MISSION
SeeeMe mission statement coming soon (we are new, so give us a little bit).
PROJECTS
To view our current projects, please visit our help out page.
In the past, we have:
• Presented health seminars and eye screenings for over 1,200 women and children and have distruted 700 pairs of reading glasses.
• Donated computers with educational software and provided training for teachers.
• Organized malaria seminars and the distribution of mosquito nets.
• Donated books, established school libraries, and taught classes.
•Assessed deforestation and the need for cooking fuels as alternatives to wood and evaluated solar fruit dehydrators.
• Fabricated and installed playgrounds and recreation equipment at orphanages.
We have also assisted EWB in the following projects:
• Installed two roof rainwater catchment systems with 850 gallon water tanks.
• Installed solar power for lights, a water pump, and an educational computer laboratory.
• Assessed the needs for improved sanitary and clean water and collected design parameters
• Constructed a girl’s dormitory.
• Renovated classrooms and a medical clinic.
• Installed a well, solar pump, and pipeline.
HISTORY
Past Activities
Dr. William Grenney, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University (USU), and six sophomore engineering students formed a chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USU) in the fall of 2004. In the spring of 2005 Dr. Grenney and four USU engineering students were invited by the Kunde Foundation Non Governmental Organization (NGO) to conduct an assessment of the water needs for rural nomad communities in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Several months after this successful assessment trip it became very difficult to obtain permits from China for short-term humanitarian projects in Tibet. Consequently our attention was shifted to Uganda.
Over the past three and a half years, Dr. Grenney (an initial Director of this SEEE Institute) has lead seven teams to Uganda to implement projects at orphanages. Team members have varied in age from 16 to 72 years old, and have represented a wide variety of education and experience backgrounds. Travel teams have varied in size from 5 to 22 members. Teams have traveled under the auspices of EWB-USU and numerous Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Dr. Grenney and four engineering students conducted the first trip to Uganda in December 2005. Five orphanage schools were visited within a 150 mile radius of Kampala. Orphanage staff and students were interviewed, the sites were inspected, and water samples were collected and analyzed.
The BMH orphanage school near Masaka was selected as the location that needed the greatest help of the types that EWB-USU could provide. BMH was boarding and providing primary school for over 300 orphans. It was located far from the electrical grid and had no source of power. Children were walking over one-half mile round trip into a valley to carry water in jerry cans from a contaminated marsh. Intestinal ailments and malaria were endemic. Many of the children were HIV positive. Buildings were brick shells with dirt floors and openings served for doors and windows. Children were sleeping on the dirt floors. The orphanage school had no children’s reading books. There were no recreational facilities. Most of the children had never seen a swing or a jump rope.
Trips have been conducted in Dec 2006, July 2007, Dec 2007, June 2008, Nov 2008, and June 2009 to implement projects. Trips have been coordinated with Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USU), the Ssejinja Children’s Foundation (NGO), Right to Play (NGO), Uganda Martyrs Orphans’ Project (NGO), St. Konrad College (NGO), Blessings Of Joy School (NGO), Interethnic Health Alliance, and many local volunteers in Uganda. Projects have included presenting women’s and children’s health seminars to over 900 attendees, installing mosquito nets, testing eyes and distributing reading glasses, providing clean water (well, solar pump, pipeline, 800 gallon water storage tank, two roof rainwater catchment systems with 1,600 gallons storage, prototype ultraviolet disinfection), installing solar power and computers with educational software, teaching classes, constructing classrooms and dormitories, and introducing small business and micro loan programs.
Current Activities
Dr. Grenney retired from Utah State University in June 2007. He continued to lead student teams from EWB-USU for the design, preparation, and implementation of trips to Uganda as described above. The constituency of the teams has grown in number and diversity with a wider variety of non-USU students and professionals joining in. The Utah State University engineering administration would like to focus on hard engineering projects that are appropriate for senior design projects, and the USU engineering administration is in support of the establishment of the SEEE Institute as an independent non-profit organization to organize and conduct other aspects of our humanitarian efforts.
Dr. Grenney, Mr. David Williams, and Ms. Stacy Blauer who have traveled to Uganda on implementation trips have formed this SEEE Institute which will provide greater project implementation flexibility. It will be very difficult for us to raise money for this year’s activities if we cannot advertise that we are a 501(3)(c) organization. None of the SEEE Institute’s money will be used for wages or salaries. All of our work will be conducted by volunteers.
