University of Notre Dame 91视频 of Architecture students have teamed up with Building Tomorrow, Inc. (BT) to design, fund and build a much-needed school in the Kiboga district of Uganda, Africa. They leave this week to begin construction.
BT is an international social-profit organization that encourages youth philanthropy to build educational infrastructure projects for under-served children in sub-Saharan Africa. BT currently works in Uganda, identifying areas with the greatest number of children with the least access to a primary school.
Notre Dame鈥檚 involvement began last year when fifth-year 91视频 of Architecture student Elijah Pearce attended a talk by BT president, George Srour, and decided to recruit fellow students to join their efforts. Over the next year Pearce, with the generous funding of Matthew and Joyce Walsh, brought together a group of six Notre Dame Architecture students to build the new school.
鈥淲ith this project we were acting on two fronts,鈥� Pearce said. 鈥淲e were trying to fundraise for a school in an underserved area of Uganda, and we were also looking, as architects, to see how we could improve the school鈥檚 design.鈥�
The students鈥� design takes advantage of cross breezes to cool the building naturally. It is also oriented for optimal solar angles, minimizing the need for heating. The school鈥檚 roof serves to collect water, and vent details have been added to the walls to enhance the design visually while improving the overall ventilation system. Perhaps most significantly, the students will be making and building with newly-adopted interlocking soil-stabilizing block (ISSB), bricks they will produce on site entirely from local materials that reduce the need for mortar. Local climate and sustainability informs every aspect of the students鈥� design.
The school, to be named the Academy of Kyeitabya, will be BT鈥檚 ninth in Uganda. Once open, the BT Academy of Kyeitabya will join the nearly-completed BT Academy of Sentigi as the second location supported by Notre Dame.
When talking about the project, the students emphasize the unique opportunity to give back through architecture.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been given a tremendous educational gift, and can now make a practical application of what we鈥檝e learned here at Notre Dame,鈥� said fifth-year student Mallory Meecham.
Adds fellow student Tim Reidy, 鈥淣obody felt obligated to take part in this project. Nobody needed course credits. But we all felt obligated through our conscience.鈥�
Updates from the students鈥� time in Kyeitabya are available online at .
From: Karen Voss, kvoss@nd.edu, 574-631-2872