Lao Voices

During my three weeks stay in my uncle’s hometown, Bane Dannavieng, I visited the local school out of curiosity. To my surprise, the school buildings didn’t look any better than my former school in Vientiane. Since there is no budget for education, the villagers are left to take care of their local school system and do the best they can - with extremely limited resources - for children in the school’s proximity.

These villagers did the best they could and built a few buildings for the elementary school and middle school. There was no local high school and, because of this, many students could not continue their education after elementary school. Luckily, one of the villagers immigrated from the USA to Bane Dannavieng and decided to start a “school building project”.

Bane Dannavieng, was able to build a new high school through a self-started local fund raising project. Under the guidance of Phor Yai (big father) the villagers would put in $10.00 (per family, a considerable amount for Lao villagers) annually into a village fund to build a school. It took them quite a few years to complete their first high school but they succeeded.

Presently, the stream of many younger students entering the school has grown very fast. The elementary school became overcrowded and the school board was forced to build a new elementary school. This project is expected to complete in three years at best. In the mean time, because of the large number of students, pre-school students are obligated to cut lessons short in order to enable older students to use the classrooms.

Since the school building project has lifted off, classes are being held outside during good weather for some of the students that can’t fit into this one building. This situation is far from ideal in an educational system that already lacks many resources.

At a visit earlier this year, my family and I donated some money to the school along with some pens and pencils for the teachers and students. Since we collected enough money for four book boxes library and had the option of selecting which schools we wanted to donate the book boxes to. Dannavieng Elementary was selected as one of the schools to receive a book box.

Fortunately, this positive story does not end there. When I came back from Laos and posted about the school building project in Bane Dannavieng, readers and members of Laovoices.com displayed great interest in the project and offered to help in many ways. Through these actions we were able to fund a substantial part of the new school’s roof.

It is absolutely not in my nature to ask anyone for money but it is a simple fact that Lao people lack the means to build basic facilities for schooling. And since I personally lack the resources to fund a schooling project, I appeal to you, our reader, to contribute to this school project if you are able to.

I can offer my devotion and as much transparency as I can as for whereabouts of the funds. This is also the reason why we post the list of contributors to the book box and their respective donations. I want to be crystal clear how much funds go where and when.

I will do my best to keep you posted of the progress of the school building project. When I go to Laos next year, I will visit the school and bring you pictures and updated information about the project. With sufficient outside support the villagers might be able to complete the school by the time I get there. All contributors have been invited by the school committee to join them for the opening ceremony whenever it can be held.

Dannavieng School Building Project Supporters:

April 2007

Nye - $50.00
Friends of the NLL - $200.00
Lao Cook - 400.00 Euros

December 2007
Nye - $150.00
Friends of the NLL - $350.00

Many thanks to the contributors of the school building project thus far. The villagers have expressed their gratitude and are very happy to know people abroad do care about them.

Kind regards,
DJ

Please donate to build a good Lao school!