Run raises funds for Kenya school
Published Nov. 6, 2007
Nearly 70 runners and walkers gathered Saturday morning to raise money for a school in Turkwel, Kenya.
Participants stretched and ran in place, combating the cold until the race began.
"I heard about this, and I realized that I really need to start running a little bit more," sophomore James Madi said before the race. "So I figured I can train for this and also help out the Kenya missions in the same step."
Campus Crusade for Christ, which sponsored the 3.1-mile event, is participating in Get The Word Out, Inc.'s effort to raise $24,000 to build a school in northwest Kenya.
Get The Word Out, Inc., raised $5,000 at a rummage sale this past summer and $12,000 in October, founder Karen Smith said.
The organization is about $6,000 short of its goal, she said.
Donations accumulated so far have been sent to Kenya to fund the early stages of the school's construction, Smith said.
"We're supposed to get pictures this week from the building that they started," Smith said. "They started it as soon as we sent them 12,000 bucks. They were on their way with rafters and concrete."
Smith said the school will be built by adding onto the concrete foundations of previous construction. The Kenyan government donated the land and concrete foundations to Get The Word Out, Inc., Smith said.
"They believe that education is the key to changing their lives and their poverty," Smith said. "Twenty-four thousand dollars in U.S. money is going to bring electricity, water and the building. And then our goal will be to sustain them until they are self-sustaining."
Another objective of Get The Word Out, Inc., is to bring in small businesses to Kenya.
"We're trying to help them get some small businesses started and a way for them to make money," Smith said. "They don't always want to be receiving handouts, that's not the goal."
The 5K walk/run charged $10 per participant, and with a turnout of about 70 people, the event raised an estimated $700 to $750, according to the event's registration desk.
Event Coordinator Abby Smith organized the race. After a brief prayer for health and safety, she sent the runners off.
The race began at a crosswalk on Rollins Street between the Student Recreation Complex and Brady Commons, went west through Greektown and then to downtown. The race finally circled back to campus and finished at Brady Commons. Without closed streets for the race, the runners were instructed to run on the sidewalk. They used posted white signs and landmark volunteers for direction.
Graduate student Munashe Chigerwe finished first at 19 minutes, 12 seconds.
"It was a good course," he said.
Junior Rachel Schroeder finished first out of the women at 22:01.
