Group bikes 7,000 miles to support Ugandan school

More than 7,000 miles lie between Bloomington and Uganda.

This week, the IU chapter of Building Tomorrow is determined to have students and faculty bike that distance. As the organization’s biggest fundraising effort of the year, the money raised during the event will go toward establishing an IU-sponsored school in Uganda.

There will be five stationary bikes set up by the Clock Tower behind Woodburn Hall from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., today through Thursday. Those who are interested can sign up for a half-hour slot to bike with a registration fee of $5.

This year, the IU chapter will be racing Purdue University’s chapter to bike 7,000 miles and raise $7000.

Building Tomorrow, a non-profit organization based in Indianapolis and founded in 2006, provides funds that cover the cost of construction materials and skilled labor. In return, the local government and community commit to paying for the teachers and supplying 20,000 hours of unskilled labor.

“Children in rural Uganda don’t have the opportunity that we do. Less than half the kids advance to first grade,” said sophomore Brigitte Hackler, the IU chapter’s president. “Some of them have to walk six miles just to get to school, and, sometimes, a teacher just gathers students under a tree. Just having a building that they can go to would improve their education.”

Each school costs $60,000 to build. IU has raised more than $36,000 since the chapter started five years ago.

“Our goal is to make it bigger than last year and raise awareness,” she said.
They have even established “celebrity bikers” — well-known professors on campus whom many students encounter during their careers at IU.

“We’re saying you can have one-on-one time with these professors during those sessions,” Hackler said. “We’ve actually had students try to rearrange their times so they can bike with the professors.”

Steven Kreft, an associate professor at the Kelley School of Business, is one of them.
“Last spring, the event organizer ... asked if I would be willing to jump on a bike for a good cause. I was happy to help out,” he said.

Kreft is planning on participating again this year.

“This year, I am particularly excited to ride as my wife, Ellie Mafi-Kreft, will be riding alongside me, so it is turning into a family affair,” he said. “I love how easy it is to support a great cause. I get to enjoy the amazing spring weather in the heart of Bloomington’s beautiful campus, and at the same time I get to help raise money to build schools across the globe. What better way could I spend my afternoon?”

This will be the third time IU has participated in Bike to Uganda. The goal of biking 7,000 miles has never been reached, but Hackler remains hopeful this might be the year.

She said she is excited to see it all come together. She joined Building Tomorrow her freshman year because she wanted to be part of something meaningful.

“A dollar here buys 10 bricks in Uganda. Every dollar helps raise that building,” Hackler said. “I like knowing that every little dollar will make a difference, not just in one life, but in the lives of all the students that will eventually go through the school.”

Senior Carli Bolanowski, the vice-president of IU’s chapter, said that she hopes the event will eventually be as widely known and supported as the IU Dance Marathon.

“I think just knowing that if we do reach our goal, IU will be able to fund a school — that’s amazing,” she said. “I’m a senior, so leaving and seeing something completed, seeing that something was accomplished, would be a great feeling.”