Seven days in Laos (part 3 of 3)

The seven days in Laos has been very interesting. I have been able to travel around in villages quite far away from anything resembling western civilization, talking with and learning about the Lao Theung. I believe that the scholarship SSPL are giving will make a difference for the student and the local community. That is, in the long run. And what we are doing is just a small contribution. But it's still important, I believe.

A normal village house

Driving in Laos
It has also been exciting. We have been traveling in a beautiful landscape, and experienced some unexpected situation. The roads where we were driving were in a bad condition. But when you remember that there are very few cars and pick-ups driving those roads - most of the vehicles are motorbikes and agricultural machines, then I guess the condition is not that bad. However, during the rainy season, many of the roads will become impossible to drive on. We were crossing small rivers all the time, and this was only possible because it was the dry season.

The following pictures are from a river crossing. I am glad we were driving in a steady Toyota Vigo!

Coffee

On the way up to a village close to the Vietnamese border, we noticed a small coffee farm just next to the road. This is coffee beans drying in the sun:

The river
The river is important for the villagers. The rivers provide water for drinking and washing, and it is also a source for fishing. this picture is shot late in the afternoon. Kids fishing from a river boat.

Seven days in Laos (part 2)

The 12 students has been given scholarship for some specific reasons. Most important, they all come from districts and villages with a big lack of teachers. The villages is mostly in remote areas, some of them up to 50 km from the nearest town. The government has in recent years build a number of schools, so that about every fifth village now has an primary school. But in most of the schools there are only one teacher, limiting the class offered to two or three.

Marit, a student and Somchai in front of a new school

The Lao Theung

In Phin and Sepon districts, most of the people is Lao Theung. Lao Theung is not an ethnic group, but a label that is put on a dozen of different ethnic groups sharing some similarities. They differ from Lao Loum (the 'mainstream Lao') in a number of ways. Their language is very different - most of the Lao Theung speak languages related to Khmer, and that has nothing to do with Lao. The religion is also different. 10 of the 12 families we visited followed animistic / spirit beliefs, not Buddhism. And their spirit belief is rather complex. There is plenty of taboos to remember, and it is very important to respect to spirits living in the house. Every member of the family has his or her private spirit, living in a cup on the wall. If a member of the family is sick, the head of the family will ask the spirit what kind of offering it requires. The spirit might want a chicken or goat, or even a water buffalo (a rather expensive offering). If several members of the same family is sick, their spirits can share the same animal, but if two people in two different houses become sick, two animals have to die.

When visitors are received in the house, the host and the guests always drink Lao Lao together. If someone for some reason cannot or doesn't want to drink, he has to pour out the drink on a plate. Drinking Lao Lao is kind of a ritual to honor the spirits, that's why it's serious business.

A bottle of Lao Lao

I was surprised to see the position of women in the Lao Theung villages. I think it would make even the most conservative become a feminist. The women are very hard working, beeing responsible for not just raising the kids and taking care of the food for the family, but also doing most of the manual work in the village and in the rice field. We visited several villges in mid-day, and it was really a lot of men and children around, while the women were out working. Many of the men were sitting around chatting and drinking Lao Lao, I met quite a lot of drunk men before noon. Even if the women does the hard work, it is still the men who is the family head and controls the family economy (unlike for example most Thai families). And when a women gives birth, she has to go out in the forest. Giving birth inside the house is a taboo (the spirits again), and when she returns with her newborn, she is even not allowed inside the house, but has to stay under the house for a while.

...making sticky rice

For more information on the ethnic groups in Laos, see Country Studies

Seven days in Laos (part 1)

Our adventure in Laos started out in Savannakhet where we picked up the students that will get the scholarship and one of the leading officials at the Provincial School Office. Having dealt with all the right beurocrats, we could drive towards Sepon (Xepon on the map) in order to visit the families and villages to all the students included in the scholarship program. The first afternoon we went to the first village, where two students lived. This village was easily accessable, just next to the main road.


The Contract
All the students in the scholarship programs come from poor villages and cannot in any way finance their own education. The tution fee for attending the Teachers Training College is 740 000 Kip per term (appr. 74 US$), a large amount of money for families that go through their daily life mostly without dealing with money. In addition to the fee, SSPL will cover student uniforms, notebooks, etc, and the cost of food (300 000 Kip per month).

When visiting the families, we were very well received. Marit and the representatives from the Provincial School Office explained everything in detail for the families and answered the questions they would have. When everything was clear, both the student and one of the parent signed the Scolarship Contract.

Signing the scolarship contract
Illiteracy is high in Laos. Finger stamp is also valid


Food and Drinks
After the formal part of the meeting was done, the familiies served us food and drinks. Ususually we were served Lao Lao (strong liquere made of rice), sometimes Beer Lao, and water or tea. It is custom that everyone drink Lao Lao from the same glass. Luckily, the Lao Lao is very strong (between 40% and 60% alcohol), so I guess most of the bacterias are killed.

We we offered a wide range of food from the 12 families we visited. Bamboo shot, BBQ chicken, goat - every part of it, like the skin, the liver, the foot..., pork, frogs (small ones, between 1-4 cm), fish and dog (hmmm). And always a lot of sticky rice.

Delicious frog soup

School Support Project Laos

School Support Project Laos (SSPL) is a NGO that has been doing work in Laos for the last eight years. The aim of the project is to support primary education in Laos, focusing on Savannakhet province. 500 students receive school supplies each year - school uniforms, notebooks and stationary, etc. In addition, the students receive hygienical products for her or his family. The families to the students that are included in the project also receive visits regularly and the parents are encouraged to send their children to school.

Until now the main focus has been to support students attending schools in and close to the city of Savannakhet. Starting this year, we want to expand towards districts further away from the city. We have decided to expand the project to the districts of Phin and Sepon, close to the border between Laos and Vietnam. In this area, the government has build several new primary schools over the last couple of years. However, there is a lack of teachers, and many of the them have only completed the five years of primary education. The contribution by SSPL in this situation is to give schoolarship to students that are graduated from high school, so that they can attend the Teacher Training College in Savannakhet and become teachers in their home districts.

The last week, I went together with my sister Marit and her family to visit the 12 students that will receive schoolarship starting September. It was a really exciting trip that I will remember for a long time...

Thailand og Laos spring 2009

Hi,

My first article in a year :) I've decided to write in english since I'm not using a norwegian kayboard. Anyway, I am back in Thailand. This trip will last for two weeks, and the main purpose this time is to spend time with my sister Marit and her family. And to follow the work she is doing in Laos.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for Laos, and we'll spend a week there. The project my sister is doing in Laos is called School Support Project Laos, and the mail goal is to support children to take primary education. In the rural areas in the south of Laos there is a lack of teachers, so it is decided that SSPL will give scholarships to a handful of students so that they can attend the Teacher Training College in the provincial capital of Savannakhet.

More news and pictures later!
Ole Christian