Jezza Kinship’s Well
The Backstory
Although my main philosophy for sustained weight loss is to make it feel super easy, I find incredible value in occasionally pushing myself to the limit and achieving a personal best. In 2016, when I lost about 50 pounds, I made a habit of breaking my personal best for steps each month. In October 2016 I set a record of 40,000 steps, and then in November I decided to maintain my weight loss. 40,000 steps took about 8 hours, and at that point, I felt that I was done setting personal bests for steps.
A few months ago, I got it in my head that it was time to set another personal best. It had been close to 2 years since I’d set one. And as fate would have it, I ran across a fitbit blog post about 3 people who’d achieved the 100,000 steps badge. 100,000 steps felt like the right goal to set for myself. It was going to take a big time commitment. I calculated it would take about 17 hours at my usual pace. And based on my recollection about how much of a grind 8 hours felt like, I decided that I needed an additional push to follow through with my commitment.
I reached out to Kinship United, my all-time favorite charity, whose mission it is to help widows and orphans around the world. I let them know that I had a youtube channel, and that I’d lost 80 pounds by doing intermittent fasting and walking 6 miles a day. I had been impacted by a blog post by Kinship United’s CEO, Craig Mueller, about how bad the water situation is in Africa right now. Children are having to make long, dangerous treks to get water, exposing them to drug pushers and human trafficking along the way. And to add insult to injury, they risk sickness from the water they’re walking so far to get.
As it turned out, Kinship United had a project that fit perfectly. They have a Kinship home* in Jezza, Uganda, where the kids there are having to walk 6 miles every day, to get water. They needed a bored well and 2 rainwater collection barrels to solve their water problem, for a total cost of $10,000. To say that I was intimidated by the amount that I was being asked to raise would be an understatement. I’ve never tried to do a fundraiser before. I just kept repeating to myself that I only needed faith the size of a mustard seed, and that it would all work out okay.
The Plan
My plan was to try to raise awareness for this project by walking the 100,000 steps, and documenting it through Facebook and Youtube Lives throughout the day. Kinship United has platform that makes setting up a fundraiser for a specific project super easy, so I just needed to direct people to the fundraising page. My goal was to have the 100,000 steps and the $10,000 raised by midnight, September 1. I was so excited that I woke up at midnight on August 31 and started getting my steps. I took breaks after every 10,000. I felt great at first, but by 70,000 steps, I was in a lot of pain. My back was hurting, and my feet were numb. I documented the entire thing on Facebook and Youtube Lives, as much as my phone battery and my cell signal would allow. My walk ended up totalling 43.2 miles. I followed my regular eating plan that day, meaning that I did not eat anything until after my 43.2 miles were finished. So, the 100,000 steps were done in a fasted state. I had 2 cups of coffee with a couple of tablespoons of half and half during my walking. I was very emotional by the 100,000th step. It took me a total of 17 hours. People online were cheering me on, and they were excited about Jezza’s well getting funded. After the steps were finished, I came back to my RV, and after eating 3 pieces of pizza, collapsed on my bed and fell asleep. I was completely drained.
The Morning After
My goal, as I said before, was to have the $10,000 raised by midnight that night. But when I woke up the next morning, I realized how much further we had to go: the total raised was sitting at $5,851.02. I didn’t really know what to do other than just keep posting as much as I could, and try to get the word out to as many people as possible. I basically had to stop caring whether or not people got tired of seeing the posts about the project. In the following days, I had moments of absolute despair. I felt like a complete failure. I learned how much ego can get in the way, even when you’re trying to do something that seems selfless. Trying to keep my focus on getting the well for the widows and orphans of Jezza is what kept me going. I realized that even though my initial self-imposed deadline was long gone, it didn’t mean the project was a failure. The only way I could fail was if I quit. So I decided to simply not quit.
The Process
Donations did keep coming in, though sporadically. Kinship United told me that at $8,000 raised they could start the digging process. The remaining $2,000 was for the pump and the rainwater collection barrels. Keeping focused on the next little benchmark kept me encouraged. At $7,678, I was just focused on getting to $7,680. And so on. When we finally hit $8,000 on September 7, I felt a huge sense of relief. At least the process of getting Jezza’s water problem solved could start. On Tuesday, September 11, Kinship United wired the funds over to Uganda. They let me know that the water survey and the test drill for water were the next steps.
I relayed that information back to everyone who would listen. I posted updates every time I saw there was a new donation (I became a bit obsessive, I admit, about checking the fundraiser’s page.) On September 14, 2 weeks past my original deadline, the fundraiser was sitting at $8,924.68. And then, unexpectedly, a very generous donor offered to match up to $300 of donations that came in by midnight that night. And just like that, the rest of the needed donations came pouring in. Jezza’s well project was fully funded.
Fundraiser By The Numbers
Dollars raised: $10,028.76
- Donations Under $52: $3,121
- Donations $53-Under $200: $2,007.41
- Donations over $200: $4,899.97
Total number of donors: Approximately 142 (it depends on how many anonymous donors donated more than once)
People who donated more than once: 11
Number of Anonymous Donations: 31
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who donated, shared the donation page, sent encouraging messages, or just sent up prayers. Jezza Kinship will have a well soon, and it’s all because of you!
*A kinship home is a home built within the church where the widows and orphans can come together and live in a kinship (family) environment.
Timeline
- $10,028.76 raised of a needed $10,000 (September 14)
- Initial funds wired to Jezza (September 1st)
- Water survey and Test drill done in September
- Throughout September various attempts were made to hit water, to no avail
- As of October 24, 2018, 1 more piece of land with a different piece of digging equipment can be tried. If no water is found, we will have to go to plan B, to be determined. Please pray that water is found on this last attempt.
- As of December 4, 2018, heavy rains in the past weeks have delayed progress. Things move slower in the developing world, and patience is necessary. Plan B, if the drilling does not successfully bring water, is that hopefully Jezza Kinship will be allowed to pipe water in from the city water grid. Originally, due to the location being too far off the grid, this was not an option, but sometimes failed attempts at drilling for water will make it so the city will give special permission. Please continue to pray!
- I got word on January 25, 2019 that the well has been completed!!! They now have clean running water! Thank you to everyone who supported me and this project both financially and emotionally.