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The Hill Tribes with Governor Bounsom

Last week was pretty exciting for me. With Huephan Village Water Source construction well under way, I was free to return to the Muang Ngoi District to continue my efforts up there. Once I reached Nong Khiaw, I managed to purchase and transport about 1700 metres of barbed wire fencing to Pha Yong Village. This was to be able to clean up the school yard from grazing water buffalo, pigs and chickens. While there I met with the Mong and Khmu chiefs to discuss plans for the hygienic toilets for the village. We walked through every potential site and fortunately they have lots of land for sceptic fields. I will just be building one bank of toilets this year and see how the villagers maintain it before committing to and adding 10 more banks of toilets throughout the village.

I did the same with Had Chanh Village and while there, took a closer look at their school to see what needed improvements. I finally revisited Done Lom Village to give them an update and see the progress of the land they were to have prepared for the school. I was pleasantly surprised to see the land was ready to begin building. The problem was that I was not! I was still waiting for the final approval stamps which I had been told just needed the chiefs stamp. Deciding to take matters into my own hands, I returned to Nong Khiaw, met with the various Government departments and managed to get approvals for Done Lome before I returned to Luang Prabang.

It was Valentines day and Madame Bountom (the governors wife who is head of the primary school education department) was in Luang Prabang, so the governor had invited me, along with some of his deputies and friends to join him for dinner, followed by a game of Patong. The more drinks I had, the worse I got at Patong and I was the Governor's partner in the game. Okay so I really sucked at it BUT once I stopped drinking and sobered up a bit, I actually did much better.

I also spent a day visiting Khew Khan Village and Huena. These are two villages that had requested schools but none had actually provided a proposal. Still, I knew I wouldn't be back there before I left for Canada so figured I would take a look. Tell me what you think. Do you think they need a new school?

Kew Khan - This one room school is in relatively good shape on the outside. They have asked for a 3 room school with toilets.

Left: Huena Village School - my translator took the picture and I should have had it taken from a different angle. During the rainy season, you can see why there would be no classes held. It would be pretty hard to stay dry with the driving rains and wind. They have asked for a three room school with washrooms and a kindergarten.

I should note here that these two schools are the best you will see.

The following day I headed up with the Governor, his wife, a deputy, a school teacher and my translator to the mountain tribes of Ngoi. Wow, what an experience. I can't say that I have ever been closer to a governor in my life....physcially. There we were four of us squeezed together in the back seat of a pick up truck. the back of it was filled with vegetable and food offerings to the poorer tribes and family of the Governor. We visited 6 villages in one day, namely Phon Kham, Phon Savanh, Ban Phon (The governors home village), Heu Kheun, Lao Souh and Pho Vieng.

Here are some highlites of the trip.

Left: Do you think these guys would stay away from joining us for lunch? No way, despite many attempts at shewing them off.

Right: Main Street in Ban Phon, the Governors home village.

Above: Ban Phon Primary School. There will be at least two more villages moving to Ban Phon, one of them due to the fact that their village will be 35 metres underwater when the Nam Ou, 7 Tier dam gets built. They have asked for a primary school and secondary school.

Upper Left: Amazing scenery in between the mountain villages

Upper Right: Village folk in Ban Phon.

Upper Left: From Left - Deputy Governor, Village Chief (in front), our driver, Governor Bounsom, a teacher from Lao Sou and Director of Primary Schools for Ngoi District Madame Bountom.

Upper Right: An inside look at Ban Phon school

Upper: village kids and some amazing mountain scenery.










Phou Vien Village School - they are asking for 2 more rooms - what they need of course is a 3 room concrete block school.

Upper Left: Phou Vien School with a scenic view

Upper Right: A Cloud of dust followed us wherever we went.

Above: Lao Sou Public School. As you can see,it is falling apart. Note the black goat!

Another view of Lao Sou School.

The visit to the last village was pretty amazing. It was a Mong Village and once they found out that we were there to discuss the provision of a new school, to say that they were pretty happy would be a gross undertatement. We did not have the time to stay for Bacci, but they delivered a live goat to the back of the truck. I definitely should not have looked into its eyes, knowing that we were going to be eating it!

So much for the black goat!!! Why did I have to look into its eyes!

I felt pretty guilty the next morning.....barbecued goat is absolutely mouthwatering, but I kept seeing the big black eyes. I was with many of the Governor's closest aids and friends, a couple of whom spoke English which was a real treat. Mind you the Governor himself is getting pretty good at English too.

After a full meal of the best barbequed (black) goat I ever tasted.

The Governor and myself are at the back - the rest are deputies, close aids and friends.

A last memory of the trip.

Rotarians from Whitby Sunrise Club

I can't believe how fast the time has flown by, with only 6 weeks to go before I head back to Canada. What is worse is that I haven't updated this blog in over a month!

It was only 3 days after Sammy and Kate left, when 7 Rotarian friends from the Whitby Sunrise Club came for a visit. Their adventure started right in the airport. Poor Mark and Leslie! There they were, sitting in the Immigration office looking quite forlorn and trying to use Canadian logic to talk their way out of a $200 fine each for not checking the expiry date on their passport before they left. With some luck I had brought the hotel manager to greet them and with his influence we were able to knock the fine down to a total of $300. Perhaps a minor consolation but better than nothing for sure.

