HUNTINGTON, IN—Huntington University senior Matt Friedlund, along with his younger brother, Andy, and friend, Morgan Jones, both students at Albright College in Reading, Pa., plan to ride their bikes cross-country this summer in an effort to raise $5,300 to build a well for Marale, a small village in the African country of Uganda with a population of 2,000 people.
The idea originally for Ride for Marale came from Andy who approached Food for the Hungry, an international relief organization, looking for any kind of effort to help those in need. His older brother, Matt, then soon joined the cause followed by Morgan.
“I was all about it,” said Matt, a journalism and English major at the university, who is helping to organize the trip by promoting their ride in each town. “I think it’s a great idea.”
The three will leave on their trip from Boyertown, Pa., near Philadelphia, on May 30, traveling west through various towns and cities, including a stop back through Huntington in June, until they reach Seattle on August 15. They are raising donations for their trip through www.fh.org/ridemarale, and plan to participate in various speaking engagements at churches and other events along the way.
They also plan to blog about their experiences at www.ridemarale.blogspot.com under either the theme “The Ride for the Way Things Are” or just simply “Morality.”
The issue in Marale is that each day the women of the village must spend several hours fetching water from a distant source that is not clean and often nearly empty. The water supply is estimated to only provide one-fourth of the necessary water for the village.
The money raised through the ride will provide the villagers with the knowledge to build a well and maintain it.
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