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!
Cardozo High School Students Form Brick by Brick Club
Students of Cardozo High School, led by Senior Dana Horowitz have formed a Brick by Brick Club at their school. Dana learned of our work through her participation in her local chapter of BBYO, a Jewish youth group. Over the past year, these inspired students raised over $800 to promote sustainable development in Uganda. Thank you Dana, and all the 
students of Cardozo High School who supported the Brick by Brick Club.
Brick by Brick Promotes Sanitation that Supports the Environment
For the past year Brick by Brick Uganda has been performing a study to research whether Ecosan toilets are feasible alternatives in primary school communities in Uganda. Ecosan are composting toilets that can replace pit latrines as the dominant sanitation system in sub-Saharan Africa. Led by Peace Corp volunteer and environmental engineering student, John Trimmer , we have learned that with appropriate community education and sensitization, this technology is readily accepted by students and teachers alike. Interviews and focus groups were held in a sampling of communities, including that of UMEA Primary and St. Andrews Matale Hill Primary schools. Our findings clearly show that after a year of experience with this technology, negative attitudes can change.
Ecosan toilets produce fertilizer that can be used to replenish the soil and can even be a potential source of income for struggling rural school communities. We hope to begin Phase II of this project by having Ecosan address the entire sanitation needs of a school community.
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!
Brick by Brick at the People's Climate March
Brick by Brick marched with over 300,000 people from all over the country in the #peoplesclimate march.
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.
Students Excited Upon Successful Completion of the My Pads Program
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.
Commitment to Excellence: Completion of PEAS Partnership Project
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.
Brick by Brick Partners with Link to Progress to Provide Water for Rural Communities
Link to Progress (LTP) is an organization that works with Ugandan communities to improve access to safe water and sanitation. In January, Brick by Brick successfully applied for a grant from LTP to build a number of rainwater harvesting tanks in the communities around Kalisizo. This grant funded the construction of three 30,000 litre rainwater harvesting tanks for local primary schools and ten 10,000 litre rainwater harvesting tanks for households, which will serve over 150 family members.
We began by conducting water, sanitation, and hygiene education sessions for the different school beneficiaries, teachers, school-management committees and members of participating households, who would now have access to safe, clean water. In these sessions, proper usage of water for sanitation and hygiene was emphasized.
The schools, as well as the surrounding participating communities, have made significant contributions in labor and materials to make this project a success. The project will be especially beneficial for children, who have been collecting water from sources that are far away and often contaminated. We expect the health of these communities to also improve, as the incidence of a number of water borne diseases should be reduced as a result of our work.
BRICK BY BRICK CONSTRUCTION PARTNERS WITH PEAS (PROMOTING EQUALITY IN AFRICAN SCHOOLS) TO PROVIDE CLEAN WATER FOR NDEIJA HIGH SCHOOL
Brick by Brick Construction Company is expanding its market in the water and sanitation sector. After being introduced to a British-funded Ugandan NGO known as Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS), which builds and works with schools throughout Uganda, Brick by Brick Construction was asked to build a 30,000 litre water tank, which would be used as a reservoir in the school’s piped system at Ndeija High School, located in a remote area of Ntungamo District called Kanyantura.
Compared to other places where the company has worked, constructing this tank was a bit of a challenge. The construction site was on a very high hill, so no vehicle could reach to deliver materials. Therefore, all materials needed to be manually carried about 300 meters from the road to the construction site. Another challenge was that the ground on the site was rocky, so our masons struggled to level it. 
In the end, the tank was efficiently constructed in 14 days, instead of the 10 or 11 days that is usually needed for a tank of this size. This project has provided the company with a very valuable lesson: always thoroughly research site conditions prior to taking on any contract. In the end, we were successful in completing this important project and look forward to working with PEAS in the future.
Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Words
A Message from Brick by Brick Executive Director Marc Sklar who is in Uganda to meet with our local staff and plan our work for the coming year.
