On behalf of Laovices.com and Houay Laou Elementary school in Pakse, Champassak province, I want to thank the Friends of the National Library of Laos (my co-workers) for making it possible for us to deliver our 9th Books Box; with your generous support, we were able to give the gift of learning.
Darly wrote a post at Lao Voices that describes the condition of the schooling in Laos, and also a special thanks below,
The parents and students are grateful and happy to know there are people outside Laos that care a great deal about them. They sent their big Thanks and warm regards. The students at Houay Laou Elementary school are eager to learn and you can see their enthusiasm as they surrounded the book box, trying to get a piece of the action. Please visit the Gallery for more photos of the book box delivery to Houay Laou Elementary school.
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 7, 2008 at 1:39 am
Salat
Nice to see students that are so eager to read and learn.
I wonder if people who visit Laos can just spend time reading to the students. Or maybe teach them how to draw better or practice their ABC’s skill. That would be something!
January 7, 2008 at 9:43 am
Bob
It is indeed very sad to hear that “the Ministry of Education in Laos has no budget for books or educational supplies. The majority of Lao schools don’t have libraries or access to books for students.” What are they thinking? The children are the future.
Thanks Darly for bringing the truth of the situation to life on what it looks like in the rural areas of Laos. I always hear stories of how well the country is doing & growing & prospering; that the people in Laos have it better than we do in the US or Europe. I was kind of skeptical when the people who went back to visit would brag about the wealth that is being created in Laos; and my only thought to this was ‘yeah, at the expense of the common people…the people who are true Laotian.’ I wonder if they only went to the city & not go out to the country, or village to see what life is like there; or are they just in denial? After all, it’s only human nature to want to see only the ‘goods’ and not so much the ‘bad.’ I know that the country is still very much corrupted, even if the rest of the world may see so other wise, IMO.
Looking at the pictures of the kids, the school building and the surroundings, I cannot help but to think and to feel for the people there. It has not changed that much at all, IMO. Is there anything that as a small community of ‘bloggers or commentors,’ something more (or extra) that we can do to help with this situation in Laos? I’m reminded of a comment Nye had made: “what about us before we came here, we were helped by the kindness of strangers and the money that I help is a very small amount, we don’t even miss it most of the time.” Nye is right in this regard because I know very well that we all spend our money foolishly at times (I’m very guilty of this charge due to movies and books that I like to buy at the times; though I’m not much on clothes and long walk in the woods like Seiji:)). We must feel very fortunate to be living where we are; and we must find it in our hearts’ heart to spread this gift to those who are less fortunate. I believe if we make a commitment to reach out as a group, it can and will be done…slowly and eventually it will grow into something unexpected.
So ‘hats off’ to Darly for starting this project & those who have help in the process. Please put forth your suggestions (or problems we may encounter) as to what extra we can do. I know you guys may have discussed this issue in the past, and I’m not trying to be all ‘Gung-ho’ about it ‘cause I’m very new to this, but I believe it’s time we can all start giving back.
Bob:((
January 7, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Ginger
Salat, I’m not sure if we’re allow to do this, I emailed Darly, and hopefully she’ll shed some light on this matter, it would be interesting if we could. I wonder if they would let me tell ghost story.
January 7, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Ginger
Bob, I read in the past that the Japanese government had generously donated money to help build school in Laos, but that’s mostly in big cities, where it’d represent well, and often times, schools in small villages are left in the dark, not even enough funding from the local government.
Every time this topic comes up, I wish I could do more and I know that I can but it will take time. I think any little helps, it’s great to see the photos of the children reading books, but at the same time, I feel sad knowing that there are more Lao children out there without reading materials. If you find it in your heart to give back to the children, we greatly appreciated.
January 10, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Ginger
Salat, I got a reply back from Darly and this is what she said,
“I don’t think that would be a problem. I’ve read about how farang tourists would teach English or help them with the pronunciation during their stay in Laos. The best thing to do is to ask the school that you want to teach or read English book or set up an activity like painting and drawing. I don’t know any school that would be so strict and would say no to any of us that wanting to do nice thing like that.”