buildOn Partners with Madonna to Construct
Ten Schools in Malawi!

We’re very excited to announce that buildOn is partnering with entertainment icon Madonna and her nonprofit Raising Malawi to construct ten new primary schools in the country of Malawi! Their contribution will allow us to expand on our success in that African nation’s remote villages, where we’ve already built over 50 schools that are helping individuals take the first steps out of extreme poverty every day.

Read more about this partnership in the official press release.

buildOn’s global school construction program is founded upon a core methodology produced from years of research. Our methodology’s true power resides in the fact that buildOn classrooms are constructed in partnership with the very people who will be benefiting from them. buildOn provides the funding, engineering, materials, skilled labor and supervision. The village provides a gender balanced leadership team, thousands of hours of unskilled volunteer labor and a promise that girls will attend the school in equal numbers with boys. After the school is completed, Malawi’s Ministry of Education will provide the teachers and run the curriculum in the classroom.

Read more about our methodology.

Madonna feels passionately about her vow to help Malawi’s neediest children receive an education. “This remains a very big priority in my life and I am excited that with the help of buildOn we can maintain our ongoing commitment to move forward efficiently. We now will be able to serve twice as many children as we would have served with our old approach,” said Madonna. “I have learned a great deal over the last few years and feel confident that we can reach our goals to educate children in Malawi, especially young girls, in a much more practical way. Constructing smaller schools in partnership with buildOn has restored my faith that we can accomplish what we promised we would,” concluded Madonna.

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Service Round-up: Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend

Fun Day in Oakland with Refugee Children

In San Francisco and Oakland, students dismantled recycled computers. Others worked at Land’s End Park, gardening and landscaping. Students also put on a “fun day” for refugee youth at a local shelter. Still others joined the 14th annual MLK celebration in the East Bay and contributed to an “I Have A Dream…” mural!

In Chicago, students made a mosaic portrait of Dr. King out of dominoes. They also made “origami cranes for peace”. Still others beautified a YMCA on Chicago’s west side – where MLK once lived – with the help of Mayor Rahm Emanuel!

In Detroit, students joined thousands in celebration at Union Station before volunteering with seniors in honor of Dr. King’s memory. Others participated in a “poverty simulation” to raise awareness for those living below the poverty line!

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Stella and Dot Partners with buildOn to Spread Love to 10,000 Little Girls this Holiday Season!

Stella & Dot, a global fashion accessories brand and rapidly growing social selling company, has partnered with buildOn to donate 10,000 gifts to girls in need this holiday season. In order to reach this goal, Stella & Dot is launching the “Spread the Love: Buy One, Gift One” program that provides a gift from their girls’ line to underprivileged youth with the purchase of select jewelry styles. Gifts will be distributed to girls around the world through buildOn’s extensive volunteer network.

Stella & Dot previously has donated to buildOn through the sale of their 2011 Mother’s Day bracelets. A group of stylists from Stella & Dot traveled to Nicaragua to help construct a buildOn school later in the year.

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WeTopia Launches!: Support buildOn with a Facebook Game!

We’re proud to announce that buildOn has partnered with the new social gaming company SoJo Studios to bring you a Facebook app that lets you complete international outreach from your PC. WeTopia, as it’s called, elevates the fun of game play with friends and family into the joy of helping children around the world.

So how does it work? First, you sign up from Facebook here. Then each player gets to build their own WeTopia world, a children’s utopian village. This includes building houses, shops, and buildings, decorating with flowers, trees, fountains, and pets, and increasing population. By inviting Facebook friends to be “neighbors,” players can venture in to other players’ worlds.

Players reach new levels through different opportunities in the game where they accrue “Goodwill,” “Experience,” “Energy” or “Joy,” that unlock new goods, structures, and decorations that can be used in the game. A charitable aspect underlines the entire game; players have the opportunity to choose what projects Sojo and partners will support.

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buildOn Dinner in Seattle Raises Enough for Two Schools in Haiti!

Kathleen Atkins, buildOn’s Director of Events & External Affairs, reports from the Dinner Event in Seattle, WA!

On Wednesday, October 26, about 85 people gathered at the Palace Ballroom in Seattle for a night of dinner, drinks, a silent auction and an appeal. Auction highlights included David Letterman tickets, a San Diego Getaway, a 4-hour interior design consultation, British Airways Club Class Tickets, and selection of Haitian crafts.

The evening was organized by Seattle Chapter Director and buildOn board member Randi Hedin to raise funds for schools in Haiti. The guests were treated to a Haitian-inspired dinner, while Skyler Badenoch, Director of Development on the east coast, recounted his first-hand experiences of living through the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Skyler and the buildOn staff were among the first to respond in the aftermath. He shared some of his journal entries, which were paired photos he had taken there. He witnessed unimaginable suffering and hardship, but also first-hand experiences of Haitians who stepped up and inspired him with their heroism and courage. “More than anything,” he says, “I’ll remember the tireless effort of the buildOn Haiti staff to provide care to those who passed through our lives.”

