Student group stands up to promote education in Uganda

POSTED AT 10:30 PM ON Sep. 26, 2010  (UPDATED AT 10:30 PM ON Sep. 26, 2010)
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Junior Parth Patel stood on his feet for 24 hours Friday, starting at 3 a.m.
But you won’t catch him complaining.

“I did IU Dance Marathon. That was 36 hours,” Patel said. “I got like two hours of sleep before this.”

Patel is treasurer of Building Tomorrow @ IU, a student organization raising money to promote education in Uganda.

The group is one of 15 college chapters, all part of a national non-profit headquartered in Indianapolis.

Patel stood Friday along with several other members as part of a national event titled StandOff.

Those involved promised not to sit, sleep or lean during the 24-hour period.

“I’ve had a couple lapses,” said junior and acting President Kim Long about her effort to stay standing. “It’s hard to remember sometimes when you’re in your home. I sat down at my desk and was like ‘Oh gosh’ and stood up.”

Patel and his fellow Building Tomorrow @ IU members raised money during the StandOff by setting up a table from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the intersection of 10th Street and Fee Lane.

For the remainder of the StandOff, the table was moved to Kirkwood Avenue to catch more pedestrian traffic.

Neither Patel nor Long stood outside for the entire day.

Students that chose to participate in the StandOff also went to class.

“I had Spanish class in the morning,” Patel said. “They were pretty impressed.”
Long also said both students got a round of applause in their endocrinology class.
“We often take for granted the fact that we have chairs,” Long said. “A lot of these kids in Uganda don’t have desks, chairs. They walk incredible distances just to get to school.”

This year, Building Tomorrow @ IU is working to raise $28,000 before the end of the school year — money that Patel said will fund a solely IU-sponsored school.

“It’s our goal to raise the rest,” Patel said. “It would be spectacular.”

Students who donated Friday were asked to help build a Lego-version of the future school, glued on a piece of construction board.

One plastic brick, Patel said, represented $1, as well as 10 actual bricks that could be bought for the school in Uganda.

Along with regular fundraising, both Long and Patel said the group’s biggest event, a bike-a-thon titled Bike to Uganda, will take place the week before Little 500 this spring.
Participants in the event, Patel said, aim to cover the distance from Bloomington to Uganda — 7,710 miles.

Last year, the group fell short of the goal.

“Basically we ended up somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,” he said. “But it can be a success this year. It’s a really unique event.”

For more information about Building Tomorrow, visit www.buildingtomorrow.org.