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Uni students go global to better the world
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Wednesday, April 11, 2007, The OG, news
QUESTION: WHAT DO sustainable coffee plantations in the Dominican Republic and schools in Uganda have in common? (Hint: This is not a joke.)
The answer: Uni students.
From Students for a Better World to the annual Habitat for Humanity trip, Uni students have long worked for change in their own communities and abroad.
This year is no exception. Two dynamic student organizations, Global Studies Initiative and United for Uganda, are bent on changing the world one bag of coffee — or sacrificed treat — at a time.
GSI: RAISING MONEY BY SELLING SUSTAINABLE COFFEE
The Global Studies Initiative is a group of Uni students learning about sustainable growth in developing countries. This summer 10 GSI students and faculty sponsor Adele Suslick will be part of a 15-student, five-teacher group heading to the Dominican Republic from June 15 to 29 to help the migrant worker community of Batey Libertad build houses, renovate a school, plant trees, dig a well, and recycle plastic waste. Students and teachers from Urbana High School and Von Stueben High School are also on the team.
The group's main projects will be to build a house for a family and install solar panels on the local school and health clinic. Suslick and GSI have been working with the Center for Global Studies at the University of Illinois to organize the itinerary. In fact, news of the trip (which the Gargoyle covered in early March, has made the front page of the Spring 2007 CGS Newsletter.
GSI needs to raise about $9,000 for building materials. In order to raise this money, GSI will be selling bags of sustainable coffee from the Finca Alta Gracia plantation, a 60-acre farm in the Dominican Republic, located on the slopes of the highest mountain in the Caribbean.
“Coffee is delicious and Alta Gracia is doing really great work, so it's nice that we can support them,” said GSI member Shara Esbenshade of the fund-raising campaign.
The idea of sustainable coffee is to create coffee plantations that work to support the environment and the community that works there. Instead of just growing coffee, sustainable coffee plantations also plant fruit trees for shade, and encourage the farmers to use natural farming methods.
The illiteracy rate in the Dominican Republic is at 90 percent in some areas. The Alta Gracia plantation provides a healthy environment for coffee farmers and their children by funding a school on the farm for local children, in order to raise literacy rates.
In order to buy a 14-ounce bag of Alta Gracia whole-bean coffee for $12 per bag, contact Uni teacher Adele Suslick. All orders must be sent to Suslick by April 28. Two flavors are available: Café Alta Gracia (medium body, single origin) and Tres Mariposas (full-bodied blend, nut-like character, sweet aroma).
Orders will be sent to Alta Gracia on May 1, and the coffee should arrive about two weeks later. Checks should be made payable to the University of Illinois.
“Every penny goes directly toward our fundraising goals,” says Suslick. “No ‘middle people' are involved to take a cut. Our job will be even easier if Uni students spread the words to others outside the Uni community and encourage them to place orders, too.”
UFU: GIVING UP FOR GOOD (FOR A MONTH, AT LEAST)
United for Uganda has already done excellent work to try to help the child soldiers in Uganda. The Uni lock-ins were a huge success, and the upcoming Mr. Uni pageant (now scheduled for May 5) promises to be an entertaining experience.
Now UFU has launched its “Personal Sacrifice Campaign” to raise money for the Schools for Schools project.
The Schools for Schools project links schools in the United States to their counterparts in Uganda. Each U.S. school competes with others in their cluster (group of schools assigned to the same Ugandan school) to raise the most money to send to their school. (UFU's own Schools for Schools page is here.)
The schools that raise the most money in the most creative ways receive prizes; the grand prize is an all-expense-paid trip to Uganda to work for a school.
All proceeds from the Personal Sacrifice Campaign will go to Uni's partner in Uganda, the Layibi Secondary School. The campaign lasts throughout the month of April. Students who participate will give up some treat (movies, soda, eating out) and then donate the money that they would have used for that treat to UFU.
There is also the option of having a parent or friend sponsor a student. So every day the student goes without the designated item or activity, the sponsor donates 50 cents.
Students and faculty can sign up for the campaign on a board outside the Mac lab. Already 20 people have joined, vowing not to spend money on such things as movies, fast food, candy, soda pop, and coffee (they can still buy the GSI's Alta Garcia coffee, since it won't arrive until after this month).
“Everyone should join,” says club member Bianca Zaharescu, “because even if it's only $1 or 50 cents a day, an entire month without luxuries can really add up.”
The person who raises the most money through their sacrifice will receive a $30 iTunes gift certificate.
Through its lock-ins and other activities, UFU has already raised more than $3,000, and members hope to raise another $5,000 by the end of the school year.
To get involved, contact
RELATED
— Schools for Schools campaign: UFU's page
— Gargoyle UFU coverage: Local radio show to feature United for Uganda students in Wednesday broadcast
— Gargoyle GSI coverage: GSI students prepare for summer trip to Dominican Republic
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