Cambodian Landmine Survivor's Successful Bicycle Repair Business

Since Cambodian landmine survivor Nil Noy received his 'A Mine Free World Foundation' bicycle repair business in November 2010, his business has been growing in leaps and bounds. Every time we visit his business we are totally in awe of his ingenuity and enthusiasm. His beaming smile and pride are as big as his determination to lift himself and his family out of a life of poverty. Soon after he received his Rotary Club of Etobicoke sponsored business, he began buying bicycle parts from the few dollars he made and started building bicycles!

Last month, Jay and Linda Harrison of Gravenhurst, Ontario donated a new compressor for his business which enabled him to pump up not only bicycle tires, but also the tires of trucks and tractors in the area.

He saved enough money from his business to enrol himself in a 10-day spray painting course in Battambang. He has just returned from this course and business continues to boom. He now has a yard full of bicycles he has built - he even built one using the wheels of a used broken wheelchair - just an amazing man!

Nil Noy and His Growing Bicycle building/repair Business

Nil Noy will also be 'giving back' by building 3-5 bicycles a year which will be donated to children of landmine affected families.

Nil Noy lives in Koh Krala district in Battambang province, Cambodia. He lost his right leg to a landmine in 1988 while serving in the army.

Nil Noy also saved Pauline and I from a possible snake bite :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8JCB6ifWig

Your donation will help a landmine survivor by supplying him/her with a self-sustainable business. Recipients receive a business which will provide them income in their rural community. Visit our 'To Donate' tab at the top of this page.

Here is another success story:

Plet Hing lives with her 2 daughters in a poor village in Koas Krala district, Battambang province, Cambodia. Thanks to the generosity of A Mine Free World Foundation donor, Morn Mon of United States, Hing now has 13 healthy chickens that will be laying soon.

Part of her donation package included $40 capital to build a chicken coop. But, Hing has no husband or knowledge of how to build a coop - but that did not deter her! She hired a local village man for $10 to build her coop, bought the coop building supplies for $20, and had $10 leftover to buy rice for her family and her chickens.

Plet Hing, Daughterand new Chicken Coop

Where there's a will - there's a way!

Plet Hing is 48 years old and lost her leg to a landmine. Shortly after, her husband left her and the girls to fend for themselves.

When Kog Koum was 9 years-old, he lost his right arm to a landmine. Children in the rural areas of Cambodian playing in the fields often fall victim to these deadly remnants of war.

Thanks to A Mine Free World Foundation Donors: the Etobicoke Rotary Club , who funded Heang Saret's TV/Radio repair business, and Jay and Linda Harrison of Gravenhurst, Ontario, who bought a year's worth of art supplies for the year-long course, Kog Koum now will have the opportunity to learn what he desires most - Art! He will be taught by landmine survivor Heang Saret who not only repairs TVs, but is known as an accomplished artist in his village.

Happy Art Student Kog Koum - Heang Saret Art Teacher looks on
Both Landmine Survivors

Heang Saret and Kog Koum both live in Koas Krala village and know each other. Kog Koum seems an unhappy boy, not being able to fit-in with his peers. He seems uncared for in his small village home - lost amongst his 7 other siblings. But he's a happy young man today, with big smiles and a world of creativity ahead of him. Their artistic relationship will hopefully also result in some positive mentoring for Kog Koum.

Heang Saret lost his right leg to a landmine in 1988 while serving in the army. He and his wife have five children. Their artistic relationship will hopefully also result in some positive mentoring for Kog Koum.
Kog Koum hopes to be able to teach art someday to young children in his village.  We'll have some of their art available for sale to help other landmine survivors in 2012.

The Circle of Giving Keeps Going Around :-)

Lisa and Pauline, Battambang
A Mine Free World Foundation

Help for Landmine Survivors, Round Square Organization Sponsors a Future School-Building Project, Night of A 1000 Chopsticks & more!

