A chance to get out of the big smoke; and into the world of Hmong culture
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| Bel poses with Hmong students and fellow volunteers |
Mr Nii is a teacher from Xaydeth College and he lives a 45
minute tuktuk ride from Luang Prabang in a small village. Mr Nii had converted the downstairs of his
house to a small classroom where he gave English lessons to local children from
his village. He loved to have volunteers visit his village as an opportunity
for his students to practice their English with foreigners as his village did
not receive any tourists.
The first time I went out to the village there were 8
students that were waiting to talk to myself and two other volunteers and the
time passed very quickly. On my second visit I asked Mr Nii if we could spend
half of our one hour visit having a tour of the village given by the students.
I had been told that the village was quite a traditional Hmong village and with
very limited knowledge of Hmong culture I was very keen to learn. As we started
our tour I learnt that the main religion of Hmong people is Animist of which
I’d never heard. Mr Nii gave us a quick overview of their beliefs and then took
us to a Shaman’s house. The Shaman’s house is very traditional with just two
doors and no windows. One door is the welcome door which we used and then the
other door was the spiritual door only used for special occasions. We were then
led through the village towards the market area. On the way we stopped to watch
a local woman cooking the national dish, sticky rice. Once we were at the
markets the kids delighted in trying to teach us what all the different fruit,
vegetable, meat and fish were on offer. There were many things I’d never seen
before on sale in a market one such thing being ant eggs which I’d heard are a
great delicacy. All too quickly the hour was finished and we quickly posed for
photos with the students on their request and said our goodbyes.
The next day I eagerly sat in an internet café to learn more
about Hmong people, Animist and Shamans. I found from talking to students and
locals that even the Theravada Buddhism practiced in Luang Prabang had some
Animist influence. Laos has such an amazing and intriguing history.
By Bel Ross (4 week volunteer in Laos)
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