OCTOBER NEWSLETTER: A LETTER FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR IN UGANDA

Greetings From the Brick by Brick Uganda staff

Hi,

As I sit and write to you our offices here in Kalisizo Uganda are bustling with activity. I am so inspired by our 26 staff members whose dedication to serving the women and children of our communities has never wavered. Like our health care providers and essential workers in the US, they are the true heroes of the Covid crisis, the ‘silver lining’ that gives us the courage and determination to continue our work. I thank each and every one of you for your support over these difficult months and through the past sixteen years. Together, we are making a real impact on the lives of thousands of families, who like all of us, deserve a life of health and opportunity to grow and thrive.

As you know, for the past sixteen years we have been working in the Rakai and Kyotera Districts to improve health and education for the half million people who make this rural region their home. The global Covid pandemic has not spared our communities. Fortunately, the Ugandan Government acted swiftly after the first case was identified on March 22nd. To date there have been 11,443 cases reported with 101 deaths. In a country of 40 million people that correlates to about 1% of the rate of infection and 0.3% of the mortality rate that we have faced in the US, so there is much to admire and learn from the courage and sacrifice of the people of Uganda.

Mama Ambassador Program Peer Support Group for Adolescent Mothers

The initial lockdown and the subsequent restrictions that remain have certainly presented challenges for our staff across our three programs. For example, our Mama Ambassador Program, generously supported by Grand Challenges Canada’s Saving Brains Program, serving over 400 adolescent mothers and babies through monthly peer support parenting groups over the past two years, had to convert to a home visit model. In April, our program staff, though an extraordinary effort, working seven days a week, managed to complete this pilot project on time. We have demonstrated dramatic improvements in infant health and development, as well as maternal psychological wellbeing in mothers who participated in our support groups as compared to 300 mother-baby pairs in a control group. Now in the midst of the on-going pandemic, we have received over one million dollars in support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to expand this innovative program to serve over 1000 adolescent mothers and babies over two years, including fathers, extended family members, with an intense focus on prevention of sexual and gender-based violence and providing psycho-social support for victims.

Grace is a motorcycle taxi driver who is committed to saving the lives of mothers

Our Mama Rescue Project, generously supported by ENABEL, the Belgian Development Agency, Dining for Women, and the Spring Together Foundation, which will link rural mothers in labor to life saving transportation through a simple mobile phone app, has also suffered delays due to the Covid shutdown. But we have recently received the good news that MTN, the largest mobile phone carrier in sub-Saharan Africa, will support Mama Rescue with a significant in-kind donation, allowing access to their network at reduced cost. We hope to have our first mothers benefitting from this program before the end of November.

With all schools shut down until the end of the year, it has been impossible for our My Pads Program to reach the 1200 in-school adolescents we targeted with our comprehensive sexual and reproductive health educational program. However, we have are still engaging 800 out of school adolescent girls and boys and linking them to critical adolescent-friendly reproductive health services delivered by our trained nurses. This is especially important as social isolation and increased poverty has a negative impact on reproductive health outcomes.

All of our work is made possible through your support, so thank you!

On Sunday November 15th at 11AM ET, we will be holding a ZOOM Brunch with our inspiring Director of Programs, Dr. Eleanor Nakintu, who will share our work and take your questions. Please Save the Date!

Stay well and strong,

Marc