Goal: We are raising money to fund another bridge project based in Latin America. The project is working with the Non-Governmental Organization, Bridges to Prosperity.
Mission: Our mission is to work with Bridges to Prosperity on designing and building a bridge for a local community in Latin America. Our estimated costs for the project total around approximately $35,000 and include:
• Airfare of approximately $16,000 for 8 people
• Bridge materials approximately $19,000
With the money we raise, we plan to implement our bridge design and travel to the given location to build our bridge. Involved in our project is the following:
• Fundraising the costs of the bridge materials and travel
• Designing of a footbridge for a given local community in need
• Our personal time for travel to both survey the land and build the bridge itself
• The local community’s time and commitment for constructing the foundations, helping build the bridge, and long-term maintenance of the bridge
• Assisting the local community by teaching them how to maintain the bridge
Four of the senior students involved in the project will use the project as their Senior Design Project for graduation. The other students will help plan the trips and construct the bridge itself.
Timeline: We hope to fundraise the total amount needed as soon as possible to set our plans in motion. Designing of the bridge will begin the fall of 2013, surveying the site (August, 2013), and construction around Christmas 2013 or May 2014 depending on the local weather conditions.
Benefits to the Local Community: Rural communities in many Latin American countries are in need of safe footbridges to help those who need to travel to school, work, or visit a doctor when rivers swell and can block other paths. According to the Bridges to Prosperity website, “an average footbridge results in a 12% increase in community school enrollment and an 18% increase in people treated in local health care facilities. Economic advancement is also strong: in the two years following a footbridge opening, communities have 24% more women employed, 15% more businesses in surrounding communities and overall, per capita income increases an average of 10-20%.”
With the great impact that footbridges have on a rural community, our contribution in helping to design and construct a bridge of our own is an amazing opportunity and great experience. With the help from your contributions, you would not only be helping our team learn by designing and building a bridge in Latin America, but you would also be helping a community improve and grow.
