Halfway there!

I’m excited to announce that as of yesterday, I have officially passed the halfway point for my fundraising goals. After receiving my 20th donation, I’ve now collected $2540, over half of the $5000 I hope to raise. That covers my plane ticket and housing -- my two largest expenses!

It’s really amazing to witness everyone’s generosity firsthand, especially for someone who hasn’t done any fundraising since elementary school. Not to say that I underestimated my donors, but I really didn’t expect to collect as much as I have in such a short period of time. Thank you all so much!!

For those who are interested, you can see a list of donors on my page in the column on the right: http://kiva.jeffzira.com. Please note that I didn’t put full names or initials because I didn’t really want to make it into a competition or embarrass those who couldn’t give as much. I just put the first initial and the amount donated so my donors can see their contributions. (Am I’m going a bit far by hiding identities?)

An interesting tidbit -- I spoke to a former Kiva Fellow who just returned to Japan from Cambodia, and she mentioned that there really isn’t a way to fundraise for things like this in Japan. Apparently, it’s tough to ask people for money, even if it’s obviously for a charitable cause. I’m so glad you all were so willing to help me out!

I’m actually “halfway there” in more than one way; I’m also at the physical midpoint of my travels, Japan. Right now, I’m sitting next to my brother, Aaron, who is now living in the same apartment building I did when I worked in Japan. I stopped here to help him get set up as he tries to find an English teaching job. In two days, I’ll be off to Singapore, then Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the last I’ll see of winter until next year.

Finally, here’s a shot of Aaron in a mountain of broccoli leaves in the field next to his apartment.