Heading Back to Laos

I can hardly believe that I will be on the plane in just two weeks. Can you guess where I will be in two weeks and one day? Still on the plane or in some airport!
Since April we managed to put our house up for sale, sell it, buy another house back in our old neighborhood and move in. That was the easy part. We also gained charitable status of course but more importantly we have finished something like 20 presentations to various interest groups and Rotary Clubs and managed to squeeze in one fundraiser.

As of tonight we have raised just over $59,000 in cash and commitments. We have almost reached our targets but the last $10,000 is always the hardest. What is worse is that I have less than 2 weeks to do it! Indeed I am pulling out all the stops along with the few hairs left on my head. Forget the email campaign...now it's phone calls!
Here is what we need;
Boakham Secondary School - $3,833 (out of $25k)to start construction on Phase 1
Phon Savanh Water Project - $2,275 (out of $10,300)
Hygienic Toilets for Pha Yong Village and Had Chanh School - $3,800 (out of $5K)
Toilets just don't seem to be popular among donors! Perhaps they think I might inscribe their name on the ceramics? Kidding of course.
Water Filters - we need just 27 water filters to match last years numbers ($55ea)

So there you have it. Indeed it has been a little stressful as of late trying to raise the rest. I wish I knew more people. I even tried an ad in our newspaper, although the total amount needed since then has changed.

I am crossing my fingers on this because I have never tried an ad of this nature before. It just went in todays weekend paper so we will see if it has any effect.

Once I arrive in Luang Prabang, I need to immediately prepare for the build of Hat Kham School, sponsored in its entirety by Jai Lao Foundation in California and thanks to Daravanh Bill's success in winning an essay contest about Hat Kham Village. This will also be our first distribution for this year's water filters. Their entourage arrives just 5 days after I do - Yikes!

With $9900 to go and 27 water filters I am sure crossing my fingers for the other projects. I won't start a project unless I have the funds to finish it. The last thing we want to see is concrete posts sticking up in an overgrown field in a third world country - I bet you all have seen that!
I will try to do one last update before I head out to let you know if I was successful or not!