 I'd like to begin this latest blog posting with a special announcement about a special school-building project in rural Cambodia:

Round Square Organization roundsquare.org, a world-wide association of more than 80 schools on five continents, will be briging a team of students to Cambodia this December to build a one-room school in rural Takeo province in Cambodia. The project will be conducted through A Mine Free World Foundation in Canada and will result in a second Banyan Learning Tree School built in Cambodia. Banyan Learning Tree is a registered Cambodian organization dedicated to providing free education and support for the impoverished children and people of rural Cambodia.

A team of up to 20 Round Square students from countries around the world will arrive the first week of December and with the help of local builders, construct a one-room, cement free-education school in the village of Trapeang Thum in Takeo Province. They will also get involved in sponsoring and giving out some bicycles to rural area students as well as a many other activities that will allow them to interact with Cambodia's friendly people and experience its unique culture.


An announcement of a special evening in support of A Mine Free World Foundation and its projects to help landmine survivors living in the rural areas of Cambodia:

Night of 1000 Chopsticks

Hosted by the Rotary Club of Etobicoke

Location: Mandarin Restaurant, The Queensway in Etobicoke.

Date / Time: 6:00 PM, Wednesday April 27

Visit the Rotary Club of Etobicoke website for more information.

Cost: $60 with a $35 tax receipt issued. Maximum capacity is 70 people, so register early!

I’ve just returned for another ten days traveling through the villages of Koas Krala district in Battambang province. The Canadian Landmine Foundation and the Rotary Club of Etobicoke have sponsored a total of 31 businesses and vocational courses for landmine-affected families scattered throughout this district. Days are spent visiting these families and seeing how these self-sustainable businesses are slowly improving the quality of their lives.

I am based in Battambang and to get to the villages involves a 50km moto ride there and back on the dry dusty roads of the region. My moto driver is Sopheany from the Cambodian Red Cross and she is a superb driver as most Cambodians are. We’re accompanied by Sida and Deun (also from the Red Cross) on another moto. By the end of our day, we are all covered in red dust , thirsty and tired but always with a heartwarming sense of accomplishment for the help we have been able to provide to a few of the poor in the area.

There have been so many success stories, but here are a few of the highlights:

Thanks to recent A Mine Free World Foundation (AMFWF) donor Morn Mon in United States, landmine survivors Plet Hing and Koun Khan each now have chicken-rearing businesses at their homes. Hing is also busy building a chicken coop which is also supplied with this donation. Khan already has a chicken coop, so will use his capital to buy a pig and  few ducks. $125 can provide a family with up to 13 chickens, baskets, cages and capital to build their own chicken coop. To sponsor a chicken-rearing or another self-sustainable business for a landmine-affected family, please contact us at:
schoolsforcambodia@gmail.com

Khan (with Sopheany)receives 8 chickens and
money to buy a pig and ducks





Hing receives her 2 baskets containing

13 chickens

Banyan Learning Tree School on the outskirts of Phnom Penh now has a collection of close to 100 books and a new wood bookcase – their first Library thanks to donor Robena Kirton of Gravenhurst Ontario. This new library was celebrated along with a distribution of 25 Rotary Wheels for Learning Bicycles on February 22nd. The school had its first international visitors that day: Patti Lee, Barbara Seagram and their Bridge Group from Toronto. We were all delighted with the ‘Reading Frenzy’ that occurred that first time the children saw and read these books.

You can watch a video of the children using the new library at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4i6zGd2JcA

Landmine survivor Heang Saret received support for his TV/Radio repair business from the Rotary Club of Etobicoke. When I visited his small roadside home/repairshop he was busy repairing a TV for a customer- business is good and he makes enough to provide food for the family. His family of five lives in the back portion of the hut and he conducts his repairs in the front. His straw roof and walls were riddled with gaping holes offering absolutely no protection against the elements for his family or business. Sopheany and I researched some costs for new beams, a metal roof and new grass panels for his house.

Thanks to Wendy Inatey from Australia, Saret’s family now has a new home. Sopheany and I purchased all the materials and Saret and his eldest son rebuilt their home. The project took them 11 days, and Saret and his son received the satisfaction of doing the work themselves. This rebuild cost US$130.

