Well it was another memorable trip into Laos this year. Actually it was my fourth visit for the Lotus Educational Fund Ltd. This group was formed by a group of generous friends back home in Australia in 2008 to provide opportunities for ethnic Laotian girls in Southern Laos. After returning from a trip to Laos I was dismayed at the lack of opportunities for educational girls in rural areas to attend school. As the families give priority to boys, upon learning that it only cost around $12.00 US to register the girls for school, I arranged a dinner party back home where the guests opened their hearts and wallets and we were able to begin the Lotus fund and register 44 girls for school. The project was registered with the government, a committee was formed and fundraising began. At times it was hard to relay the reality of the situation to friends in Australia but the Lotus group shared the story through their hearts through the many pictures captured on my trips to Laos. This year I bravely purchased a video camera with the aim of producing a video capturing interviews and the many memorable moments from my trip.
The generosity of the Australian community for their Asian neighbor was also evident through the continued support of the St Therese's school community. The members of whom have tirelessly raised funds for the past 4 years, holding fantastic art exhibitions focusing on "Girls Education".
It is always a humbling experience to visit the Lotus girls in Savannhket and distribute the yearly funds which provide support for registration, uniforms, books and this year bicycles. Each year I visit the same market stalls to purchase the required supplies at a discounted price and I am always greeted with the same warm Lao greeting "sabai dee" (hello) and " kop chai" (thank you) for helping the girls in Laos.
The girls are always quietly appreciative (as is the Lao way) of the donations provided and they are always enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue their education for the coming school year.The smiling faces of the 44 girls tell many stories. If the girls did not attend school their days would be spent working in the paddi fields from dawn to midday helping their mothers to provide income for the families.
Irrespective of the weather conditions, last year it was 40 degrees, this year it was an unexpected 13 degrees the girls all walk varying distances to attend the official registration day. What a sight to see families proudly walking from different directions across the grassy fields unsure of what awaits! At first the girls viewed me with slight suspicion as perhaps I was the first foreigner to grace their lives or village. But each year, suspicion has changed to acceptance, wide smiles and even giggles.
As the girls enter the school building many girls are wearing their uniforms proudly, the national navy sinh skirt, a white blouse and flip flops. determining sizes is always a challenging experience and this year we decided to have a measurement day so that the girls had uniforms that fitted properly and did not require hitching up or doubling over.
The girls are currently completing Grade 3 at 5 different schools surrounding the village of 35 kms. Next year is a big year as they will all be attending the primary school. With the generous donation of funds from the students of St Theresa's Primary School, New Lambton, Australia, the girls will now have bicycles to travel the necessary 3kms to attend school. This year it was my pleasure to deliver letter from the students to the Lotus girls. Dr Phoudalay spent many hours translating the letters into Lao and then the girls replied in Lao after which Dr Phoudalay and myself worked at translating the decorated letters form Lao to English. The girls really appreciated their letters as they are aware of the generous fundraising efforts by students in Australia in providing educational opportunities and bicycles that might otherwise not be available.
Dr Phoudalay Lathvilavong is our honorary president overseeing the in-country operation of our project. Dr Phoudalay visits the girls weekly to address any problems and maintain communication links with the parents, students and teachers so that the project runs smoothly. The village chief was there to greet us and express his gratitude for the project. The Laotian community put on a very welcoming ceremony, we left with our arms encased in 30 wristband to ward off evil spirits and enjoyed a lunch of smoked chicken toasted with local brewed rice wine. Small offerings given from big warm hearts.
The girls attend school from 7am until 4pm and are very diligent with their studies. The curriculum covers Geography, Math and Lao. The girls are hopeful that financial support will continue through their high school years and then scholarships made available for university particularly in the field of agriculture. It is called the ripple effect and that is why we have decided to stay a small project so that we can provided sustainability through education to the lives of a small group of girls in an area of Asia where this opportunity may not be otherwise provided.
The name "Lotus" was chosen because beautiful things grow even in difficult/challenging situations. This project would not have been possible without the generous support of many friends and students in Australia and Japan. So thank you everyone as you have made a visible difference to the lives of girls in Southern Laos, may the ripple effect flow on.
Thank you from the Lotus girls 2011
