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


  • I don't have much to say, except awesome-bo-blossum!

    Alexander on

  • Wow! I didn't realize that I would be helping build a school! It must be absolutely crazy to them that their school is being built because some guy across the world drew some stick figures. Oh wait, it sounds crazy to me!

    medium on

  • Furthermore, no one should grow up without xkcd!

    Alexis Ohanian on

  • It would have been a glorious dedication plaque for that kind of coin ;)

    Alexis Ohanian on

  • I think you could figure out a visit. I'm hoping to go for a visit in January, with a suitcase full of xkcd books for the kids to be perplexed by.

    Alexis Ohanian on

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