Saret's New Home with Metal Roof - $130

Landmine survivor Meum Haeng with a wife and five children live in a small hut that only has 2 walls. His wife received a small business from the Rotary Club of Etobicoke where she sells vegetables from her bicycle with an attached large basket. Haeng and his wife are desperately looking for a sponsor to supply the building materials to give them a metal roof and four new walls. US$180 can give them all the supplies they need and they’ll do all the work themselves.




Meum Haeng and Son



 

 





$180 will put 4 Walls and Metal Roof on Haeng's Home



AMFWF Board Member Pauline Johns and I will soon be heading back into the rural villages of Koas Krala district. We'd love to provide businesses and homes for more landmine-affected families. Landmine casualties are on the rise in Cambodia. I've seen the Cambodian Mine Action Authority CMAC) hard at work in the rural villages in this area, but it will take years and years to remove the estimated five million landmines that plague these rural areas in Cambodia. It does not take much to make a big difference in the life of a rural person.

We have friends Robin and Clair arriving from Australia tomorrow - their first time to Cambodia!  Pauline and I have lots to show them. In a few days the four of us will be heading to Takeo province to vist the 11 rural women participating in the 'Embracelets' program and to see all the beautiful bracelets, necklaces and keychains they've been busy making.  See: http://embraceletsforbooks.blogspot.com/ for more about that exciting project.

More soon in a few days...thanks to everyone for their generous support.

Lisa,

Phnom Penh

Cambodia Landmine Survivor Success Story - A Compressor for Nil Noy's Rural Bicycle Repair Business

Click on the above photo to see a web album of Nil Noy and the compressor he will receive tomorrow.

Ever since landmine survivor Nil Noy received his Rotary Club of Etobicoke sponsored bicycle repair business, he has been going bananas fixing and even building bicycles from scratch! He is a man on a mission to lift his family of 8 out of poverty. He is proud of the bicycles he builds and sells. His home is on a busy road on the way to Koas Krala in Battambang district.

His business will improve vastly now with this brand new compressor which will enable him to not only pump up bicycle tires, but also moto and tractor tires. He will make 200, 500 and 1000 riel respectively for each tire he pumps up for a customer. - A Mine Free World Foundation - dedicated to improve the lives of landmine survivors in Cambodia. Watch his compressor fire up at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-iF5EwreM0

In return for his compressor, Nil Noy will 'pay it forward' buy building 3-5 bicycles a year for children of landmine survivors in his area - enabling them to get to school!

Nil Noy's compressor was loaded onto a moto trailer and will make it's way to Koas Krala tomorrow with a truckload of 70 Rotary Wheels for Learning bicycles. http://rotarywheelsforlearning.blogsot.com/

Donate today to lift a landmine survivor out of poverty - see the 'To Donate' tab at the top of this page.

Watch Nil Noy Smile as Battambang Rotarian Samrithy

fires up his new compressor generously donated by

Jay and Linda Harrison of Gravenhurst, Ontario

Nil Noy Receives Compressor in Koas Krala and is now ready for  lots of business!

Two Days in Koas Krala Villages – Visiting Landmine Survivors and Volunteering for The Cambodian Red Cross

I’ve been two days on the back of a moto (small-engine motorcycle) traveling the bumpy, dust-red backroads of Koas Krala district, Battambang Province, Cambodia. My friend Sopheany from the Cambodian Red Cross has been taking me around to visit all the landmine-affected families that received business and vocational support from the Rotary Club of Etobicoke and the Canadian Landmine Foundation.


Sopheany Chhoeun is 27 years-old and the dedicated District Administrator for the Cambodian Red Cross. Her English skills are being put to the test as we travel together. She is doing very well with simple translating and in the past two days we have visited 16 of the 31 homes that were provided these businesses through A Mine Free World Foundation.

