RAG week

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Total = £540!

RAG week has been fun, and meaningful to me. I had successfully raised £540 (thanks to Aizat's help too) to meet my target of £500 to fundraise KOP! Yay!!!!!!! If you think £500 is a lot, then think again - the top collector had a total of £5000! Yeah 5000, in one week!

London people are much like other people around the world too. Some are very supportive (someone gave £20 into my bucket); it sincerely made you feel really good for RAGging. It was even much more meaningful when the very people people who are actually the recepients for the donations came to us and thank us for doing such a wonderful effort. Even some a lot of the TFL officers and policemen were very gentle towards us, and some even donated (although they still discretefully and tactfully warned us that we are not suppose to 'beg' underground)! Thanks a lot for all your support!

On the other hand, some people are really nasty, whom I was very glad not to have met any one people like this. They scorned you and they accused of laundering money, just to name a few.

I guess that's fair enough if they do not trust you. Someone has to do the dirty job. There's sort of a balance between opposite poles in every thing.


Out of the comfort zone!

I am very proud of myself to have collected £540. Up to Thursday, I only managed to get £260. So Friday had to be £240! On Thursday, I was really about to give up - I really don't like to ask people for money. I don't like to be outside my comfort zone! I even had considered of just taking it out of my own pocket, the easiest way. However, something inside me screamed at me to NEVER DO THAT; I must demonstrate my dedication to myself, that I AM doing RAG for a cause! Yeah, I've proven that to myself! That made my effort worthwhile!!


I treated myself for that success with a wonderful serving of Italian "Marilyn Plate" ice cream that night.

My most memorable experience

I guess would this: After I finished collecting donations from a carriage, a real beggar came into the very same carriage that I was in , asking for money but nobody responded. Then he asked me if I had 'done' this train, and I didn't quite know why gave small chuckle as I replied him 'yeah'. Then he said back, "it's not funny, man. We both are making money".

That very last sentence strucked me profoundly, and it left me emotionally paralysed because it made me really feel like a hypocrite! I was extremely saddened by the fact I'm doing this for some charity in some faraway land and yet..... I cannot even help the very needy person right before my eyes! When I think of it, my primary aim of RAG was to raise the funds for the KOP organization so that I can go to Kenya. And not really about raising funds. Then my utiliratarian side of my soul argued that as long as the outcome is right, no matter how it is achieved, it still a valid action. I was extremely confused! I kinda wept as I blurted this out my RAG 'partner', Sam.

Then the next thing she told me was very reassuring: it is for people like them too that we all raise this money for.