Village Leaders, Schools, Kids (& yep more Beer Lao)

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The not so abandoned school

Today we met with the head of village and some members of the village council. We wanted to discuss with some ideas they had for projects within the village. They took us to one of the local primary schools and showed us the general state of disrepair that the buildings are in. The iron roof is rusting badly in a lot of places and leaking during rain. The school office was very ill equipped. The water supply was a small bore or well covered by a piece of corrugated iron. My initial thought was that they were showing us an abandoned school that was no longer in use, but some of the children and adults confirmed that this was indeed a working primary school. You can tell by the pictures that the facilities are basic.

Ting and Tong

After visiting the primary school we went with the village leader to visit a girl we had seen a few days before, Tong and her sister Ting. I had photographed Ting on the day of the village cleanup and then the following day noticed that her sister, Tong had a growth over her left eye and we were curious to know what the background was to this problem.

We had noticed that Ting and Tong had been playing with other children in the street, but the children seemed to be avoiding Tong. We were told that most of the other children did not like playing with her because they were a bit scared of how she looked and some teased her a lot.

When we visited Ting and Tong’s family we found that their main carer was their Grandmother, who looked like she was well into her 80’s. The girl’s mother had died during childbirth and the father was an itinerant farm worker.

After some discussion we decided to see if we could get something done to remove the growth from Tong’s eye. Our first stop was the clinic at the Australian Embassy, where we showed the Doctor some photos of the growth and he gave us the contact details of a local eye clinic. It took a few days to organise transport and get permission from the girl’s father to bring her to the clinic. We managed to get everything organised and our local friend, both girls and the girl’s father came with us to the eye clinic in Vientiane.

After a thorough examination the Doctor told us that the growth was a dermoid cyst and had attached itself to the cornea. It has probably been there since birth and has resulted in some deformity of the eye lid and surrounding area, and the eye is very dry. We think Tong has limited vision from the left eye. The Doctor also thinks that she is deaf in her left ear. He explained that no hospitals in Laos that could do the surgery. He referred us to a hospital In Nong Khai, Thailand that he tough could do the operation.

We are still organising to get the surgery done and have now been referred to a hospital in Udon Thani, Thailand who will need to examine the girl and decide on the next steps. We are still following this up from Australia and hope we can get something done to remove the cyst very soon. From what we have been told so far the Doctors are positive about the likely outcome of the surgery, only time will tell.

Many thanks to those who are helping us with this project - including Sai, my cousin Maxine, and our dear friends Ha and Ly. Also, cheers to my cousin Phil who is in Vientiane now and offering what ever he can do to help. It is really so nice of them to care so much about a girl they have never met to get behind helping her like this.

Cockles and more Beer Lao

Following our visit to the clinic we joined a group of friends for a few beers at a house near the Mekong. The afternoon was so humid that it was a relief to be near the river and it cooled us down a lot. With the beers we also shared some cockles and other freshly cooked snacks, including wok fried kaffir lime leaves, buffalo hide and liver. There were also a lot of fresh fruits to go around as well.

As we enjoyed the food and drinks we reflected on how lucky we are to have been born in such a privileged country. For kids like Tong, who are partly deaf as well as disfigured there is not a lot to look forward to in such a poor country. We are hoping that if the eye is fixed it will give her a better chance at a bright future.

Colouring pencils

During our stay in the village we gave a lot of the children coloured pencils which we had brought with us from Australia. Each pack was just a few dollars, but it was money well spent with the kids having a great time showing off their drawing skills. This is much better than giving them chewing gum or sweets. If you decide to do the same just remember you may have to buy some paper for them also.

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Photos

primary school
some roof sheets need replacing

primary school
basic classroom

primary shool
the office & storeroom

primary school
water supply