Building Tomorrow: Bike to Uganda

Noodles, bikes and a charitable spirit. In the next couple of weeks, these three facets will combine to launch a huge fundraiser in Chapel Hill that will hopefully result in a new school in Uganda within a year.

The UNC chapter of Building Tomorrow, an international social-profit organization, is working to raise $45,000 to open a school in Kampala, Uganda. Its efforts begin Tuesday, Sept. 28, with a benefit night at Noodles & Co. on Franklin Street.
           

“No chapter has raised enough money in one year for a school and we hope to be the first,” said Lindsey Dirkse, communication chair for Building Tomorrow.

Noodles is donating 25 percent of its profits between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. to Building Tomorrow’s cause. But BT’s largest event, and the one they hope to raise the most money from will take place during the week of Oct. 4 to 9. It’s called Bike to Uganda and entails a weeklong bike-a-thon on campus.

Ten stationary bikes will line the Pit and Polk Place each day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students pay $5 to bike for 30 minutes, and each mile biked counts as two miles to Uganda. “As a community, we will cover the distance of 7,042 miles from UNC to the site of our future school in Kampala, Uganda,” said Natalie Sutton, executive director of BT at UNC.           

Sutton said the organization hopes to raise $10,000 through the Noodles & Co. and Bike to Uganda fundraisers. The rest will be raised through smaller fundraisers, such as working at basketball games. It’s a lofty goal, but Dirkse has confidence in the community. “With such a great campus and a student body so dedicated to bettering the world, it is very attainable,” she said.         
 

Sutton, who started BT at UNC, describes herself as extremely passionate about children’s issues, especially regarding healthcare and education. “My favorite aspect of UNC is its focus on public service, so I knew it would be the perfect place to start this organization,,” she said. Sutton and Dirkse laid out the statistics of why BT focuses on Uganda:

• Uganda is demographically the youngest country in the world: Fifty percent of the population is under the age of 15.
• Only 2,786 classrooms are built yearly in Uganda. But the country has a Millennium Development Goal to achieve Universal Primary Education, and for that to happen, 4,998 classrooms need to be built annually.
• Most children in Uganda do not have schools to attend. In fact, many parents feel uncomfortable sending kids to school because they are not safe or sanitary. Many do not have appropriate restroom facilities, which is a big deterrent for parents of young girls.

Sutton said the UNC-funded school will be a primary school that teaches all general curriculum subjects. BT has four representatives in Uganda year-round to monitor the schools. The government pays the teachers’ salaries.

“Another really cool thing is that we raise $45,000 to build the school, and then members of the local community contribute 25,000 hours of community service to actually building the school,” Sutton said. “So that is why some deem us a social-profit organization, not just a non-profit, although that’s what we are.”

According to Dirkse, BT was named one of the top 20 up-and-coming social change organizations in the world in 2007 by Echoing Green for its efforts in education. Dirkse, who plans to go to graduate school for education, said she was immediately interested in the organization after she heard about it from a friend. “I knew that I wanted to be a big part of the UNC chapter, so I signed up to be the communications chair, and I could not be happier that I did,” she said.
 
Want to get involved with Building Tomorrow? There are plenty of ways.

• Come to Noodles & Co. on Tuesday, Sept. 28, between 5 and 9 p.m.
• Particpate in Bike to Uganda during the week of Oct. 4. It’s $5 to bike and $10 for a shirt. Sign up to bike online and create a personal i.am.buildingtomorrow fundraising page at http://buildingtomorrow.org/btu/unc
• BT has six committees—Recruitment, Finance, Communications, Outreach, Entertainment and Logistics—and each plays a role in spreading awareness of the cause and organizing fundraisers.
• Anyone who is interested in becoming a bigger part of BT at UNC should contact the chapter at unc@buildingtomorrow.org.

Follow the movement on Twitter: http://twitter.com/biketougandaunc