Rien Youm - His Barber Shop & Customer
Funded by the Rotary Club of Etobicoke

Sopheany from the Cambodian Red Cross
Studies Landmine Survivor's Files

 

 

It is a long moto drive to Koas Krala - over one hour- and many of the landmine-affected families live strewn throughout several villages. So, it pretty well means all day on the back of a moto. Of the 12 businesses we saw on Wednesday, 10 were doing very good!

Most of them were chicken-rearing businesses. In November each recipient received chickens and chicken baskets and capital to buy more chickens and build a chicken coop on their property. Well – after 2 months results are astonishing and the chicken numbers have multiplied rapidly! One man has 46 chickens now, many chicks and ducks also! Another man has 14 chickens, many chicks and a PIG!

Son Sang-Chicken Rearing Business & Chicken House
Funded by the Canadian Landmine Foundation

 

Vun Therm-Chickens and Chicken House
Funded by the Canadian Landmine Foundation



 

One amputee who got a chicken business used his extra capital to buy 8 ducks and he has 68 duck eggs being incubated and 7 chickens now and is in the process repairing his chicken house. Another Chicken business recipient also has duck eggs about to hatch. Seems all our chicken businesses have a duck sideline!!!! Another chicken business that we visited has over 30 chickens now.

Khom Kam-8 Ducks, 7 Chickens, 68 Duck eggs to hatch, Repairs to Chicken House
Funded by the Canadian Landmine Foundation

Two of the chicken recipients are elderly men, one lost a leg to a landmine - the other has a fractured hip and internal injuries due to a landmine. These 2 old men have actually bonded with their chickens. They actually love them. I hope they both realize they will have to sell them eventually...actually, they have been...but I never realized that many of the recipients treat their chickens with such warmth, care and love. Also was wonderful to see all the grown chickens nesting in their cardboard boxes or whatever is on hand to make a makeshift nesting box with.

Comfy inside the new Chicken House

You can provide a village level chicken-rearing business to a landmine-affected family with a US$125 donation to A Mine Free World Foundation. Each donor is provided with a photo and information of their sponsored family. See our ‘To Donate’ page- tab at the top of this page.


A Mine Free World Foundation provides numerous village-level businesses to landmine survivors:


The one barber business we visited needs a new clipper - I will have to get him one, his business will pick up again then. The other barber recipient had a customer in the chair when I arrived. He cuts people's hair in his wheelchair. His business is doing well.


One small shop business recipient has changed his business to an EEL Farming business - they are building a small, square cement swimming pool!!!! That is great! This is also a very lucrative village level business.


That said, Sopheany and I discovered that we both like to eat eel, so we decided to have lunch in a very nice restaurant in Koas Krala...we ate fried eel, and 2 plates of chicken and vegetables, plus Coca Cola and the tab was only $3.50!!!!!!


We had a lot of fun - Sida (Red Cross volunteer) came along also. We find one big problem with many of the poorest landmine victims. Many landmine survivors don’t own the land or hut they live in. Their homes are falling apart with huge holes in the grass walls and roofs. I would love to be able to fix up their homes, but if you make them too nice, the owners may take their house and land back – big problem. One solution is to fix up their home with perhaps a few pieces of metal sheeting and patch up the grass walls – just enough to keep the family dry.



Help Repair the Heang Family Roof!



Heang Saret's TV/Radio Repair Shop
Funded by Etobicoke Rotary Club



One wonderful family – a landmine survivor who runs a TV and radio repair business is a hard worker and good father with a loving wife and five children. Big holes in their roof...his shop get wets when it rains ...all over the electronics, which they have to cover quickly with tarps....the one small room where they all live in gets wet, but he does not own the land or the hut. He had customers at his shop and his business is doing great. Perhaps some metal sheeting for his roof will keep his family and business dry. If you would like to donate to this specific need, please contact me at: http://schoolsforcambodia@gmail.com


....Oh Yes! - These were all surprise business inspections. The recipients had no idea thatwe were coming. They were all (except for an absent carpenter recipient) happy to see us again and proudly showed off their businesses.


