By Tara Hunt ’12
Writing Intern, Notre Dame Alumni Association

In June, six Notre Dame School of Architecture students teamed up with Building Tomorrow, Inc. (BT) to design, fund, and build a much-needed school in the Kiboga district of Uganda, Africa. The project lasted only three weeks, but its impact will last a lifetime.

“We’d been given a tremendous educational gift, and made a practical application of what we learned here at Notre Dame,” says Mallory Meecham ’10.

The impetus for the project was a lecture given by BT President George Srour last year. BT is an international social-profit organization that encourages youth philanthropy to build educational infrastructure projects for under-served children in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently the organization works in Uganda, identifying areas with the greatest number of children with the least access to a primary school.

Elijah Pearce ’09, who was a fifth-year School of Architecture student at the time, was moved by Srour’s description of BT’s work.

“I thought that analyzing and optimizing their current school design could be a great way for architecture students to get involved and really bring value to the project,” Pearce says. “With George's support, I launched a Notre Dame Building Tomorrow chapter in the School of Architecture.”

Pearce recruited fellow architecture students to join the academic and charitable endeavor.

“The lack of educational opportunities for children in sub-Saharan Africa is particularly striking, and this seemed like a unique opportunity for me and fellow architecture students to work in our field to directly impact the lives of others,” Pearce says. “This was the perfect opportunity to put our training in areas such as natural ventilation, solar shading, and design efficiency to a real and practical use.”

The group redesigned the standard school model used by BT with the local climate and sustainability in mind. They created a design with vents in the walls to increase ventilation and a roof that can collect water. They also took advantage of a series of cross breezes to cool the building naturally, and solar angles to minimize the need for heating.

After finalizing designs with professors, engineers, and BT, the ND students relied on fundraising efforts and a generous donation from Joyce and Matthew Walsh ’68 to fund the trip and supplies. Though Pearce had graduated by the time the trip came to fruition, he left the project and travel plans in the capable hands of his cohort, led by Jimmy Michael ’10.

Michael, along with Brian Droste ’10, Melia West '10, Deirdre Connell '10, Meecham, and Whitley Esteban '12, made the trip to Uganda and began building the Academy of Kyeitabya, BT’s ninth project in Uganda.

“I was very excited (as I'm sure most of us were) to experience the project from design all the way to construction, as well to interact with the community members. It was an incredible opportunity to put our thoughts and designs into action; who could pass that up?” asks Droste.

The group worked for three weeks on clearing up brush from the area, dug foundations for the structure, and prepared bricks made from local materials. They were helped by many of the local residents who will continue to build in the next nine months until the project is complete.

Once finished, the building will boast seven classrooms that can hold 325 students. Additionally, the school will be equipped with an office, a library, meeting space, toilets and a soccer field.

“I think that one of the high points of the experience was seeing that something we had worked on for the last two years go from being on paper to being built,” Michael says. “It was amazing to be able to meet several of the children who will be going to school in the building that we had worked on.”

Though they currently do not have set plans to return to Uganda, the group hopes to inspire the future ND students to use their skills to help others as well.

“I think that we all hope that our involvement with Building Tomorrow will show future students of the School of Architecture that they can apply their education to exciting service-based projects,” Michael says.