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Archive for the ‘Partnerships’ Category

2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corp. The Peace Corp was founded to allow Americans to answer President Kennedy’s call to service in the developing world. Positive Planet is pleased that beginning in October, one of our country’s best and brightest, John Trimmer, has answered that call and is already a major contributor to our work in the Rakai and Masaka Districts of Uganda. John is pursuing a Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida. He will be working on expanding Brick by Brick as well as our school-based initiatives.



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!



Brick making

Click the image to contribute via 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.



Saidat and chicks

Chicks at 12 weeks old. Egg production starts at 20 weeks

This question has been asked by children for generations and now the students of Hannah Senesh Community Day School have an answer. For the past three years they have been raising funds to support a sustainable solution to the problem of chronic hunger for the 800 students at Matale Hill Primary School.

In partnership with Mrs. Saidat Ssenteza, the owner of a poultry farm in the Masaka District of Uganda, Positive Planet has began a business venture that we hope will provide sufficient revenue to support a school lunch program at Matale Hill.  This is the first of several projects that we are initiating that focus on business-non-profit partnerships that invest in the local economy while providing much needed funds to achieve our goals.

Creative partnerships are a key component to our strategy to make an impact on the lives of Uganda’s children. With Eggmodule.org, a project that focuses on providing non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs with the tools to develop and manage sustainable poultry businesses, we have found a powerful partner for changing the lives of thousands of students and their families. In February, after years of careful planning, we finally purchased 3600 chickens to begin our pilot project.

What came first the chicken or the egg? For Positive Planet’s Poultry Project the chickens definitely come first.



Girl with child

Girl with child

During a recent visit to Uganda, Positive Planet co-founders Drs. Marc Sklar and Daniel Murokora met with Mr. Vincent Semukula, the Rakai District local council (LC5) chairman. In attendance at the meeting were also the chief education and communications officers. After a wide ranging discussion on the challenges facing the government in providing Universal Primary Education for all the district’s children, it was agreed that Positive Planet and the Rakai District government have common goals and that working together would be of mutual benefit.

In Uganda, the LC5 chairman might be considered at the political level of the Governor of a state in the US. We are grateful that Mr. Semukula is supporting our application of recognition as an Ugandan NGO.