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May 15, 2013  |   No Comments

Meet our interns!

Yesterday was the first day in the office for our summer interns and we couldn’t be more excited to have them on board. Those of you who know us well know that this time of year is when we can finally tackle that random, never-ending, and increasingly important to-do list of ours. Projects slated for this summer include, among many other things: creating a series of videos to tell the complete story of Building Tomorrow; planning an event for young professionals (if that’s you, stay tuned!); coordinating an outreach road trip and speaking engagements; connecting with like-minded organizations, interested schools & supporters; and keeping our blog & other social media up-to-date.

And…here are the folks who are helping us make it happen, in no particular order:

Rabi Abonour
Intern Rabi Abonour, 22, is the Visual Storyteller at Building Tomorrow. Abonour attended Indiana University, where he graduated with degrees in Mideast and International Studies. It was at IU he discovered his passion for photography and videography. Abonour spent time as a photography editor for several award-winning student publications and worked as an intern at the Bloomington Herald-Times and Lafayette Journal & Courier newspapers. This journalism background led Abonour into the nonprofit sector, where he can use his love of multimedia storytelling to help affect change in the world.

Kate White
Kate White is the summer 2013 Fundraising Intern. Kate graduated from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs in May with a Bachelors of Science in Public Affairs. She now returns to Indianapolis, her hometown, to take on the challenge of researching and planning a fundraising event with the support of Building Tomorrow staff and volunteers. Kate is excited to join the Building Tomorrow team and pursue her passion for education throughout her work this summer! Following her internship Kate hopes to take what she learns from her experience back to IU as she pursues her Masters of Public Affairs.

Emily Crawford
Emily Crawford is a rising junior studying sociology at Susquehanna University, located in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. There, she serves as president of the Circle K club (a member of the Kiwanis family). She was first introduced to Building Tomorrow while attending International Key Club Convention in 2010, and she immediately fell in love with the organization. She envisions a world in which every child with a desire to learn has access to a quality education.


…and Stephanie Dimos (coming soon), too!

filed under: Blog — Tags: , — admin @ 11:38 am   

April 28, 2013  |   No Comments

Help Others Through Education

Originally posted by Lucy Reser on April 28, 2013 on the Wofford College Blog

Through my interviews and experiences in all three countries I have learned that there will always be poverty as long as there are uneducated people and the only way to fight poverty is through education.

While I was in a slum called Hollywood during my time in India, I talked to a man named Amid. He is a street vendor of watches and belts and he lives in Hollywood. He overheard us talking to another man about the bad conditions in Hollywood and he joined in on the conversation. He told us that he earns about 300 to 400 rupees a day as a street vendor and more than half of that money goes to the education of his children. He uses his money to make sure his children go to private school because believes the government schools in the area, which are free to attend, have horrible teachers that do not care about teaching their students. Amid believes that the only way for his kids to have a positive future is through education. He stresses the importance of education to his kids but he told me that his kids have pressures from their friends in Hollywood to skip school. Amid told me that most of the kids in Hollywood do not go to school and when his children are walking to school their friends in Hollywood tell them not to go. Amid thinks that these uneducated kids are providing a bad influence to his children and Amid says that the reason the other kids do not see the importance in education is because their parents are uneducated. All of Amid’s neighbors are uneducated but Amid went to school until the tenth grade. Amid says he understands the importance of education and how it can lead to a better life but his neighbors do not. Amid said he tried to tell his neighbors that they should send their kids to school but they got mad at him and shut their doors on him. He believes that the reason there is so much poverty is because there are so many uneducated people. Amid believes that the only way to rise up out of poverty is through education and he believes that the families have to take the initiative to put their children into school.

When I was in Senegal I had a conversation with my host brother’s friend named Kareem. He told me that it is extremely hard to graduate high school here but he understands the need for dedication because he knows he can never honor his family if he does not have a job and he knows he cannot have a decent job unless he has an education. He kept his notes from class with him all the time even when he did not have school; it seemed to me like he thought of them as a prize possession or something.

Just a few days ago we learned about the horrible 2001 economic crash in Argentina that left thousands without jobs. I visited MTD in La Matanza, which is outside the city limits of Buenos Aires. This social organization helps out the community by making jobs but we learned that their number one priority is the kindergarden that they created. They told us that the kids that were born during the time of the economic crash, most of them never saw their parents go to work. This caused an issue because the kids didn’t know the importance of work so they did not go to school because they did not see their parents go to work. MTD started this kindergarden so that the kids could learn at a young age how important school is and so that they can continue their education to one day have a job so that they can feed their family.

Throughout my experiences in my own life I have also seen the importance of education. A few summers ago I traveled to Uganda with a non-for profit organization called Building Tomorrow. The organization builds primary schools in rural parts of Uganda to help give children a better future. My experience in Uganda was the first time I realized the importance of education and how it is pivotal for someone to overcome poverty. My mom always told me that if I did not go to school then I would have to work at McDonalds for the rest of my life. Before my experience in Uganda I only thought of education as a way to have a well respected and well paying job. My time in Uganda made me realize how importance education is and how it really can give someone a longer and healthier life because it can take him or her out of poverty.

