Village visits with Lisa and Pauline, Khmu New Year

No rest for the wicked as they say. It has been a really interesting time with Rotarian Lisa McCoy from Canada and Pauline Johns from Australia. While it was a bit difficult to organize and visit villages over the first few days with Christmas and New Years celebrations in the way,I am told that the Lao people celebrate their own New Years around the same time as ours but they also celebrate everyone elses holidays too - an excuse to let loose and party I suppose.



From Left: Mike Yap, Rotarian Lisa McCoy, yours truly and Pauline Johns


I was also in the middle of trying to work on my projects in between visitors but I needn't have worried. Lisa and Pauline are no strangers to hard work. It has been a lot of fun to share stories together about the hiccups and difficulties we experience along the way. A famous saying here is 'same same...but different'. It sure fits with what Lisa and Pauline have gone through in Cambodia as compared with I have gone through here.


I haven't told you much about Lisa and Pauline. Lisa is a Rotarian from Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. Lisa along with the Gravenhurst Rotary Club International Committee implemented the Rotary Wheels for Learning which provides bicycles for children to get to school in developing countries. Their web site is http://rotarywheelsforlearning.blogspot.com/.

Lisa and Pauline are researching locations in northern Laos as expansion to their program. I suppose it goes without saying that they didn't have to look very far to see the desperate need but more about that later.


Lisa and Pauline are directors for A MineFree World Foundation. I was humbled by the knowledge of Lisa's involvement as education co-ordinator in the Landmine Museum Relief Fund. For those of you who have been to Siem Reap, many of you would have seen Lisa's work at the museum. The funds were raised for a six room school project named the Muskoka school.
http://schoolsforcambodia.blogspot.com/.



I am a little delayed with this posting because my notebook got stolen. Fortunately I have copies of everything because almost everything I do is related to email, either directly or document preparation for emailing. The story goes a little deeper but my overall experience here remains positive and hopeful.


Pauline has now returned to Cambodia for a few days before heading back to Australia but I am still lucky to have Lisa remain with me for a couple more weeks and yes, I do intend to keep her busy.

The days seem to run together but shortly after Christmas I took the ladies to the derelict hospital, another village needing a water source and the infamous high school that really needs our attention. I am worried that some of the support beams are going to collapse. There is one critical junction that will cause quite a collapse if it goes.


Here is another view of the high school.

It should be noted here that the white block part of the structure was intended as storage rooms but has been converted into classrooms due to space restrictions - there are four classrooms of this nature and it looks like a dark dungeon in these rooms. There are three other classrooms that are primarily bamboo located elsewhere on the property and used as temporary classrooms unless it rains.

We returned to Luang Prabang, relaxed and snack-shopped for a couple of days but then prepared for a visit to HuepHan Village that is in the final approval stage for a new water source (should be ready to go within a week) and to Ladthahae Village to review the requirements for a small project at the school property there.


Huephan villagers took us on a one hour hike that we weren't expecting, to show us where their new water source was going to come from. We didn't know this at the time but we were glad we saw it. Quite frankly there wasn't much to see but the villagers were pretty excited about it. Below you will see a tall tree that stands out above the rest of the foliage and at the bsae of the tree are two rivers that intersect and merge. This is where the water pipes will originate from - that is a lot of pipe!




I was feeling guilty about taking Pauline and Lisa on such a long journey because I didn't prepare them for it so we didn't go all the way to the foot of the tree. Also we were told that the UXO (unexploded ordinance) office had been there and determined that this was one of the few areas that escaped the heavy bombing raids so they saw no reason to clear the land and left. The path was considerably narrower so we decided not to venture further.

At LadThaHae School, I investigated the site a little closer and while the water tank is complete, the pipes do not run to the toilets. Instead there is one tap and a sealed pipe at the water tank so the water has to be carried to the small holding tanks beside the toilets in the three latrines.
I also obtained more information about the access steps to the school.

Since then I have requested a revised proposal that is expected within a couple of weeks so we can get started on it. This will not require government approvals because it is a small project and the water tank itself is done.

The next day Pauline was a little under the weather with sore feet so she was unable to join us for the overnight visit to Had Chanh and Pah Yong Villages. Nothing ever goes exactly as planned but for some reason it was the closest I have managed to come to a perfect schedule.

We left early in the morning with Lisa, Myself, Phet (our translator for the trip), two lady friends of Bounmy and his mom who had recently visited the hospital to see about a swollen foot, and a water/hygiene 'specialist' who was hired to review the village requirements and compare notes with me to make sure I understood how they build hygienic toilets.

We made it to Had Chanh without incident and rounded up the chief, several elders and village builders so I could teach them (with the assistance of the 'specialist'). It went surprisingly well. In fact the 'specialist' kept commenting about how great I was doing (translated of course), in response to questions I kept asking him to confirm that I was correct is certain assumptions. Once I noticed that he was copying my chalkboard diagrams into his book, I began to realize that while he had some knowledge, he really didn't know enough about designing hygienic toilets at all to be able to help me prepare a proposal on behalf of the villagers...Not Good! I have the theory correct but when it comes to developing the calculations required to size the sceptic tanks and subsequent sceptic fields and piping, I am at a loss.....just what I need...more research....


Still, it was a success in that whenever I get my information, approval should happen quickly. I have asked the department for the schematics they have on file but suspect they are identical to the ones I received from the Department of Education which means....you guessed it...more work.
Above is a picture of Bounmy's mom (left) and Phet (right), our translator. She was there also to learn about the projects so she can be of much more assistance to me in the future. She will also be able to assist in costing and proposal preparation, hygiene training and a lot more. What a personality! She reminds me of Sammy from Bualai Taste of Thai restaurant in Port Hope - bubbly, happy all the time and a very quick wit!






On the right side, above, are a couple of the workers that helped to build the school and the village chief as we debrief after the meeting at the school.

We had intended to leave right afterwards to hike over to Pha Yong (along with a tractor to take our backpacks and luggage). We had planned to spend the night in Pha Yong village but that wasn't to be. They had actually been waiting for us to finish our meeting so they could bring in the new year with a traditional Bacci in celebration of the Khmu New Year which usually happens in December, although the exact date changes in accordance with the village priorities.

Here is a bit of a treat for you. By the way, the images above and below, including the video was taken by Lisa McCoy.

I tried downloading but gave up after several hours. Here is the link;

This is Part 2 of the video where you will see some of the traditional dancing.

Overall we were all pretty impressed. Apparently there is a school they can attend to teach this kind of traditional dancing. There was lots of drinking at this one..that is for sure.

Rather than load this video that would take me forever, please click this link;

That night we had a second Bacci in celebration of a visiting friend of one of the families - apparently there are many reasons for Bacci in Laos. The following morning there was a Bacci held for two more that we were requested to attend. One was for Oudom, one of the students I am partially sponsoring who had returned to his village for a visit after several months.

Immediately following that we headed by boat across the river and got dropped off at SopCham Village where we caught a tractor ride to Pha Yong Village to meet with their chiefs and elders for discussion about their toilet needs and more training. Another positive experience for sure. I found out later that the villagers had actually sent Bounmy's mom for a second reason. It seems that they were afraid that I would head home after Christmas...for what reason I don't know but the thought never crossed my mind. They know I get along very well with the mom, but I treat all the elders of the villages that way....with total respect. Strange isn't it? I have to admit that it was a little tight around the house. My house is a three bedroom and all bedrooms were fully occupied over the New Years period so there were three of us sharing my bed - talk about squishy!!!!

Here is another image of Pha Yong School.