Let's build a school in Ethiopia
Donation protected
The clock keeps ticking and another milestone looms. I’ll be 40 in July.
It is extremely tempting to surrender to the inevitable and settle into comfy jeans, but I have decided to take a stand against this daunting foe.
So, with boots laced and bayonet fixed, I will charge with all my diminished vigor at time itself, yelling wildly until I can see the whites of its indifferent eyes.
Yup, I’ve decided to do a triathlon.
This isn't just an excuse to wear sleeveless shirts and thriftstore running shorts. I also want to raise money for a great cause… and that’s where I hope you can help.
I’d like you to sponsor me to complete the Portland triathlon on September 20 so I can send some of your hard-earned cash to Ethiopia, where my mother Sally and I are working with some incredible Catholic nuns. We are helping fund the construction of a little school in a village near the Eritrean border.
The village is called Adaga and life there is tough. Residents grow crops and raise livestock, but successive rain failures have left many families struggling.
My mother Sally helped fund early construction but since suffering a stroke, her donations have dwindled -- and that’s where I want to step up.
Look away now. No amount of Instagram filtering or Photoshop could make this OK, so here is the mandatory training photo, raw and unfiltered.
The first schoolroom is already built and that means children no longer sit outside, like in this photo:
Instead, they now have a proper room:
I aim to raise at least $2,500 to pay for the construction of a second schoolroom and a toilet facility.
Any donation, no matter the size, will go far in helping a wonderful group of kids in a very poor place and ensure they will have a more hopeful future.
Thank you so much for any help you can offer. For each dollar/pound raised, I pledge not to post additional indecent photos.
Yours with gratitude,
Thomas Watkins
This is a view of the first schoolroom, which we hope to enlarge with your support.
Some of the wonderful kids -- sitting outside here, but not for much longer.
It is extremely tempting to surrender to the inevitable and settle into comfy jeans, but I have decided to take a stand against this daunting foe.
So, with boots laced and bayonet fixed, I will charge with all my diminished vigor at time itself, yelling wildly until I can see the whites of its indifferent eyes.
Yup, I’ve decided to do a triathlon.
This isn't just an excuse to wear sleeveless shirts and thriftstore running shorts. I also want to raise money for a great cause… and that’s where I hope you can help.
I’d like you to sponsor me to complete the Portland triathlon on September 20 so I can send some of your hard-earned cash to Ethiopia, where my mother Sally and I are working with some incredible Catholic nuns. We are helping fund the construction of a little school in a village near the Eritrean border.
The village is called Adaga and life there is tough. Residents grow crops and raise livestock, but successive rain failures have left many families struggling. My mother Sally helped fund early construction but since suffering a stroke, her donations have dwindled -- and that’s where I want to step up.
Look away now. No amount of Instagram filtering or Photoshop could make this OK, so here is the mandatory training photo, raw and unfiltered.The first schoolroom is already built and that means children no longer sit outside, like in this photo:
Instead, they now have a proper room:I aim to raise at least $2,500 to pay for the construction of a second schoolroom and a toilet facility.
Any donation, no matter the size, will go far in helping a wonderful group of kids in a very poor place and ensure they will have a more hopeful future.
Thank you so much for any help you can offer. For each dollar/pound raised, I pledge not to post additional indecent photos.
Yours with gratitude,
Thomas Watkins
This is a view of the first schoolroom, which we hope to enlarge with your support. Some of the wonderful kids -- sitting outside here, but not for much longer.Organizer
Thomas Watkins
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC