hey @katleya! ooh what an interesting question. I think that better than tell you what i did i want to share in a slightly different way. You see, what i did really may not apply to you.. ultimately i think we should do the things we love doing, that bring us joy, because that passion is what drives us to make it work.. let me give you some examples!

Back in 2001 i attended a lecture in Brighton Uk from Michael Reynolds. He is an Earthship Builder and promotes sustainable building and living. By the end of that lecture i had realised very quickly that this was something i really wanted to do, i felt so strongly about it, and being secure and self sufficient seemed most important to me. It all made so much sense..

I had no money, and no building experience.. but i had passion and a 'go get it' attitude. I am the kind of person who always finds a way to get things done, and will often do some pretty out of the box things ..

In this case the people who attended this lecture all formed a group. We all decided that rather than try to build one for ourselves we would start building a community project. I took a lead role in this NGO company along with a few others.. and i had to find a way to find the money to do it, i was the fundraiser!

In this case i spent around 3 months searching the internet high and low for funding. It seemed a good approach, and there were plenty of grants available for all kinds of things. In the end i managed to get an initial grant from the BOC Foundation of around 50,000 USD to support this project, and that initial funding opened the door to further funding from a Government waste company BIFFA, to the tune of around 300,000 USD. These grants were not loans, and within a pretty short space of time that build got started. It took a while to complete, and today is known as Earthship Brighton. It was a great success!

It took me around 10 years to finally build my own home, earthship karuna. In the end i chose to live and build in INdia where the costs were MUCH lower, and i used what savings i had, along with some money i had from web work. It was hard work, and with no experience it was also very daunting... but i was determined to make it work and i did whatever i had to do to make it happen. Amazingly that came good, and i lived in that amazing home, earthship karuna, for 8 years until very recently.

I think the message is, do what ever it takes to make your dreams come through, think out of the box..

As a child i was already like this. I can remember selling sweets in the school playground and used to make up to $60 a day! I found it fun, and didn't like playing football or other games.. since my mum was a single parent she wasn't really able to give me much money, and to be honest i only wasted it and gave it away.. I didnt even do it for money, it was just fun!

Another example i like is when i got a place in Brunel University in London, through the backdoor so to speak. I had quit my previous university in Reading as i really didn't like the place, and decided i wanted to go to a University near to London where my friends were. It isn't easy going through the formal routes, and in the end i just looked up the number of the admissions department and called them up! i had a great phone chat with the head of the Zoology department and told him i really wanted to study there. Amazingly he told me to come to the University to meet him and have an interview.

I went of course and we a good chat as he evaluated me. By the end of the meeting he simply offered me a place, and what is most amazing is that he didn't even know my A level exam results! HArd to believe really that i got into university without them even knowing the thing that everyone knows to be the most important part of school, our results! And yet i got it, and let it be said i had pretty terrible exam results as i never studied. In fact i did this three times and had three offer to different Universities!

As a kid I also used to knock on all the neighbours doors and ask them if they wanted their cars washed. I used to wash all the cars in the area and charged around $7 each time. It was fun and i spent that money on sweets and toys! lol

So my best answer really is to FIND A WAY! Do whatever you have to do to make your dreams come true. SOmetimes we need patience, and sometimes we need to try something different. If we never give up, sooner or later we will succeed!

i hope that helps! <3 supporting your mother is of course so important and sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone to make it happen. You could accomplish this in so many ways, but the simplest way i can think of would be to simply ask people.. get out there on the street, make a picture of her and have her share some words on a piece of paper and show people, ask them for help! That is of course just one idea, and depending where you live may or may not be appropriate. I think if you are rEALLY determined you will make it work.. but we have to be fearless and just focus on the importance of our objective. in your case it should be very easy to have that kind of passion and determination because it's such an important cause.

i wish you much luck and motivation <3

p,s today i earn money from renting the earthship i made.. it brings in more than i need as i live a simple life.