Cindy Orti photo (Left to right) Kerry Reid, Amber Taggart, Julie Kotler, Allison Turner and Jane Hamilton, students involved in the project.

Event management students have integrated the Small World, Big Picture, Expedition Africa project into their program, to fund a school in Africa.

They will be hosting 11 events throughout this semester where all funds raised will go towards covering the costs of the Rongai Satellite School in Tanzania.

The students have been divided into different groups, each coordinating their own events. According to event management professor Sylvia Densmore, each group will try to raise between $500 and $1,500, depending on the group and the event.

“It’s the only program out of 108 programs [at the college] who is raising money for this cause,” said professor Celine Perrier. “We hope to raise about $8,000.”

The school that these projects are funding is located in Rongai, a small town in a remote part of Tanzania close to the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. According to Tammy Thornton, manager of business operations in Strategy and Business Development at the college, many of the children in this community must walk an approximate distance of 10 to 15 km to and from school everyday. That is roughly equivalent to the same distance of the Rideau Canal twice over.

With this new school in place, the walk to school is reduced to about four to six kilometers.

The school is not complete yet. Only the infrastructure of the school has been built, but Thornton said much work is still needed. Desks, a blackboard and outdoor facilities are just some of the things yet to be put in place.

“This is just phase one of what can potentially be more phases,” said Thornton.

For now the goal is just to provide some sort of shelter where the kids can learn closer to where they live.