Many students will spend this summer hanging out by the pool or tanning at the beach. But for two 19 year old sophomores, at Northwestern University, the summer will be spent bike riding 3000 miles across South America in order to raise money and awareness for the South American charity TECHO.
Jacob Frazer and Alfie Astor will bike 3000 miles in 70 days, starting in Arequipa, Peru and finishing in Florianopolis, Brazil. 3000 miles is a tough trip, for even an experienced biker.
“We expect most of those days, and many of the nights, to be physically challenging, but we also hope to experience some true marvels of natural beauty,” wrote Frazer and Alfie on their GoEnnounce fundraising page.
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Starting with a goal of $2500, the duo quickly achieved this and are now attempting to raise $5000. They’ve already raised over $3400 in contributions that will go directly to TECHO.
TECHO is a youth-led charity which aims to reduce and eventually eliminate the poverty in South American countries.
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TECHO believes, “...that poverty can be permanently eradicated if society as a whole recognizes poverty as a priority and actively works towards overcoming it.”
“What TECHO does is connect with these rural slums that are overlooked by the government, they raise awareness about their situation and foster community development,” said Frazer.
Jacob and Alfie identify with the way the organization addresses the problem by working with college students in Latin America. The organization recognizes that these are students who could eventually lead their countries with this issue in mind.
“The great thing about it is it’s a very localized charity,” said Astor. “It doesn’t fly people in, it raises local awareness by developing a connection between people who are able to help and people who need help in the same area.”
On top of the financial contributions their online fundraiser is bringing in, the duo are also aiming to bring awareness to the level of poverty that exists in these countries’ slums. Frazer and Astor will be updating both their GoEnnounce page and their Tumblr page with details of their journey.