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.
So far so good.
[…] enough money to build a school It appears that xkcd and Breadpig have raised enough money to build a school for impoverished children in Laos. […]
[…] Thank you so much to everyone who ordered a book. Â If you’re interested, there are some pictures of the xkcd school site in Laos over on the BreadPig blog. […]
You could have just demanded to the residents:
sudo build xkcd school.
And spent the rest of the money on the dedication plaque :P.
Hey cool, I'm going to be in Laos around May of next year.