One of our landmine victims has died since his family was given a small shop business. The old widow now runs the small food shop business and is very proud of it. This business has also given her otherwise lonely life some socializing when people come to buy small goods from her.

Hor Veourn's Widow- Proud of her new Village shop
Funded by the Canadian Landmine Foundation

Anyway, from what I have seen these past couple of days, the chicken rearing businesses are a huge success - these are huge chickens - no disease problems either. People with these businesses, sell the chickens and ducks from their homes to nearby villagers to bring in money as needed. Many of the chicken recipients still seek out extra outside employment as it pops up. They also eat the chickens themselves too. But, I was really amazed at how fast they grow and have chicks of their own.


A Mine Free World Foundation donor, Morn Mon, has supplied 2 more chicken businesses for 2 more on our list of identified 51 Koas Krala landmine families - Plet Hing and Khoun Kam. They will get their chickens on Feb 6 at the Rotary Wheels for Learning bicycle distribution. We’ll be giving out 70 bicycles to needy area children who lack this vital transportation.




Yesterday, it was back to Koas Krala for more 'business inspections':


Cambodia is so interesting when you allow the Khmer people to take you places, and you have no idea where you are being taken to:


Today, I arrived in Koas Krala, caked in red dirt from being on the moto for over an hour (normal - from the roads, especially now in the dry season) Sopheany drives me to the Koas Krala District Governor's office, because she thought it would be "nice for me to meet him" , even though he does not understand English...anyway, it turned out to be a pleasant meeting with the Governor, who even offered me a room with bath at the office to stay in if ever I should need one. (maybe he saw how dirty I was :-)


After that, again - having no idea where I was being taken, Sopheany drives me for another 45 minutes on bumpy roads to a poor, poor village, where a whole bunch of food has just arrived - I ended up volunteering all morning giving out food for the Red Cross (I guess the Cambodian Red Cross has been helping out Rotary so much, so it's time for me to help them out a little :-)....it was truly a fantastic experience....the food program they have directly gets the food to the very poor!!!....a donor can provide a box of food staples for a family for $12/month. Contact me if you would like to support this food program for the many landmine-affected families in Koas Krala.


Cambodian Red Cross prepares food for distribution



They also provide enough seeds for garden for a family for $25!!!! I told Sopheany that I would try to find her more funding for this and the food program...she says she has so many more poor that she just does not have funding for. One of our landmine victims who got chickens also got seeds for his whole garden that he had just tilled by hand. He was so, so proud to show me his fantastic chickens...his new coop and his garden ready to be seeded.


After that, we visited 4 more landmine survivors who received businesses, lunch and then THREE of us (Red Cross volunteer Mr. Loeung drove)went on the moto,( because roads were so bad and Sopheany was too scared to drive), to her parent's place, where we spent the rest of the afternoon eating pineapples from her father's garden and then back to Battambang - filthy as usual, bones hurting from the moto, but with three lovely pineapples and and feeling wonderful of the many cherished village visits here so far.

To view more photos from the past two village days CLICK HERE

A Future 'Muskoka School' in Remote Laos

The children in the remote village of Hat Kham in northern Laung Prabang province have lost their only small bamboo-structure school to monsoon rains and wind. . They are in dire need of a cement two-room primary school that will teach grades one to three. US$10,000 will build this school equipped with desks, fencing, blackboard and teacher.

The building site has been cleared of landmines. This is important, as in Laos there is a landmine casualty everday.

Your garage sale donations and monetary donations can help build this school and provide valuable education for these remote children! This summer, A Mine Free World Foundation will focus their annual Gaint Garage Sale on raising funds for a Muskoka School in Laos!

Call 705-687-8538 to donate. Email: schoolsforcambodia@gmail.com . Donations accepted by A Mine Free World Foundation for this Adopt a Village in Laos project. For examples of government standard schools visit Steve's blog at: http://adoptavillageinlaos.blogspot.com/

To make your donation by mail, please click on the 'To Donate' tab at the top of this page. Please write 'Muskoka School' in the memo field of your cheque.

