Thursday 6 January 2011

If I won the lottery...

What would I do with the money?

Well that depends on what I have won.

If I win £20 I will buy food or something essential.  If I won a million, I would start with a haircut.  Then a house.  (Large enough to fit the family, a large vegetable garden, chickens, and possibly two goats...)  If I won two million I would be able to make a major career change!!

I dream of having a home of my own, one with central heat (preferably a ground source heat pump and small wind turbine).  Sure I would like a new car and in an ideal world I would have an indoor swimming pool, housekeeper, and regular massages.  But my true dreams are these:  To create a therapeutic community for people with mental health problems and to build a medical clinic in Africa.

There are some fantastic sheltered work programmes for individuals with mental health needs.  They are holistic, teach job skills, provide group therapy, and a temporary home for people to find their feet.  I would house the community on a farm with a whole foods diet, art workshops, and living accommodation. 

I have been wanting to do some aid work in Africa for some time now.  And lately I have been thinking a lot about medical centres.  Maybe because I am pregnant.  And I can't stop thinking about my friend's stories from her time volunteering in Zambia a few years ago.  She described working in the birthing centre and I can't get these images out of my mind.  I have been reading about natural childbirth and hypnotherapy techniques and can't help but think that they could be used more liberally throughout the world.  But especially in traditional and remote societies.  We often see images of people suffering from AIDS, malaria, and other illnesses as well.  And sometimes it doesn't take much to help.

To fund these various projects I would create a Charitable Foundation, called Heartbeat.  Or something like that if the name is already taken.  I would have to hire some people to handle things like publicity, money, fundraising....because while I have a bit of a head for numbers, I am more of a doer I think. 

What would you do with a big win?

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