Skyler went on to talk about how great the need for education in Haiti is, with 50% of the population illiterate. buildOn has taken strides and has completed 12 schools in Haiti since the earthquake and will complete another 4 by the end of the year. It is with groups like the Seattle chapter, that buildOn is able to continue the efforts in Haiti and build another 2 schools with nearly $73,000 the dinner raised!

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buildOn Students Sound Off at NBC’s Education Nation

On Tuesday, September 28th, buildOn students Ron Daldine and Rayia Gaddy participated in NBC’s Education Nation panel, “Voices of a Generation”. The panel was moderated by buildOn supporter and honorary board member Ann Curry. Click on the picture above to play a video of the discussion, which focused on the student experience in American high schools, and how certain persisting issues might be addressed.

The entire Education Nation summit was an amazing event where leaders from all over the country spoke about the dire issues facing education in America today, but as we all know, the most important voices in this conversation are those of students. We applaud NBC’s decision to let the students themselves speak about their relationships with teachers and their career aspirations, and we thank them for inviting buildOn to participate.

Also, read about Ron and Rayia’s experience at this year’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service.

buildOn Alum Gina Caputo Defends International Student Service in the Wall Street Journal

Responding to a savage attack on high schoolers who complete service abroad that was published in the Wall Street Journal, a former buildOn student from Connecticut defends her generation’s desire to give back. Read the entirety of Gina Caputo’s very moving letter to the editor below. We’re proud that Caputo’s experiences in Mali instilled within her the passion to articulate the worth of our programs so eloquently.

An Urban Student from the US Helps Builds a School in Mali

Caitlin Flanagan’s vicious generalization of students doing service and volunteer work overseas merely to bolster their résumés (“The Do-Good Zeal of the College Bound,” Review, July 16) is hurtful and misses the point.

Last summer, I worked with 14 students to build a school in a village in Mali called N’tiola—in-CHO-la, which is hardly “unpronounceable.” We went through the organization buildOn, which covered all expenses except clothing and vaccines. We were selected for our commitment to service; we earned our way through our participation in buildOn’s volunteer service projects. My group came from diverse socioeconomic strata, from the inner-city to more well-off areas. We worked alongside villagers for two weeks in the scorching sun.
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Welcome New Honorary Board Member Ann Curry!

We’re very pleased to announce that one of America’s foremost journalists, Ann Curry, is officially joining the buildOn team as an honorary board member. Curry has displayed a passion for service, philanthropy, and human issues throughout her career; she was one of the first to report from Haiti after the earthquake, and has filed crucial reports from Darfur and Chad. And despite her globe-trotting, she’s taken the time out to offer buildOn hands-on and enthusiastic support.

She joined buildOn students during their service in the South Bronx, helping to maintain a community garden that now acts as the neighborhood’s only local source for fresh produce. She’s also helped our students run athletic and crafts workshops for disabled youth. Attendees to our Connecticut Dinner in 2010 may further remember her as our keynote speaker.

We’d like to formally congratulate Curry on her new position as co-anchor of The Today Show alongside Matt Lauer, and we look forward to a mutually enriching relationship with her. Stay tuned for more news about Ann Curry’s honorary board membership by following @buildOnEmpowers and @anncurry on Twitter!

buildOn Helps Yankee Stadium Go Green!

buildOn’s afterschool programs in the Bronx have partnered up with none other than the Yankees to turn one of the United States’ most famous franchises “green”! Since the start of spring, a group of buildOn students has attended every homegame at Yankee Stadium, where they spend the first four innings cleaning up, recycling, and composting waste. They also provide brief tutorials to fans about proper disposal of recyclable and biodegradable products, and how they can do their part to keep the stadium eco-friendly. For the remaining five innings, the buildOn students get to watch the game from reserved Green Team seats.

buildOn Students are Interviewed on Yankee Stadium's Jumbo Screen

buildOn Program Director Missy Shields describes the partnership as a “great on-going service opportunity. It’s been one of the students’ favorite activities for the entire year. We’ve had about 50 different volunteers from our high school programs so far.” In addition to teaching the students about how to remain environmentally friendly in urban settings, Shields also notes that the project has helped to spread awareness of buildOn. During several games, the students have been interviewed on Yankee Stadium’s jumbo screen, and Shields has been approached by fans afterward each time. “I ran into a former buildOn staffer of ours at one game,” she notes. “It’s great to be able to make those kinds of connections from this project.”

Stay tuned for more news as buildOn’s Green Team helps to make Yankee Stadium environmentally friendly!

buildOn Students are Helping to Clean Up Yankee Stadium!

buildOn Featured on CBS Evening News!

Last night, CBS Evening News aired an inspiring piece about buildOn’s unique origins and founder Jim Ziolkowski’s dedication to breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education.

The segment details Jim’s epiphany while seeing a celebration in Nepalese village after the building of a new school, and the subsequent development of our first programs for urban youth in the South Bronx. Flashing 20 years forward, Michelle Miller then follows Jim back to Nepal as he travels to break ground on buildOn’s 400th school with a team of students from the Bronx who later return home to contribute service to their own community. We were very proud to have the support of CBS Evening News and want to thank them for recognizing our hard work in the US and abroad. Please share this video with friends and family!