Greetings from Kalisizo, Uganda. Today I visited one of our newest partnering school communities, the St Tereza Kajaguzo Primary School, a free Universal Primary Education school in rural Uganda. Meeting with students, parents and teachers we shared the dramatic transformation that has occurred in this school over the past six months. Seven classrooms and a staff office that were crumbling, with dirt floors, have been completely renovated. Thanks to the full partnership of the local community, who have contributed significantly in labor and materials, we have accomplished the first two phases of our work plan for just over $18,000. Today I heard words of thanks for Brick by Brick's work at St. Tereza and I in turn thank all of our partners both here and in the US who have made our success to date a reality. There is much more to do but today was a day to acknowledge how far we have come in just six months. 
A Story from Hoima
Thanks very much to Lori Cleveland for sending us this summary of a recently completed project in Hoima, along with some great pictures! Lori is a US Peace Corps Volunteer working at the Hoima School of Nursing and Midwifery, and the project she describes was funded through a Peace Corps Grant that she applied for and received. Here is Lori's summary: “Hoima School of Nursing and Midwifery was established in 2010 as an initiative of the Hoima Local Government to address the shortage of nurses in the Bunyoro region. In the last three years, it has grown from accommodating 60 students to 481 along with over 50 staff members. It is a public boarding school under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Heath/Education which runs five different levels (or sets) at one time. The nursing program is 2.5 years long with a new class starting every 6 months. During each school ceremony in the last three years, the Principal has requested expanding the accommodation for students, a school bus, and an increase in water reserves. At last one of these goals has been met and the school now celebrates the construction of two 30,000 liter water tanks; one for rainwater harvesting and the other as a reserve tank. ‘To me it is a big relief to staff and students. We don’t have to buy water. It is a big privilege to the institution,’ comments the Deputy Principal.
“The school collaborated with Brick by Brick Construction to build the tanks using an environmentally friendly process to create ‘Interlocking Stabilized Soil Bricks’. Working with local materials and resources the tanks were completed in approximately 5 weeks. One employee cites this project as a learning experience and plans to purchase a brick press for himself.
“The most significant benefit, of course, is to the students. Students who are unable to do laundry, clean their rooms, or bathe because there is no water. Students who are forced to wait for meals which are delayed or not coming because the ‘water is finished.’ Students who are sick and have poor infection control practices due to lack of water. These students are excited, saying, ‘It is one of the best achievements! Cleanliness and hygiene it is most vital... It has put the school a step ahead as in development... We won’t spend the nights without showering, won’t miss meals, won’t have to move long distances for water.’ The school recognizes a sustainable achievement in its perseverance towards success.”
And here are a few of the great pictures that Lori took during the project:
Thank you Griffin!
Two years ago after graduating from Marquette University, Chicago native Griffin Smith joined the Peace Corp to serve her country and the people of Uganda. Brick by Brick was fortunate to have Griffin as a volunteer member of our staff. Griffin was an incredibly hard worker, who brought intelligence, insight and a unique sense of humor to her duties every day. Griffin dedicated her time to training our Ugandan staff, building strong local leadership for both Brick by Brick Uganda and our for-profit company, Brick by Brick Construction. In addition, Griffin helped launch the My Pads Project, teaching young girls about their reproductive health, while fabricating their own reusable menstrual pads. When Griffin wasn't busy building the capacity of Brick by Brick, she found the time to direct a camp for Ugandan youth, which focused on creating a new generation of leaders for Uganda's future.
Griffin made friends for life in the Ugandan communities she served. Thank you Griffin for all you gave to us and for who your are. We will miss you.
100 and Counting!!
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.
Protect the Environment Through Sustainable Sanitation
Brick by Brick believes that sustainable development includes the environment. After years of providing environmentally friendly rain water harvesting systems, we are now beginning work in researching sustainable sanitation systems as well. We have built Eco-san composting toilets in two Universal Primary Education Schools, St Andrews Matale Hill and UMEA Primary Schools. Students are being instructed in their use to support this pilot project’s success.
Eco-san technology allows the recycling of human waste, while producing a valuable resource that can improve agricultural production and combat soil erosion. Stay tuned, we will continue to update progress on the Brick by Brick blog.
