we are
®
April - June 2010
You are receiving this special update because of your loyalty to Building Tomorrow (BT). During the last four years, BT has grown into a nationally recognized social-profit organization. Currently, BT supports student leaders at more than 25 college and university chapters across the nation as they work to mobilize their communities towards providing educational opportunities for students in sub-Saharan Africa. BT in Uganda recently opened its fifth academy and five more are under construction. As BT continues to grow, we are reminded more and more each day of just how much of a difference your support makes. Every three months we will be putting together a newsletter similar to this one to keep you in the know with what we’re up to in the US and Uganda. We hope that you will enjoy learning more about BT’s efforts. Webale nnyo! »
what’s going on in the
?
Build a School Night raises $26,000+
On April 16th, 2010, BT hosted its third annual Build a School Night. With your support, the live and silent auction raised more than $26,000. We’d like to thank you for making it our most successful Build a School Night yet. This year’s event also featured a surprise auctioneer, Avery Jukes, senior basketball player from Butler University, who auctioned off a Butler basketball and t-shirt autographed by Coach Brad Stevens and the entire Butler team!
Students bike thousands of miles to Uganda
This spring, eight BT university chapters participated in BT’s largest annual fundraiser: Bike to Uganda. Bike to Uganda is, in its simplest form, a stationary bike-a-thon whereby BT chapters enlist the support of their campus communities as they attempt to bike the distance from their school to Kampala, Uganda (7,000+ miles). Since its inception in 2006, more than 5,000 people have biked, raising nearly $75,000. This year, three BT chapters hosted their first ever Bike to Uganda, joining some schools that were biking for their fourth year in a row. Following the event, students from six different universities contacted BT in hopes of starting a chapter on their campus and taking on the challenge of biking to Uganda, too. Stay tuned--the next Bike to Uganda begins at UNC-Chapel Hill on October 4th!
Sit for Good expands across the country
Sit for Good is BT’s innovative K-12 service-learning campaign. Participants engage in classroom activities developed to give students a global perspective on something we so often take for granted: education. Our curriculum is supplemented by an activity where students give up their desks and other classroom resources for a day in order to experience, firsthand, some of the challenges that students just like them face in sub-Saharan Africa. During this event, most classrooms also commit to raising funds for BT academies in Uganda. In its first year, nearly 200 classrooms across the US signed up to participate – and that number will grow even more in the 2010-2011 school year! Here’s what one student had to say about Sit for Good: It has been uncomfortable; no space or room to stretch. But I’m doing this for a good cause and I feel good. Now I know I have it good. - Tyus Freeman
what’s going on in
?
Eight students travel to Uganda to help construct BT’s ninth academy In June, eight students and recent graduates from the University of Notre Dame and DePauw University visited BT’s academies and joined the Kyeitabya community in beginning construction on BT’s ninth academy, one which many of the group helped design. Below is one student’s reflection on his experiences in Uganda: There is a common misconception that Africa as a whole is nothing but dangerous animals, starving children, AIDS, and malaria. While those certainly are inescapable realities for too many people across the continent, that’s simply not all there is to it. To think that Uganda, let alone Africa, has no beauty or source of inspiration is to be ignorant of one of the most breathtaking places on earth. - Brian Droste
Building Tomorrow construction updates BT Academy of Sentigi — Construction on Sentigi, the University of Notre Dame’s first BT academy, began in April 2009. The land for the academy was graciously donated by Mr. Gerald Kasibante, a council elder in Sentigi. The roof was recently completed, meaning opening day is not too far in the future! BT Academy of Jomba — Jointly supported by the University of Wisconsin-
River Falls and the City of Indianapolis, construction on Jomba began last fall. The Aloysius Dan family, from Jomba, generously donated the land for this academy and the ring beam is currently set to be cast.
BT Academy of Bubeezi —BT’s first academy in the Mpigi District is supported by The Engage Network. Construction began in January of this year and is moving along well: the roof is nearly finished on one of three classroom blocks. BT Academy of Kyeitabya — Kyeitabya marks the University of Notre Dame’s second BT academy,both financially supported and designed by Notre Dame students. A local leader from Kyeitabya, affectionately known in his community as “Engineer Gasana” (pictured above), donated the land needed for the academy. Construction began in May of this year and the classrooms are beginning to take shape! BT’s N.A. Barakat Academy of Nakaseeta — Nakaseeta marks BT’s tenth in Uganda. Designs for the academy were solicited in Spring
2009 through Architecture for Humanity’s Open Architecture Challenge. The winning entry, selected from over 80 designs, was crafted by a team of engineers from Gifford, a structural engineering firm based in the United Kingdom. The academy will be BT’s third to be built using a newly-adopted interlocking soil-stabilizing block (ISSB) produced on site, entirely from local materials.
Reminder!
Don’t miss Building Tomorrow’s First Annual Chip-In, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, on Friday, August 20th at The Trophy Club (ranked Indiana’s #1 public golf course by Golf Digest!) Tee time is at 9am and registration covers all fees, food and two drinks! Plus, take a chance at winning $10,000 by participating in our hole-in-one contest on the 17th hole! Register online at www.buildingtomorrow.org/chip-in » sponsored by
Looking for new ways to get involved with Building Tomorrow? Check out these options: 1. Use goodsearch.com
goodsearch.com is a Yahoo search engine that donates one cent to BT for every search where we are designated as the benefactor. Just go to www.goodsearch.com, type in “Building Tomorrow” as the organization you wish to support and then start searching!
2. Attend a Building Tomorrow event (and invite your friends!)
BT hosts events throughout the year (like the Chip-In!) near our headquarters in Indianapolis. These events are not only part of our fundraising efforts, but they are also opportunities for us to tell more people about what we’re up to in the US and Uganda. Grab a friend and join in!
3. Follow us on Twitter (@bldgtomorrow)
Follow us on Twitter, check in on Foursquare when you visit our office, “like” us on Facebook and join our Causes page!
4. Subscribe to our weekly Uganda updates
By subscribing you will receive a short, weekly email from us containing news and updates from Uganda. You’ll also be the first to know about exciting BT news - like the construction of a new academy!
5. Create your own “I am Building Tomorrow” fundraising page
Go to http://iam.buildingtomorrow.org and create your own fundraising page! Through this venue you can tell your friends and family via e-mail why you are “Building Tomorrow” and what they can do to help. This is a great way to ask for alternative gifts for your birthday, graduation, wedding or just because!
© Building Tomorrow | 407 Fulton St, Indianapolis, IN 46202 | www.buildingtomorrow.org