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!
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
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.
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.
[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:
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!
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.
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.
Brick by Brick's Board of Directors met this past Sunday for its 3rd Annual Board Retreat. Over the past three years Brick by Brick has invested time and energy in attracting an active and dedicated board. Led by Board Chair Adam Rabinovitch, this year's retreat focused on re-thinking the way we communicate our work and mission. Brick by Brick has been engaged in innovative projects that challenge the traditional way non-profits work in the world of development. How can we most effectively tell our story in a way that will expand our community of supporters? The board also worked on developing a new volunteer program that will expand our work, while providing an opportunity for us to partner with members of our community who share our passion for sustainable change in the developing world.
Brick by Brick Uganda has launched a new project to help girls and young women learn about their own bodies, while creating their own re-usable menstrual pads. In Uganda, as is true in many parts of the world, women often lack access to simple yet expensive menstrual hygiene products. Every month, many female students are forced to miss days of school, with direct impact on their academic progress. In 2012 Brick by Brick Uganda funded a needs assessment to research this problem and inquire from the girls themselves, about a practical solution. Thus, the My Pads Project was born. With assistance from Peace Corp volunteer Aditi Desai, and led by Kalsizo's own midwife and Brick by Brick staff member, Nalango Susan Kyambadde, we are implementing this educational and practical course as an after school program in three primary and one secondary school. So far the program is a smashing success, with great attendance and participation at every session.
Our long-term goal is to integrate this program into the work we do at all the schools participating in the Brick by Brick schools program. At each school, teachers are being trained to carry on this program, consistent with our mission of sustainable change. Congratulations Nalango and to all of our partners for making this program a success!
Here in the U.S., the the view of Africa we receive from the mainstream media is filled with images of starvation, war and persistent poverty. While progress on many fronts has been painstakingly slow, we at Brick by Brick know first hand that there is another story to tell. Working with our many partnering communities, we are meeting the challenge of building a better future by investing in our greatest asset, the people of Uganda. Check out this article in the March 2nd issue of The Economist to get a more realistic and optimistic take on Africa's future.
In the fall of 2012 Brick by Brick performed a needs assessment in three primary schools, asking 139 menstruating girls about their experiences. We found that 34% the girls surveyed missed on average 3.3 days per month due to their menstrual periods. 43% reported pain as the cause of their absences, while 28% cited fear of blood soaking through their clothes, and 13% stated the reason was the lack of a private place to change their pads or cloths. Many girls lack affordable products to support their menstrual health. Almost all the girls told us they would welcome more information about their reproductive health. In the next 6 months, Brick by Brick will launch the My Pad Program to address this pressing need. We have assembled an international team who, with significant input from local communities, will design a program that will sustainably fabricate and provide Re-useable Menstrual Pads for girls in need. In addition, the My Pad Program will educate girls and boys about basic reproductive health, encouraging informed healthy choices as our students grow to become young women and men. With an initial investment and support from Brick by Brick, we intend to launch programs that will continue without our direct involvement.
If you would like to invest in girls receiving an uninterrupted education please click here
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!!
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