As Drake’s football team prepares to travel to Tanzania to participate in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl later this month, we pulled together some numbers to help put the enormous endeavor in perspective:
8,397: Distance in miles from Des Moines, Iowa to Arusha, Tanzania
15,000: Seating capacity of Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha, Tanzania
4: Days the Bulldogs and CONADEIP All-Stars will spend on service work in Arusha and Moshi
48: Page of ESPN The Magazine’s April 14, 2011 issue in which the Bulldogs and Global Kilimanjaro Bowl were featured
50: Years Tanzania has been an independent nation, as of Dec. 9, 2010
65: Drake student-athletes traveling to Tanzania
46: CONADEIP student-athletes making the trip
250+: Total Global Kilimanjaro Bowl participants
885: The number of households in the Tanzanian village of Sokoine, whose members spend approximately seven hours a day walking to and from the closest fresh water source*
4,000: Dollars required for each Drake athlete to participate in the Kili Bowl
300,000+: Dollars raised by Drake players to help pay for the Kili Bowl trip
19,341: Maximum height of Mount Kilimanjaro (in feet)
Stop by Drake’s Global Kilimanjaro Bowl website: www.drake.edu/kilimanjaro to leave a sendoff message of support for the team, and follow the player blogs at www.drakefootball.blogspot.com.
* Drake’s student-athletes are also raising money to build fresh water wells and complete a number of service projects during the trip. To contribute to these service efforts, please contact the Iowa Resource for International Service, a non-profit organization coordinating the projects.