Community

Since 2013, we have been partnering with buildOn through donations and volunteering.

In 2018, two SCB colleagues were pleased to attend a school build in Haiti with buildOn. People were so moved by the stories from Haiti that a second trip was quickly planned in 2019 with ten SCB colleagues in Senegal.

Unable to participate in treks during COVID19, SCB took the opportunity to build a partnership with buildOn, providing solar panels to 9 schools in Malawi. This brought solar-powered technology to light up children’s schools, making them available for evening adult literacy programs. These programs not only promote literacy but also empower business and work through a variety of other activities. The project aims to replace CO2 and particulate matter with clean solar energy, whole providing new sources of energy to the local community.

In 2022, buildOn reopened their trek program, enabling twenty SCB colleagues to participate in a school build in Mpeni, rural Malawi. Along the trek, our colleagues visited one of the schools installed with SCB’s solar panels.

“We picked 9 schools in Malawi for which SCB installed solar panels and batteries, allowing them to have adult literacy programs. Adults in the communities who were illiterate their whole lives are now able to write and read outside of their working hours. The partnership has been such as success that we are planning on expanding it across the globe where buildOn operates. The plan is not only to do treks but to help buildOn find the investments and resources they need to ensure that every school they build has electricity.”

Zach Townend, Environmental Products Specialist