We are currently planning for two projects between now and Dec 2010. These projects will be coordinated with EWB-USU and our NGOs. Our international project will be a return trip to Uganda working at two sites: Byana Mary Hill orphanage school near Masaka, and Lukome Secondary School in the war torn Gulu area. We plan to field teams to present public health seminars to women and children, to introduce a new public health seminar for young men, to test eyes and deliver glasses, to develop a small Tilapia fish farm, to construct classroom infrastructure, to establish a library, to provide recreational facilities, to establish a revolving fund for micro loans, and to apply our professional skills to other projects that are important to the orphans as determined by the local staff at the orphanages.
We are still in the process of defining our domestic project. We are in contact with local churches and we expect that it will involve a project with low wage Hispanic workers in the area. Our efforts as the SEEE Institute will result in improved public health, improved education, and increased small business economic development resulting in communities becoming more self sufficient and having less reliance on donor aid.
All of the SEEE Institute’s money will go directly towards implementation of projects by SEEE Institute volunteers working shoulder-to-shoulder with volunteers from the group being benefited. This will result in the effective use of funds and the generation of goodwill between people of diverse cultures.
Future Activities
We plan to implement a minimum of two projects per year: one international most likely in Uganda, and one domestic most likely local. In keeping with our previous projects, each project will be carefully designed and planned ahead of time. We hope to follow the example of organizations like Habitat for Humanity such that our SEEE Institute volunteers perform hands-on work and apply their various skills (teachers, engineers, students, businessmen, professors, etc.) to accomplish our multi-disciplinary objectives.
NEWSLETTERS:
Click on the below images to download a .pdf version of the newsletters.
July 2007 Newsletter
January 2007 Newsletter
August 2006 Newsletter
2005 Newsletter
BMH Orphanage was started by a Catholic Nun six years ago. Sister Rose is an amazing woman who wanted to help the people around her.
BMH orphanage school is near Masaka. It was selected as the location that needed the greatest help of the types that EWB-USU could provide in 2005. BMH was boarding and providing primary school for over 300 orphans. It was located far from the electrical grid and had no source of power. Children were walking over one-half mile round trip into a valley to carry water in jerry cans from a contaminated marsh. Intestinal ailments and malaria were endemic. Many of the children were HIV positive. Buildings were brick shells with dirt floors and openings served for doors and windows. Children were sleeping on the dirt floors. The orphanage school had no children’s reading books. There were no recreational facilities. Most of the children had never seen a swing or a jump rope.
Trips have been conducted in Dec 2006, July 2007, Dec 2007, June 2008, Nov 2008, and June 2009 to implement projects. Trips have been coordinated with Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USU), the Ssejinja Children’s Foundation (NGO), Right to Play (NGO), Uganda Martyrs Orphans’ Project (NGO), St. Konrad College (NGO), Blessings Of Joy School (NGO), Interethnic Health Alliance, and many local volunteers in Uganda. Projects have included presenting women’s and children’s health seminars to over 900 attendees, installing mosquito nets, testing eyes and distributing reading glasses, providing clean water (well, solar pump, pipeline, 800 gallon water storage tank, two roof rainwater catchment systems with 1,600 gallons storage, prototype ultraviolet disinfection), installing solar power and computers with educational software, teaching classes, constructing classrooms and dormitories, and introducing small business and micro loan programs.
"The colonial boundaries created by Britain to delimit Uganda grouped together a wide range of ethnic groups with different political systems and cultures. These differences prevented the establishment of a working political community after independence was achieved in 1962. The dictatorial regime of Idi AMIN (1971-79) was responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 opponents; guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton OBOTE (1980-85) claimed at least another 100,000 lives. The rule of Yoweri MUSEVENI since 1986 has brought relative stability and economic growth to Uganda. During the 1990s, the government promulgated non-party presidential and legislative elections. In January 2009, Uganda assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-10 term." (The CIA Factbook)
The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, which is also bordered by Kenya and Tanzania.
Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompassed a portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala. Half of the population of the country lives below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. (Wikipedia)
The Buganda tribe makes up a large portion of the Ugandan population. They speak Luganda (not Lugandan). Some phrases can be found below:
Hi (informal) . . . . . . . . . . . . Ki kati?
How are you?. . . . . . . . . . . . Oli otya?
I am OK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gyendi
Have a nice day. . . . . . . . . . Siiba bulungi
Good night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sula bulungi (on retiring)
To learn more basic Luganda, please visit this site: http://www.buganda.com/phrasebk.htm
Other Ugandan languages include: Nyankore, Rutooro, Rukiga, and Nyoro.
