brick by Brick, our latest social entrepreneurial pilot project, is to create a profitable business in the Rakai and Masaka districts of Uganda that will generate revenue to fund the many school-based programs that make up Positive Planet. In January 2011, we began by training eight masons in the use of the Interlocking Stabilized Soil Brick (ISSB) presses. This environmentally friendly technology uses pressure rather than wood burning furnaces to create bricks, therefore reducing the energy requirements in the construction process. We are hoping that the pilot program will evolve into a locally managed construction company that will be profitable and serve the needs of the community. This month we completed our first construction project, a 10,000 liter water tank for the Matale Hill Parish in Kalisizo. Click below to view two videos of the brick-making process and the actual construction of our first tank. Brick by Brick is off to a fast start with 12 customers waiting for our services. See Laying the first blocks
Brick by Brick Program Featured on GlobalGiving
Positive Planet's Brick by Brick Program is being featured on GlobalGiving, check it out by clicking on this link to GlobalGiving.
The program trains local masons to operate eco-friendly brick press machines which will displace polluting kilns, developing job opportunities and provide bricks for infrastructure improvements at schools to support education.
Brick by Brick
In Uganda, bricks are made using the materials at hand. Fashioned from local soil and water, they are baked in large, wood burning ovens that dot the rural landscape. Deforestation is a major problem throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Positive Planet is starting its second Social Entrepenuereal Project. Utilizing environmentally sound appropriate technology supported by the United Nations called Interlocking Stabilized Soil Bricks, we believe that we can support an alternative to non-sustainable methods that are harmful to Uganda’s fragile eco-systems.
In the coming year we plan to begin a pilot project to test whether small-scale community managed businesses can be profitable. Our goal is to provide bricks needed for our many school construction projects, while investing much needed capital into the local economy. Stay tuned…
Construction of New Classroom Building at Lwamaya Complete
For the first time Lwamaya Primary School will have classrooms for all of its seven grades. Up till now four grades have been meeting under the cover provided by the few trees on school property. Thanks to the generosity of their sister school, the Mary McDowell Center for Learning, this large four classroom building which also houses the head teacher's office and library was completed in February, 2008.
Throughout the two years it has taken to finish this project, Lwamaya parents have never stopped contributing to the completion of their new school building; donating over 10,000 bricks, sand, stones as well as hundreds of hours of hard work. Positive Planet promotes true partnership between our sister school communities and at Lwamaya the years of commitment have finally paid off.