Summary: The video is not yet complete, but a current version is available. The fundraiser is closing, and I'm shifting focus to job hunting while continuing work on the video when possible.

Hi everyone,

I've reached the hard deadline of working full-time on A Happier World and my sewage monitoring video given the money I fundraised (a little over a month of salary).
Unfortunately, and much to my frustration, I haven't been able to complete the video within this timeframe.
I did make significant progress. I'm excited to share the current version of the video (unlisted) with you here: https://youtu.be/8mgBL6V0UkA

What's still missing is music, lots of b-roll and found footage and small animations such as nameplates. I also plan to improve the audio quality and do some color correction.
I welcome your feedback, especially suggestions on what to cut or shorten.

At this point, I need to focus on securing a stable income. My top priority going forward will be to look for a full-time or part-time job.
Given the financial uncertainty of it all, I've decided to indefinitely pause fundraising for A Happier World. So I'm closing the fundraiser.

I do hope that in the long term, I can continue A Happier World in some form.

I'll still work on finishing this video.

I'm currently at a stage in the video creation process that doesn't require as much mental energy, so when my brain is too tired of job hunting, I can work on the video instead.

Before this grant, it was challenging to balance both tasks as they both required significant mental effort, resulting in little progress on either front.
While I can't promise a specific completion date, I'm committed to seeing this project through.

Thank you so much for your support. I'm incredibly grateful, and it has definitely accelerated the progress of this video significantly.

Summary: The video is not yet complete, but a current version is available. The fundraiser is closing, and I'm shifting focus to job hunting while continuing work on the video when possible.

Hi everyone,

I've reached the hard deadline of working full-time on my video.
Unfortunately, and much to my frustration, I haven't been able to complete it within this timeframe.
I did make significant progress. I'm excited to share the current version of the video (unlisted) with you here: https://youtu.be/8mgBL6V0UkA

What's still missing is music, lots of b-roll and found footage and small animations such as nameplates. I also plan to improve the audio quality and do some color correction.
I welcome your feedback, especially suggestions on what to cut or shorten.

At this point, I need to focus on securing a stable income. My top priority going forward will be to look for a full-time or part-time job.
Given the financial uncertainty of it all, I've decided to indefinitely pause fundraising for A Happier World. So I will close the fundraiser.

I do hope that in the long term, I can continue A Happier World in some form.

I'll still work on finishing this video.

I'm currently at a stage in the video creation process that doesn't require as much mental energy, so when my brain is too tired of job hunting, I can work on the video instead.

Before this grant, it was challenging to balance both tasks as they both required significant mental effort, resulting in little progress on either front.
While I can't promise a specific completion date, I'm committed to seeing this project through.

Thank you so much for your support. I'm incredibly grateful, and it has definitely accelerated the progress of this video significantly.

Update on my plans for the next weeks:
Starting today, I'll be dedicating myself to A Happier World for the next five weeks, focusing on completing my video on wastewater monitoring. This will be the equivalent of four weeks of full-time work, spread out over five weeks to accommodate my attendance at the Effective Altruism Global conference in London. During the week before and after the conference, I'll be working half-time. This period will conclude on June 21st, after which I'll resume my job search full-time.

I'm still considering promoting the fundraiser in my next video. Depending on its success, I'll either:

• Successful: Seek a part-time job to balance with A Happier World.

• Very Successful: Focus entirely on A Happier World for a while.

• Unsuccessful: Return all funds raised after today.

I'll soon update the fundraiser with a clear explanation at the top of how donating through Manifund works and how returned funds can be used.

Thank you for your support!

I'm really happy to see that we reached the minimum funding goal! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed! I greatly appreciate it!

I just discovered that the closing date only applied to reaching the minimum goal. I wasn't aware that people could continue supporting A Happier World through this fundraiser beyond that date. This is fantastic news! However, it means I will discuss my next steps regarding my employment status with my accountant before withdrawing any funds.

My plan is to use the current funding ($2,790) to work on A Happier World full-time for 2-4 weeks (depending on taxes and the dollar-euro exchange rate) and pause my job search. During this time, I aim to finish my video on sewage water monitoring. I'm still considering how to proceed with this fundraiser afterwards.

Please feel free to leave anonymous feedback here: https://www.admonymous.co/jeroen_w

@Jason Thank you Jason!

I'm often impressed by the things I see coming out of EA Philippines and think they are very inspiring!