Greg Krupa’s volunteer work with amputees in Central and South America has taken him down an unexpected path.

At 5 a.m. today, Krupa, a former University of Kansas student, will embark on a 520-mile bike ride. He will ride from Kansas City to Chicago in the first-ever ROMPaTHON to raise money for the Range of Motion Project, or ROMP. ROMP is a non-profit organization that provides prosthetics and orthotic braces for people in Guatemala and Ecuador. Krupa’s goal is to raise $10,000 for the organization by collecting donations along the way.

Krupa studied political science and Latin American studies at the University, but left after his sophomore year to volunteer with ROMP. He chose the group because his brother was one of the founders.

“I couldn’t just go through school and graduate,” Krupa said. “I had to go out and get my hands dirty.”

Krupa volunteered in Guatemala and Ecuador from August 2007 to August 2008. He helped with prosthetic fabrication, patient care and physical therapy. He also conducted research in Guatemala to give the clinics more information about patients.

Eric Neufeld, volunteer director and co-founder of the Range of Motion Project, said there were 7,000 amputees in Guatemala. Neufeld said the goal of the Range of Motion Project was to help all 7,000. So far, the organization has fitted 600 full prosthetics and 2,000 orthotic braces in the country, he said.

Krupa said patients at the clinic received the same care they would in a First World country. He said the organization’s primary focus was on quality rather than quantity and that people sometimes traveled from other countries to receive care from the clinics.

The Range of Motion Project recycles prosthetic parts from the United States. Krupa said many people donated old parts because their insurance companies allowed them to buy new ones every few years.

Krupa said he considered the Range of Motion Project to be a social justice organization rather than a charity organization. Many patients volunteer at the clinics after they have received care.

“You have to have the patient involved at some level,” Krupa said.

Krupa said the clinics helped five to eight patients in an average week. Three or four times a year, large groups of surgeons, nurses and other volunteers came to help. In those weeks, Krupa said, an average of 35 patients were treated.

In addition to working at the clinic, Krupa taught English to business executives for extra money and rode a bike every day. He said riding in Ecuador and Guatemala was good training for the upcoming ride, because the elevation was so much higher there than it is in the Midwest.

Krupa said his goal was to finish the ROMPaTHON ride in eight or nine days. He said it would be difficult because the ride is 370 miles longer than the longest ride he has biked so far — the MS 150. The lack of established rest stops for food and water is another challenge Krupa will face. At night, Krupa plans to stop at eight churches along the way to sleep.

Bob Hentrich, pastor at Chillicothe Christian Church in Chillicothe, Ill., said the church would be providing overnight housing and breakfast for Krupa. He said he originally wanted to get involved in the ROMPaTHON because he was a cyclist, then he learned the organization was doing good work.

“ROMP serves a segment of society that is sometimes ignored or forgotten,” Hentrich said. “This is a noble task.”

The ride will end at Krupa’s home in Chicago. After the ride, Krupa said, he planned to volunteer in New Orleans and then continue his education at the University of Oregon. Krupa said he wanted to volunteer with an organization such as the Peace Corps and then go to graduate school for non-profit management.

— ­— Edited by Becka Cremer