Donors who wish, will have their name, or company name listed on the official 'Muskoka School' sign, which will hang proudly on the school's facade.

Muskoka has provided a school in rural Cambodia and has given the children at this school shoes, school uniforms and 100 bicycles.

Steve Rutledge, Ontario friends Kate Mills, Sammy Minc and I have just come back from our visit to this village.  Getting to Hat Kham involes a three hour journey on winding mountain roads to the Nam Ou river docks at Nong Khiaw. Then, it's an hour and a half journey by boat north to the small village of Hat Kham.

Hat Kham is a small isolated village comprised of 53 families.  Total population around 491. In Laos, villages are a tight-knit community with huts in close proximity of each other. When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by village people and children.  Steve Rutledge from Adopt a village in Laos had been here before, so there was a lot of excitement surrounding his arrival.

We were invited to the village chief's house to meet with all the village elders where Steve introduced us and discussed future school-building, water and hygienic toilet projects.


Inside Village Chief's House with Elders

Upon leaving the chief's house, we had a chance to give out bags of crackers that we had brought along for the children.

Then , we were taken to the proposed building site for the school. Nearby, was the village's community hall, where the children are presently attending school.  It is an open building - not suitable as a school, and oftentimes the building is used for village council meetings.

Aterwards, there was a chance for some fun and games with the children - as you'll see in the video below!



The children then led us through the village, back to the chief's house, where a fresh fish and other delicacies were cooked up for us. We took part in another Bacci Ceremony - cotten strings accompanied by verbal blessings were attached to our wrists.

 

There is no end to the kindness villagers express to visitors.

 View the full photo album of our trip to Hat Kham and the future Muskoka School site: CLICK HERE

Muskoka -Let's help another developing country and provide vital education to remote children.

Cluster Munitions and Bombs - Laos' Deadly UXO

The other day, Steve Rutledge and I had the opportunity to visit the UXO LAO Visitor Centre here in Luang Prabang, Laos.

We were saddened to learn that Laos is recognized as being the world’s most heavily bombed and cluster munitions affected nation on the earth.

The Laos government recognizes this serious problem and the challenge it poses to the safety and development of their country.


At the Visitor Centre, there is a very informative display and video presentation that really gives one a clear picture of the impact of UXOs (unexploded ordnance – bombs, landmines, shells, grenades, etc) in the developing country of Laos.

30% of Laos’ population of 6.8 million lives below the poverty level with 43% of those living in the rural areas. The presence of dangerous UXO directly impacts those at the bottom of the poverty scale who depend on the land to survive.


According to the Lao National UXO Programme ( http://www.uxolao.org/ ), over 2 million tons of explosive ordnance was dropped over Lao from 1964 to 1973 based on US bombing records.


The site goes on to state that more than 580,000 bombing missions flew over Lao during those years dropping more than 270 million cluster munitions. 30% of these have failed to explode – 80,000,000!


A cluster munition, or cluster bomb, is an air-launched or ground-dropped explosive weapon that ejects smaller submunitions: a cluster of bomblets!

Since 1973, there have been 12,000 recorded UXO-related accidents in Laos. Data indicates that over 50% of the victims are children who find the ‘Bombies’ an attractive play toy to toss back and forth.


The Larger bombs and rockets will bring in a small sum of ‘Kip’ (local currency) in the scrap metal trade, so people and children will risk their lives to unearth them.


In Cambodia, the countryside is plagued with anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. Here in Laos, it is these cluster munitions, or ‘Bombies’ which litter the countryside and cause food shortages because their presence limits agricultural production, resulting in villagers unable to conduct sustainable livelihoods.


School-building projects, road building and tourism are all affected by these deadly remnants of war.


For Laos, as many-other mine-affected countries around the world, it will take endless decades of demining to recover from the tragedy of war.

More Village Visits in Laos!

