GVI Laos programme

Ex-Volunteer reminisces about his time with GVI at Wat Na Xang

2012-02-26T22:50:00.002-08:00

Byron Bay artist Doug King has now returned from twelveweeks in S E Asia, including
eight weeks in Luang Prabang, Laos, as a volunteer English teacher with GlobalVision International (GVI).

Doug, under the guidance of GVI, was able to fulfil a dream, working from theearly days to set up an English school in the Buddhist temple, Wat Naxang,Sarayama. When we started in this temple, there were eight novicemonks and eight village children keen to learn but no desks or chairs so schoolwork was done seated on the floor with some of the younger students (six yearsold) wrestling or falling asleep.

Two weeks into my stay, Novice Wonsai was admitted to hospital for 2 weeks withdengue fever.
This was a difficult time as he was our Lao interpreter: classes were kept verysimple – ABC, colours, shapes and songs (‘hokey pokey’ was a stand out). By the time Novice Wonsai returned, the classhad grown to twenty four, with ages ranging from six years to twenty.

I met with the program manager of GVI Laos, Tricia Feeney and suggested wesplit the class in two, Elementary and Beginners; some of the students wereadvancing at a great rate. Tricia andNovice Wonsai arranged a program with two classes. By this time, Novice Wonsai had acquired somedesks and chairs (in very bad repair) but this took the standard of educationto another level.

Things were going well until Novice Wonsai’s Chinese language lessons clashedwith our English classes: a very tough week without an interpreter. After discussing the difficulties of nothaving an interpreter with Novice Wonsai, he readily agreed to rearrange hisstudies (thirteen subjects), to work in with our English classes.

Doug with teacher Novice Wonxai and students in Elementary class

After eight weeks, the school had grown from a single classof fourteen/ sixteen students to two classes and a total of forty eightstudents. Doug got a local carpenter tomake up a cabinet and shelving and an instant library with twenty booksappeared: our students, particularly the younger ones, were so excited!

This eight week teaching program was probably the most rewarding experience Ihave ever had.
I was lucky enough to be totally accepted by the temple and on two occasionsprepared meals for the Novices and Monks: Cooking Skills courtesy of LiberationLarder Byron Bay – thanks to Honu Dawson and all the helpers who have been myteachers.

During a Friday night revision class of the week’s lessons,I noticed a new Novice and every time I put a question to the novices, he woulddisappear behind a post or a person. Ithought, “This is a challenge – I’ll get him up to the white board before theend of the class.” So I did, giving himnot one, but three questions to answer. Ashe very slowly walked to the front of the class, there was tremendous laughterand cheering from the other students: it took him ten to fifteen minutes toanswer with much prompting and laughter from the class.

Afterwards Novice Wonsai walked over to me with the biggest smile: “Doug do youknow this Monk?” ”No” I replied. ”He is the Abbott of the Temple!” A most senior and respected man, the Abbottjust looked at me and smiled.

My colleague and friend, Novice Wonsai, who started the school and thenapproached Tricia and
GVI for support, is the most amazing , humble and compassionate person I havemet. I thought this lovely man was inhis twenties and it wasn’t until my last week that Tricia told me thisremarkable person was nineteen! At thetime, tears filled my eyes and even now, several weeks later, when I think backmy eyes still fill: Novice Wonsai – what an amazing human being!

By the way, the Abbott is only early twenties!

Congratulations, GVI, for a wonderful program that I will continue to support.

Footnotes: * NoviceWonsai’s 2 weeks hospital expenses were met by GVI.

* Wat Na Xang now has 3 classes –Young Children doing play-based learning, a beginner children’s class and theNovices and older elementary learners. GVI teach in the community hall and temple 5 times a week with thesupport of the community of Ban Na Xang.

* GVIhas now sponsored the purchase of brand new tables and chairs!

Doug King – Byron Bay

Village Trip

2012-02-21T01:05:00.001-08:00

In my experience being a part of the children’s program, Ihad the opportunity to teach at Ban LukSip village. There were about 40 kids there at the village on Saturday,with three volunteers. At first I was feeling very, very nervous about teachinga class on my own... however that feeling soon left as I met and startedteaching the students.