Left to Right: Rotarians (and spouses) Buncha Putchana (president of Bangkok Rotary), me, Leslie Burton, Mark Chipman, Craig Howie, George Punyaprateep, Deborah Murray and husband Robert Ellis.

The picture on the right is Le Belair Hotel Manager Somnuek Bounsa who negotiated a discount for Leslie and Mark.

They were only here 3 full days and I knew that Rotarian George Punyaprateep had taken them on a grueling adventure in Thailand, so I didn't want to overload them with too much.

The first day, I took them to a couple of villages, the main one I wanted to show them was Ban Huephan, where the villagers have been forced to trek kilometres to get water. Fortunately, I had received all necessary approvals the week before to be able to officially announce this and the start of construction to run a new water source to the village from a river located about an hour's trek away. The villagers were waiting for us of course, including the Ou District Governor, with open arms and our Rotarian Guests had their first Bacci experience. For those of you who have not read in my earliest blogs about Bacci, it is quite an extraordinary experience and quite humbling I might add. We are generally treated like their Buddah with prayers to us, lots of chanting, and lots of ritual involving string tied around our wrists as they pray to us. I have really shortened this but if you would like to understand more, please take a look at my earliest blog entries.

Here are a few highlights;

(left) The fellow in the centre is the Governor of Ou District. The district is located North of Luang Prabang.

During Bacci, the Rotarians were watching me very closely to see what I would dare to eat, since the hygienic conditions were non existent.....yet. I can certainly tell you that they ate very lightly and some were quite good at hiding the food handed to them so they didn't have to eat it. We have plans to distribute a water filter system to every family in the village and to teach them about hygiene, but more about that later.

Here are some highlights from Day 2 of their visit and it features the new village of Nong Buekhon whereby 300 families are being moved here from several villages around. The Government has found a sponsor for building two water tanks that have been installed already, and various Taps throughout the new community. They are still seeking sponsors to finish a primary school, secondary school, hygienic toilets and the completion of a road system throughout the village. This is a huge project. With equal personal donations from all of the visiting Whitby Rotarians, we managed to purchase and distribute 200 blankets and mosquito nets to the village, to add to the 180 blankets and mosquito nets I donated along with the owner of Le Belair Hotel a couple of weeks earlier. They are still in need of more so that each family has a blanket and net. I might add that I received a couple of phone calls the following day saying that we were seen on the local TV station.











The fellow on the right is the Governor of Luang Prabang District.





















Below is the District Governor and staff with
the blankets and mosquito nets























The final day was open for everyone to see and feel the heritage city itself. Some went golfing, others went bicycling and we all met up for dinner together that night. I am pretty sure that Laos left some lasting impressions, and they have vowed to help me further our cause here.

Another Round of Lao Lao

My next round of visitors to Laos are close friends of mine - Sammy and Kate. Sammy owns Bualai Taste of Thai Restaurant in Port Hope and Kate works with her. Sammy's restaurant continues to be the busiest restaurant in town and it is no wonder. Reasonable prices, amazing food and a bubbly personality that never forgets a name or a face.

They are just here for a couple of days while they continue their tour in southeast Asia and to Sammy's village, located about 2 1/2 hours south of Udon Thani (the Thai border at Vientiane). I didn't waste anytime in getting them into the villages though. It just happened to be the coldest night of the winter though. The temperature hovered around 12 C. I know it is not like our Canadian winters but certainly uncomfortable with only light jackets.

Rotarian Lisa McCoy had been itching to get into the villages as well, to spec out a possible site location for a 'Muskoka' School that she hopes to raise funds for through the summer months.

So the four of us and an interpreter travelled up to Nong Khiaw, hitched a boat ride to Muang Ngoi and other than a stroll through the village, we just took it easy for the rest of the day. Quite frankly I think we were all happy to go to bed early just to get warm under the covers.

Today though we rented a private boat and headed to Done Lom Village first. I had received their proposal and although incomplete and missing critical information, it had already been approved by the Department of Education. We spoke with the chief to bring him up to date with where we were in the process and hope to begin construction in the next few weeks. I still have to line up the head of construction and get a signature from the Governor but the way has pretty much been cleared for us. We then took a tour of the site for the new school. The area had been cleared by the bomb squad and the trees had been felled but there is still a lot of work to do to prepare the land. They agreed to have a village meeting tonight and everyone will be pitching in to make sure the land is ready in time. Right now is the perfect time because their field work won't begin for another few weeks. After that, most will be out in the fields. Here is a picture of the land for the future school - lots of manual labour to be done yet before construction can begin.

Shortly afterwards we continued up the river to Hat Kham Village. This is the village with no school and they currently have a few tables set up in the village meeting place...a concrete floor, tin roof and low walls - certainly unsuitable during inclemement weather, not to mention that it is borrowed from the government. Some of you will recall from an earlier blog entry that the old school was destroyed by the last rainy season. Here are a couple of more pictures.

