São Paulo Students Raising Funds to Attend Mathematics Competition in India

10/07/2015 - 10h03

Having won a gold medal in a mathematics Olympics, a group of students from a São Paulo state school have started a fundraising campaign in order to participate in an international competition held in India next month.

They have been using methods such as online crowdfunding and even asking drivers for change at traffic lights.

The seven students are in their third year of middle school at the Martin Luther King technical school, in Tatuapé, East São Paulo.

They estimate that they need R$80,000 (USD $20,800) to pay for their entry into the competition and airfares for the whole group plus three adults - two teachers and a parent.

"They've made folders, they set up a page on Facebook and enrolled in a crowdfunding website to raise this money," says Roberto William Miguel, father of one of the students.

"Sometimes they skip lunch to go and ask for money from drivers at traffic lights, managing to raise up to R$600 (US$ 150) in a day. Even a man with a horse and cart wanted to help out."

By Tuesday afternoon (6), the students had managed to raise more than R$13,000 (USD $3373). They need to raise the rest of the money by the end of the month.

They plan to arrive in India on November 12, with the competition taking place between November 14 and 17.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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