We've taken a few days to rest and recuperate from a few minor ailments here at Steve's house in Luang Prabang - so a good time to try and catch up on the numerous village trips Steve has taken us on.

It was amazing to see the two schools Adopt a Village in Laos has built in Had Chan and Pha Yong villages. Click here to see Steve Rutledge's blog: Adopt a Village in Laos

Adopt a Village in Laos has provided water filters for every village home and has plans underway to install hygienic toilets throughout both villages. Here are three photos from Pha Yong:

  



The trip from Luang Prabang to Had Chan and Pha Yong villages is one of the most scenic I have ever experienced.  We left Luang Prabang by van early in the morning to arrive at the Nong Khiaw boat docks 2 hours later. The 40-minute boat ride up the river Ou was filled with breathtaking scenes and areas which took us through small rapids.

Below is a photo of the Nong Khiaw boat docks:

We spent the first night in the village of Had Chan and on the second morning we took the boat to Soupkhan village from which we hopped on a tractor taxi for the hour-long, bumpy trip through the hills to Pha Yong. Below is a taste of some of the astounding scenery along the way.

To give you an idea of the area we covered, below is a map of Luang Prabang province showing the Road 13 route from Luang Prabang to Pak Mong and Road 1 to the docks at Nong Khiaw. The area in the square indicates the village areas along the Ou river (but you won't find many small villages like Had Chan or Pha Yong named on any map!)

We spent Khmu New Year in the Khmu village of Had Chan. Here I had my first Bacci Ceremony experience. This ceremony is held for many occasions - births, deaths, special village guests, etc. - when we arrived in Had Chan, they were just about to start. This Bacci ceremony was being held outside under a makeshift awning. Food was laid out on a low, round table with guests and village elders sitting on mats around the table.  As part of the ceremony, white cotten bracelets are tied around each other's wrists with an accompanying Buddhist blessing. Food, music, dance and Lao-Lao follow. Here are photos of Steve and I at the Bacci Ceremony.

That was the pleasure part of our villages escapades - now on to the projects!

Steve has a wonderful rapport with villagers everywhere. His easygoing manner wins over everyone in the villages and they know from past experience that he is there to make a positive improvement in the quality of their lives and their village.

He may venture into a village with a water or school-building project, but it never ends there - he truly does 'adopt' a village, and revisits it to monitor and evaluate existing projects and then implements the next step toward improvement. These two villages had schools built by Adopt a Village in Laos. Steve was now back to show these villages the benefits of hygienic toilets and to start the process of implementing a project that would provide both Had Chan and Pha Yong villages with such toilets.

I'm watching Steve's every move  - it will be wonderful to bring this knowledge of hygienic toilet systems back to the rural areas of Cambodia!

Had Chan Village - Steve Discusses Hygienic Toilets with Villagers


I had a great time in Had Chan village. We slept comfortably at Oudom's family home in the village. Everywhere we went we were offered big meals which included village delicacies such as water buffalo meat, dried seaweed, sticky rice, chicken and all the local Lao fare. It is customary for people to eat from communal bowls using their hands.

A few days ago, Pauline Johns, Steve and I went with our Lao friend Somnuek to visit another village area - a 'New Village'. 

Ban Nong Buekhon - name of the new village - is comprised of four relocated villages. The people were moved for developmental reasons. This new area will give these people better future access to education and transportation. 330 families had been relocated to this area with an anticipated total of 375 families once all have been relocated.

Throughout the 48 hectares of this new village, families were busy rebuilding their homes and starting anew alongside the Mekong river. There are many future needs for this village which include a secondary school, clean water sources and bicycles for these children and the children in the nearby village 5km away.

Much to my surprise our convoy to this New Village was accompanied by the Governor, Deputy Governor, Minister of Agriculture and other officials from Luang Prabang Province. Our truck was filled with 80 mosquito nets and 100 blankets which were presented to the villagers in a special ceremony. The Governor presented the four of us with framed certificates thanking us for our kind donation.

