Lao Voices

I think any help to bring reading material to the children in Laos is moving toward a positive light, especially for some of us living in the US or anywhere in the world that share that interest, that education is important. Below are video clips (more at end of post) from Peter Whittlesey, made me think back of the time when I was at the camp in Thailand, I was the storyteller to children in the evening, but it’s mostly ghost story, not very educational I’m afraid.

Video description: About four years ago my friend Jim Harris, a retired principal from Wausau, and I raised money for about 15 book box libraries and I funded a training for teachers receiving the book box libraries for their schools in Sam Neua. In this video that Jim made you see the Children’s Librarian training the teachers in a hall near the public library “downtown” in Sam Neua. And if you look at the other videos where she presents to students at one of the schools receiving a book box library or when she’s visiting rural schools near Vientiane in the National Library of Laos bookmobile, you will see she’s a “superstar.” She’s comfortable in front of both large groups of students or teachers and is an extraordinary storyteller. I think it would be great if a Lao community would sponsor her to come for a visit to the states. She could give presentations at wats/community centers and someone could also take her to visit US schools. Personally and professionally, I think she’s the best thing about the book box program. She’s amazing, absolutely amazing and would be a powerful “bridge between Laos and the USA.”

When I posted about Big Brother Mouse, my knowledge about them was as much as what they provided on their website, this I mentioned on my post. I was happy to see that my post about the program has touched Kay in a special way that she posted about them on her blog; a reading program of any kind to me is good, whether it’s for schooling or reading for fun, children need that, especially children in Laos, I think they’re happy to get what gift we can give them.

Since this is very new, there are many questions about the program that only show the concern for the children in Laos, below is a comment on the post at Laoplanet.net by Padek:

I wonder how well “BB Mouse” is embedded in the present day curriculum and school programs of Lao schools or is this considered unimportant?

Is this only used privately? How many books are actually delivered? So many questions regarding this program….

I forwarded his question to Peter, and got a reply back, see below,

First, the question about whether BBM is embedded in the curriculum or not. People have to understand in Laos that books, books themselves, are not embedded in the curriculum. There is no money budgeted for books in Lao
educational budget, zero, none, nada. In fact there’s no money for educational supplies for students and their cost has to be borne by parents and/or village support. And if someone has listened to the VOA Lao report you blogged on, there are myriad problems with the education system in Laos, and it all stems from a lack of money.

And of course the book boxes that I’ve supported in the past and Lao Voices supports are extras, like BBM and are not embedded in the curriculum. They are only made available to schools when organizations or individuals donate money for one or more boxes. And even when money for a book box is donated, the book box may remain at the National Library of Laos until more money is donated so that the book box can be delivered and then hopefully some training provided. So even the National Library has no money budgeted for these book
boxes and all funding either comes from NGO’s (the Japanese are the biggest supporters of supporting literacy efforts in Laos) or private organizations and individuals.

And when Sasha Alyson formed BBM and began publishing these great, “affordable” books in Lao for kids, I decided this was something I wanted to support. In the post about BBM it was stated that they are a non-profit organization. They’re not really formally a non-profit organization. They are, as Sasha Allyson, the founder wrote, a “Lao-based, Lao-owned project.”

The Lao move slowly, step-by-step, and I’m glad to see that in the news on their site that for September 2007 it’s reported that, “As the new school year begins, we’ll work with the Education Department and rural schools to hold more village book parties.” So, while BBM may not be embedded, it does now have the approval of the Education Department. That’s a giant step in my book. It’s my plan that when Bai and I go to Laos this November and December to document at least one, if not two book parties that the Lao and Hmong Clubs are currently raising money for at my high school and I will provide a full reporting on my blog.

And about the question is it considered “unimportant.” Why would somebody ask that? What do they really mean? Most people here in America don’t really understand what subsistence living is like, and I would add, subsistence
governing. As you well know, the promotion of literacy and education is a fairly recent phenomenon in Laos, and what Sasha has done is take the initiative to begin publishing children’s books in Laos, where basically none were published before. I think he and the young Lao that have taken over the operation have come an incredibly long way in a year-and-a-half. For me, as a librarian and educator, supporting BBM is a no-brainer, but that’s just me…

Nye, I just posted a five videos that tie into literacy in Laos. Although I now actively support BBM, I still admire the work of the National Library of Laos and especially the Children’s Librarian and three of the clips are when my friend Jim and I documented a training and handover ceremony in Sam Neua.
Two document a bookmobile visit to a rural school outside Vientiane and shows how talented the Children’s Librarian is.

I want to thank Peter for the videos, we’ve only seen photos of the happy faces, and it’s nice to see the actual voices of the children.