We did it! You raised enough money to build our xkcd school in Laos

Posted by Alexis Ohanian on

We couldn't have done it without you. We aimed to raise $32,000 for Room To Read to construct The Kengthan Incomplete Primary School in Laos (don't be troubled about the 'incomplete' part, that's just a tricky translation from Lao to describe the education level - it's going to be 100% complete when it's built). It wouldn't be very helpful if we built a school that, for instance, were missing two walls.

Our fundraising events in New York and Silicon Valley alone brought in over $30,000 in generous donations from attendees, but we were pushed [well] over the top through book sales (all of our publisher profits are being donated to Room To Read). So even if you couldn't attend, you helped by buying a book, and even if you didn't buy a book, you helped by spreading the word, and if you didn't do any of those things, that's OK, too.

You can live vicariously through some of our event photos here.

We'll be looking for help to write the dedication plaque to be placed in the completed school next week, but in the meantime, we thought we'd share some photos from Laos. If you're ever in the neighborhood, the xkcd school is in Salavan Province on Road No. 13 South. (Breadpig will be doing a site inspection next year once construction is complete).


Here is their current school.
 

Those aren't skylights. The holes in the roof make rainy season rather challenging.
And here's the xkcd school - already under construction!
 

So far so good.
 
It's still missing a dedication plaque, but it won't be much longer...

34 comments


  • And it couldn't have happened if not for the readers of xkcd! Another thing to add to the awesome list.

    Alexis Ohanian on

  • Yay education!

    Alexis Ohanian on

  • Now that the target's reached, where do the rest of the profits go? I'm thinking I'll buy the book next payday.

    joeldi on

  • Then again given that xkcd fans tend to be geeks can we all say yay education?

    Xenobiologista on

  • This is truly awesome! Thank you for doing this! My wife is from the part of Thailand closest to Laos, and her parents are schoolteachers, so needless to say I've seen first hand the good work that a (relatively) small amount of money can do over there. So awesome that you can help these kids!

    circlestep on

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published