Pauline, Lisa, Governor of Luang Prabang Province, Owner of Bel Air Resort, Steve

All these trips to villages and seeing the need for schools has got me really inspired to get a small A Mine Free World Foundation supported 'Muskoka School' project going in one of the Adopt a Village in Laos targeted villages. Once we all get over our colds, we'll be heading back to more villages in the northern part of the province.

On the way back from Ban Nong Buekhon we made a final stop at the village of Nong Hepe where we came along some students walking home from secondary school. Each day these students spend 3 hours walking to and from school. As in Cambodia, many families can't afford the cost of a bicycle for their children, let alone the secondary school enrolment cost of over $10/year. As in most developing countries, bicycles provide this vital link to transportation for education.

Nong Hepe Village Boys who walk 5km Each Way to Attend School

Off the Plane and Into Northern Laos Villages

It's been four years since my last visit to Laos, and I must say I have been eager to get back ever since...and thanks to Steve Rutlege, a fellow-Rotarian from Ontario - there are reasons to be back here that can get some beneficial projects going for the small villages in the remote Northern hill villages of Laos!

Before you read on - check out Steve's Blog at: http://adoptavillageinlaos.blogspot.com/

Adopt a Village in Laos is a non-profit Canadian organization building wonderful schools and providing vital clean water to these small remote villages. We'll be seeing many of these projects and intended future projects - one of them being a VERY exciting prospect - A Muskoka School site in the village of Hat Kham, by the Ou river near the northern boundry line between Phongsali and Luang Prabang provinces. More on that project in future postings.

Pauline Johns and I spent a very special Christmas Day. We took a flight to Luang Prabang which saw us arrive there at 6pm. We were met by Steve and Mike and a host of friendly Laos friends who wisked us away to Steve's lovely house (The 'Hilton' compared to some of the villages we stayed at in Cambodia)here in Luang Prabang.

After a toast to the season, it was time to enjoy a restaurant celebatory meal. We all caught up on projects at hand in Laos and Cambodia, and it was about midnight until my mind settled down enough to sleep...I was just so wound up with all the plans ahead that could transpire into such meaningful projects for the children here.

Next morning, Steve had the day planned with our first trips into the villages. Laos has got to be one of the most beautiful countries on earth - these hills in the north are lush, water is abundant, and a climate that is much more bearable than Cambodia.

Rich in beauty, but unfortunately that's where the weath ends. Laos is a struggling developing country seeing far less organizations at work in the rural areas than it's surrounding countries. There is a serious lack of schools and many that are operating are unsafe for the children attending.

Our first visit was to Xieng Nguen District School. Over 1300 students attend there 3 wooden structures that have main beams so badly infested with termites, it will soon pose a danger to the students attending. Four of the classrooms have been 'added on' under the floor beams resulting in 4 dungeon classrooms where children can barely see the blackboard at the front of the school. Steve's got a great plan that will save these students from there presently over-crowded, unsafe classrooms.

Next, it was off to Na Dad village where Steve is investigating a possible solution for a clean water source for the families there. At the top of the mountain, water flows down the mountain into a generating station and then continues into a river which flows through small villages alongside the water. Halfway down the river, there is a pig farm! Every bacteria you can think of from that pig farm is flowing down that river and is the water source for the people living alongside!

Some of the villagers have dug rusty steel wells right beside the river. We suppose that they think that that is a clean source of water, but it really is only the same river water that is a few feet away!

Last stop of the day has been recorded on video, which I'll have linked up to this site soon. A visit to a thoroughly neglected district clinic.

Many challenges, most that can be solved through the provision of education, schools and provision of clean water.

So many children here need bicycles to get to school. Steve and I will be investigating the logistics to provide some future Rotary Wheels for Learning bicycles to the rural children here.

A Mine Free World Foundation Board Members, Pauline and I are here to also investigate the needs of landmine victims here. There is apparently a whole village of landmine survivors living together that we'll be visiting.

We are off to more nearby villages tomorrow, and then after that we'll be making a 3-day trek by land, water and foot into some more remote areas up the Ou river.