For those of you that know, it is my birthday on April 30th. There is nothing I would want to wish for more on my birthday, than to help others. Through my experiences on this trip and other times through my life I have learned that it is a lot more difficult wish than it seems. What are the first steps? What is the right thing to do? Well, I do know how important education is and how it is needed all over the world and I have seen first hand the amazing things that Building Tomorrow can do. So for those of you who are thinking of getting me a birthday gift or just want to make a difference in this difficult world we live in please just donate to: http://buildingtomorrow.org/supporter/Lucy

Thank you!
Lucy Reser
Wofford College

filed under: Blog — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:27 am   

April 5, 2013  |   No Comments

Commitment Day!

At a commitment-signing ceremony in Kalungu, Uganda – home to BT’s 15th and newest academy, supported by One Day’s Wages – parents from surrounding villages made a public commitment to support the development of their area and the education of their children. Once blueprints are finalized, construction will commence and, in the months that follow, parents will collectively contribute over 20,000 hours of self-labor to build a school for their children.

filed under: Blog — Tags: , , , — admin @ 1:19 pm   

March 20, 2013  |   No Comments

BT-Uganda

Our entire team in Uganda last week after a long day of hands-on construction training with UVA architecture grad-student, Megan Suau, and Engineer Richard Tatyaba.

Clockwise from left: Willy, Jjumba, Vincent, Henry, Africano, Joseph & Burungu

filed under: Photos — Tags: , — admin @ 2:05 pm   

March 14, 2013  |   No Comments

Truer words…

Every literate girl is a victory over poverty

pictured – Shelley, a P3 student at the new BT Academy of Kyeitabya

filed under: Photos — Tags: , — admin @ 12:18 pm   

March 11, 2013  |   1 Comment

Chief Dreamer Check-In | March 2013

Seven years ago on my first trip to Uganda representing Building Tomorrow, I took out a pen and paper as my plane flew South over the Sahara. The sands beneath seemed to stretch forever, painting the skies a warm, mesmerizing orange. This morning, the deep ocean blue one would usually see crossing the Atlantic is shrouded by clouds on my way back to the USA, and though not as picturesque, the temptation to write persists.

Along Building Tomorrow’s journey, you have put us on your shoulders and carried us to places I never dreamt of on that first trip. Never is my sense of pride and gratefulness for what you have done as powerful as on the tail end of a visit with our staff and in our communities. I hope you’ll allow me to start a new tradition with you—sharing my reflections after this and subsequent visits—giving you a glimpse into Building Tomorrow’s work on-the-ground.

Each trip, I eagerly look forward to dropping in on our communities. On a visit to the Building Tomorrow Academy of Kyeitabya last week, we met with the headmaster, Emmanuel and his team of two other teachers. Just opened, the school has 76 students through P3, though Willy Kajubi, our Education Support Officer will tell you there could easily be 500 students one day. Emmanuel, a fiery twenty-something spoke confidently about the first month of class. Today was built yesterdayThough the challenges are many, he spoke at length about an engaged community and the ‘beautiful classrooms’ that greet students each day.

Affixed to the walls of Emmanuel’s office were the usual signs-the national anthem, a school schedule and roles and responsibilities of each teacher. Littered in between were several quotes, one in particular which caught my attention:

“Remember, today was built yesterday.”

I thought to myself, that’s why we’re Building Tomorrow.

With 15 Building Tomorrow Academies built or underway and a desire to scale in the years ahead, much of our week was spent documenting the Building Tomorrow model and walking through how our work can be improved. Guiding us through this highly-technical exercise was our masterful Jack of All Trades, Maggie Kirkpatrick and Country Director Joseph Kaliisa. In total, we spent in upwards of 40 hours debating, writing and offering ideas for conversation.

It was meaty, but timely, too.

As we prepare to welcome a Program Manager to our team to oversee our construction-related activities and ramp up our investment in ensuring the delivery of quality education, the conversation was rich and the final product now much anticipated. In the coming weeks, we look forward to sharing this comprehensive document detailing our model with staff and supporters.

Five months ago, we equipped our Community Development Officers (CDOs) with camera phones in hopes of receiving more regular updates of site progress and happenings. At first, I didn’t know if our plan would work given the location of our sites, the lack of electricity and network coverage. But like many times before, I was wrong. A message from Burungu, one of our CDOs hired last year made it to my inbox the night before our all-staff meeting:

The picture in the background is showing you a well-constructed and finished school. Am happy to send you that picture and I think I’ve moved a step ahead as community development (officer).

Burungu, arriving a bit late from Kidula on Saturday morning brought a pineapple from the site, which we collectively devoured in celebration. His colleagues offered him a round of applause and Burungu went on to speak of how the community expected great things now from their children, far more than they had before Building Tomorrow’s work commenced.

These are exciting times at Building Tomorrow. With commitments taking us up to 20 Building Tomorrow academies and a dedication to improving quality inside each classroom, we have a long road ahead—one made all the easier to travel with the support and friendship of all those who believe in our mission.

Onward and upward,
George

filed under: Blog — Tags: , — admin @ 12:00 pm   

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