MARCH NEWSLETTER: A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Brick by Brick Uganda Staff with Executive Director Dr. Marc Sklar and Consultant Dr. Mark Pesner

Greetings from Uganda! As I write to you on this sunny Thursday morning, the birds are singing and there is a gentle cool breeze blowing from Lake Victoria, which is about 10 miles to the east. Our office headquarters is bustling with activity as our staff of 35 health and development professionals are busy implementing our programs serving the half million people of the Rakai and Kyotera Districts of Uganda. It is not lost on me at this moment that all of our success in improving the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies over the past 17 years, is due to your generous support, thank you.

Last week, we held an inception meeting for district local government and health facility leadership to discuss our impacts, challenges, and lessons learned from 2020 and review our exciting plans for new programs in 2021. After our staff made their presentations, local government leaders rose to speak on behalf of their constituents. As I sat and listened in amazement, I realized that if I had not known our staff personally, I would not have been able to tell the difference between them. That is how thoroughly our programs are shared and owned by the communities we serve.

This month, in partnership with ENABEL, the Belgian Development Agency, MTN Foundation, Spring Together Foundation, and Dining for Women we will launch our long-awaited Mama Rescue Project. 10,000 women in labor will be linked through our simple mobile phone application to lifesaving transportation with our network of over 100 motorcycle taxi drivers.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Islamic Development Bank, in 2021 we will screen 10,000 women for cervical cancer. We will also provide treatment for those diagnosed with pre-cancerous lesions, and support vaccination for over 1600 out-of-school girls for HPV.

Our Babies and Mothers Alive (BAMA) Program will continue its work to improve the quality of maternal, newborn and adolescent health in 48 health centers and hospitals. Over the past four years, we have reduced maternal mortality at these partnering institutions by 72% and newborn mortality by 50%. Over 1000 adolescent mothers are now nine months into our Mama Ambassador Program, participating in monthly peer support parenting groups that provide psycho-social support to young mothers and fathers to improve the health and development of their babies. For the past two weeks, I have been joined by Dr. Mark Pesner, a brilliant Child Psychologist from the US, who has been a pivotal partner in designing the Mama Ambassador Program. This year, thanks to the generous support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), your tax dollars will help expand access to modern family planning to thousands in the communities we serve.

These past 12 months have been a year unlike any in our lifetimes. One week from now will mark the anniversary of my own diagnosis with Covid-19. I have so much to be grateful for. I am, at age 66, healthy and able to live a life of commitment to social justice and free access to health care for all the world's people. I am blessed to have friends and partners both here in Uganda and throughout the world that share that commitment and make our work possible. And I have your support, for which I am so very grateful.

I wish you, your friends, and your family good health and good work. I hope to see you soon.

Marc