MISSION: COMPLETE

Oh how time flies! I remember not too long ago, Pravin and I ventured out on this challenge to fund our trip to Cambodia. We'll use nothing else but the funds raised.

What I find amazing about the human mind is that once you focus your energy, your mind and effort to a chosen cause, you will see endless possibilities to achieve that goal. Somehow, things that'll normally be in your periphery vision, comes out into the forefront and becomes valuable. The writer, Paolo Coelho, describes this beautifully in his book, the Alchemist, "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."


It took a couple of weeks after the 'launch' before we made any progress with the funds. We had wonderful support, some from people we didn't expect. I'm really humbled by this experience. Our main source of funding came from the newspaper collections. I've never seen so many stacks of old newspapers before!! :p


One thing didn't work out though - my trip to the recycling centre :( The paper mill isn't open to visitors and so didn't have any officers to 'host' us. I find this a great shame as I honestly feel the exposure of seeing the process of paper getting recycled will only spur people to recycle more. Ah well... Since we're only allowed as far as the office, we decided to just sell our papers to the local collector guy. It worked out well cos he gave a slightly better rate than the factory.

Our mode of transportation :)

Other than collecting newspapers, we helped some friends sell off old furnitures, unused exercise bicycles, and also some other random stuff. I have to admit, although it was quite a lot of work, it was pretty fun.


So, all in all, with everything put in, we managed to raise close to US$200!!! For a country like Cambodia, this will go a long way. With our calculations, it can cover our accommodation and transportation costs :) Woohoo!!! Not bad eh?


Here's a big shout out to everyone who helped out. THANKS EVERYONE!!!