10. Heartening Donations

Today began with an excited email from Mas Nashir. Someone who had purchased his book about our first Pulang Kampung journey, Berkelana dengan Sandra menyusuri ulos Batak (2010), had royally over-paid him for it.

With her blessing, he decided to donate the overpayment to the Pulang Kampung III pot. It is not a large amount of money, but it is doubly important because it comes from two kind hearts: the reader/purchaser and the author/seller. It represents goodwill, trust, excitement, a shared conception of what is good. I treasure it as a symbol of what a community can do when the will is there.

Little by little, the donations are flowing in. Many people are going to work on their “connections” for us and sometimes that has paid off tremendously. Many donations, so far, are promises that I believe will come true. We have a very long way to go, but our courage is mounting and we believe more than ever in our project. The little donation that came in this morning fed our energy.