This is also the location that I have been wanting to bring Lisa McCoy to. We all got to meet the children, the parents, elders, all of whom got very excited with our visit. In fact they insisted in celebrating Bacci, yes another one.Not exactly one of my more glamorous pictures.....

Lisa is now in her final two days with me and she will be sorely missed. Sharing our stories, someone to bounce ideas off of and someone to share my experiences with. And what a wonderful cook!!!! It is amazing how she can make something out of nothing. It sure is going to be quiet around here, although my real work is just beginning.

Next week we start the water source project in Huep Han village followed immediately by Ban Done Lom with their new school. Quite frankly I am looking forward to getting started on those projects but wish Lisa were staying.

Governors, Officials and a New Village!

Pauline was pretty dissapointed at not being able to join us in our overnight visit to the villages so as soon as I got back I managed to get lucky. We were asked to join Somnuek (The General Manager) and the owner of Le Belair Resort, to visit a new village, along with the Governor of Luang Prabang, the ex governor (who sat behind me!!), the deputy governor and the heads of Education and Water and Hygiene. What a treat!

We had heard of the needs of this new village. The Government is attempting to move over 300 families consisting of Mong and Khmu, although the Mong tribe has declined. Still, about 100 families have made the move and are awaiting for land to be given to them for purposes of farming. They currently have three water tanks with taps coming directly off them although the underground piping has not been completed. Other than that nothing is finished yet. The road is a misery to ride, but they have plans to build a primary school (about 20% finished), secondary school, market, bus stop, and hygienic toilets. Many of these villagers have to travel back to their own farmland up in the hills and down in the valleys until they get new property.

We have been asked to assist of course with a secondary school, and clean water. There is a one room secondary school about 5km further up the road and the local village plans to build one more room each year. Our thought was that if we could provide the travelling students with bicycles, then only one secondary school would be required.

The villagers are extremely poor, some worse that others - most do not have latrines of any kind and just go in the bush. It reminds me of a poster in one of the villages I had seen that shows the Government trying to teach the children from pooping in the middle of the street and directing them to a nearby bush! Hmmm.....enough said.

Pauline and Lisa from A Mine Free World Foundation and Adopt A Village in Laos donated 80 mosquito nets to the poorer villagers, and Le Belair Resort donated 100 blankets.

Here are a few pictures of the memories.

This picture is of the Luang Prabang Governor, Lisa McCoy, the owner of Le Belair and myself being presented with a certificate of thanks for the mosquito nets.















Above - The villagers from Ban Nong Bue Kon patiently awaiting the start of the ceremonies, celebrating their first anniversary of the village. This village is lcoated about 2 hours southwest of Luang Prabang.

Somnuek brought a bag of goodies for many of the kids, ranging from books to clothing in an offering of hope to the new village.

From the left: Somnuek Bounsa, The owner of Le Belair Resort, The Governor of Luang Prabang and me.

This is a makeshift school run from volunteers from Canada who have since departed. If you look closely at the sign sitting on the ground you can make aout the words 'Canada'

On the way back to Luang Prabang Somnuek took us to this small village of Nong Hepe. It was a three room school but in need of some major repairs. The Primary 4 and 5 kids without bicycles need to walk 1 1/2 hours each way to go to primary school. Once that is done they can go to secondary school if they can afford it. There are about 10 kids who cannot afford the 85,000 KIP to go (about $10 US). In the primary school there is no latrine at all.

I will be asking for a proposal for a school latrine and for costs to re-parge the outside of the school - at least it is made with concrete block. For the kids that can't afford to go, I will make sure they are able to go next year and if all goes well, Rotary Wheels for Learning will be able to sponsor bicycles for those that cannot afford them. These will cut the travel time down to 30 minutes each way.
















Other than some translations that need to be done, I am in a bit of a holding pattern for this years projects. Specifically,
1) Huephen Village needing a water source is in the final stages of approval - we should receive the final stamp any day now so we can start on the project.
2) LadThahae Village needing access steps for the school and underground piping to their latrines for the school is revising their proposal - they just elected a new village chief so there is much for him to learn I guess. The revised proposal is expected in about two weeks. Other than the chiefs stamp, nothing else will be required for the project to start.
3) Done Lom School - I received the document back that needs some translation but most of it is what I gave them. The did get a village and a Department of Education stamp but they did not get a Water and Hygiene Stamp - I think they forgot, plus there is no estimated costing. Once I get some crucial diagrams from the Water and Hygiene department expected today or tomorrow, I will rework their proposal and get the final costing done.
4) Hygienic Toilets - I am waiting for the diagrams from the water and hygiene department as mentioned and will hire an official to map out Had Chanh and Pha Yong Village to determine where to put the latrines. Depending on the condition of the diagrams I may be able to start this within a month.
5) Water Filter - final distribution. This will be done immediately following the completion of the new water source in Huephen Village.
6) School Teachers - I find that one of the schools never did get a second teacher so I won't be paying for that and will save it for one of next year's project. Once I am successful in opening a bank account here I will arrange for payment of the teacher in Pha Yong Village.

So there you have it.