On the other hand I kept thinking about the struggles in the remote Loatian villages. Indeed the villagers have smiles on their faces for what they do have. With so much sickness often caused by poor hygiene, an 8.1% infant mortality rate and a life span of only 54 years, I know there is so much we can do for them.
We, and others who have approached us to do fundraisers have been working hard through the summer and early fall. Together we have raised just over $25,000 in donations and commitments. With just 5 weeks to go before my return to Laos, I am getting closer to my targets but very nervous that there is not enough time left to raise the funds before we leave.
Here is where we are at the moment.
1) University Fees for 2 students for one year - Done and paid for.
2) Funding for two more school teachers for Had Chanh and Pha Yong Villages ($1550) - Target Achieved.
3) Funding to complete construction of a water tank and school access ($3210) - Target achieved
4) Funding for a new water Source ($7600) - Target Achieved
5) The provision of 202 Water Filter systems for 198 Families and Two Schools for Small Houp Han Village, Pha Yong Village and Had Chanh village ($10,100) - 198 confirmed sponsors, although I have enough word-of-mouth commitments to be able to say - Target Achieved Distribution is expected in December for at least two of the villages.
6) New School Project ($9450) - We have raised $2550 so far with an estimated $1000 more coming in and strong hopes for a matching grant of $2000 more, leaving $3900 to raise. This is a pretty tall order considering our official fundraisers are now complete for the season. I am crossing my fingers for sure.
7) Hygienic Toilets for Had Chanh school and for a bank of toilets in Had Chanh and Pha Yong Villages ($6000 est.) I have not even managed to start fundraising for this however if I can raise enough to cover the school project, I will donate whatever is needed to complete this project.
Now, let's go to some pictures of the schools;
Had Chanh Village;
Looks pretty sharp doesn't it? You can see that they take pride in their work. To complete this project we still have to fund and teach the villagers how to build hygienic toilets for the school.
Pha Yong Village
These people have come a very long way since the last update.
They have since had to complete even more road widening to get the rest of the materials up to the village.
Referencing the distribution of the water filters, we will be shipping them to Nong Khiaw, then by riverboat to Had Chanh Village. At that point, then the villagers from Pha Yong will trek over to pick up the water filters one at a time. This will require two villagers for each filter to carry. that is 85 Trips!!!
Currently I am waiting for a picture update from the last three fundraisers that were done so that I can properly thank the hosts, so Stay Tuned!
