Lao School Building Project Updates

It has been a while since I last updated about Ban Dannavieng Elementary School.  This is the school in Laos that many had come together in helping with the school building project in 2007. I received a photo update from Darly of the school today.  The school is now known as Dong Yang Primary School, which was named after Ban Dong Yang village.

It’s nice to see the children again, my dad and I visited the school in November 2008.

I grew up having a strong connection to education, not because my parents were educators, but because the chance of continuing education was next to none if I were still living in Laos or Thailand.

It’s nice to see so many happy faces, and thanks to Darly for sharing the photos with us.  Please visit Lao School Building Project post to see more photos.

Dannavieng Elementary School Update

When I visited Dannavieng Elementary school in November 20, 2008, I didn’t get to meet the superintendent of the school. After I came back, Darly informed me that she will get me the receipt, something that I needed to provide for Friends of the NLL, also known as my coworkers that had helped supported the school project. Below are the receipt and photos taken by Darly’s Aunt, Aunt Kian. When I was there, they talked about putting up a new name, and now it is up. The school is now named after the village, Ban Dong Yang Elementary School.

My Visit to Dannavieng Elementary School

My main reason for this trip to Laos was to visit Dannavieng Elementary School, it’s the school that my co-workers (Friends of the NLL) and I contributed in the amount of $1,250.00 to help complete the school. I do have to say that planning for this trip had been very stressful for me because it also meant that it’s my first time visiting Laos since I left. My dad was concerned for me because I left Laos when I was only about 5 or 6 years old, so he decided in the last minute to join me.

There has not been any new improvement to the school since my last post, the last installment of $500 that I made in August 2008 is still with Phor Yai (big father) of the village because the school doesn’t have anything further plan with the construction, and the $500 is not enough for the flooring.  Phor Yai and his daughter thought that it’d cost about $2,000 for the cement floor, which I believed that they can collect from the local villagers. I do have to say that the school is a lot bigger than I thought, I’m glad that I’m able to take these photos myself, and by a twist of faith, everything worked out in my favor.

When one of my friends found out about my plan to visit the school, he asked if I could buy school supplies for the students and teachers on his behalf, and gave me $50. At the time, I had also decided to buy some myself, and with such kind gesture, I decided to match his donation and had a budget of $100 total. I didn’t know how many students at the time, but thought it might be closed to 200, so I bought the school supplies at the morning market in Paksun, and got 200 books of 100 pages, 40 books of 200 pages, 250 pencils, 100 blue pens, 100 red pens, the total cost of 865,000 kip. There are only about 150 students, so there are plenty for future uses.