The students in my class were very enthusiastic and excitedto participate in class activities. Yet at times students tended to walk out ofclass! With the class, I played race type activities which the students seemedto enjoy greatly. But it can get very chaotic and loud at times.

After the class was over, students had some time to playgames and do puzzles. At this time we had the chance to talk, sit and play withthe students from the village. Thisexperience was something to remember. It was one of the opportunities from mytime in this program, to experience such a wonderful, exciting and fun timeteaching!

Worse ways to spend a day!

2012-02-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

View from the boat on the Mekong

I think one main reason people choose to volunteer rather than visit a place asa tourist, is to scratch beneath the surface of a place; get to know thelocals, do the things locals do, get access to a richer cultural experience,and so on.

So it was a real treat to be able to take a group of 6volunteers out with 3 of our Lao teaching partners for a day to Kuang Si Waterfall – a stunningNational Park and one of Luang Prabangdistrict’s top must-do’s.

Sai on the river cruise

The group met up in the morning with our 3 Lao guests andwalked from the guest house down to the river, stopping enroute at the marketto pick up picnic supplies for our day trip. GVI staffer Sam sent everyone of into the market to buy some provisions,but secretly knew that the best selections would come from the Lao groupmembers! Volunteers picked up somedelicious tropical fruits, some jeowbong (a tasty and spicy chilli dip), driedlegumes (which proved to be a hit), baguettes and a couple of things whichrequired cooking prior to eating! Oops!

Our Lao friends bought grilled whole fish stuffed with lemongrass, some chunks of grilled pork and chicken, jeow mak kheua (eggplant dip)and of course sticky rice.

So off we headed to the banks of the Mekong where theboatmen hang out waiting for the tourist trade to walk by. Sam had done some pre-negotiations and had a pricein mind. Negotiations were akin to acircus show; a big crowd of locals gathered to witness proceedings and therewere dramatics and jeering to accompany with the repartee. Explanations and bargaining was done almostexclusively in Lao (thanks to teacher Xay and Sai for intermittenttranslations) and Sam countering with prices previously quoted and reasonablefor everyone. In the end we got afantastic price for the cost of the boat down the river and back, as well asthe tuk tuk from the river to the falls...everyone was happy!

Riding on the back of a truck

We all piled in and enjoyed the stunning scenery along Laos’mighty Mekong River for our 1.5hr cruise to the village offering access. Then we jumped into the back of a pick uptruck and headed 10km to the waterfalls. It was also scenic and the rural landscape offered the perfect getawayfrom the city – wind in our hair and sun on our faces! By the time we arrived we were all hot andready for a swim, but upon entering the Park you notice the drop in temperatureamongst the lush rainforest foliage, alongside the beautiful cascading fallsthat make up Tad Kuang Si.

The group settled on a spot, bagged a table and chairs and tuckedin to our delicious and eclectic lunch (the grilled fish and sticky rice beinga popular fave!), and jumped in for a swim. Well, some of us jumped in or bomb-dived and others took a little morecoaxing and, finally, gently eased themselves into the cool, refreshing, clear bluewaters of the limestone pools.

Some volunteers and teachers opted to take the walk to thetop of the falls, others headed to sunnier spots for some sun-worshipping andothers took to the large tourist-filled swimming area complete with ropeswing!

Peng teaches us about Buddhist murals

After a few hours we packed up and headed back past the bear rescue sanctuary, back onto ourpick up and back to the village. Thistime we opted to visit the lovely temple grounds whereby teacher Peng explainedthe Buddhist story of the murals adorning the temple façade. Back into our boat and a longer journey backupstream – the water levels so low at this time of year, navigation is mademore difficult by the varying depths and the skill and experience of the boatmanis imperative.

Arriving back in to town, weary and happy, we headed backhome for an ice cold Beer Lao (or tea and cake for the Brits!) and sharing ourstories with the other volunteers who had enjoyed an adventure of their own - kayakingon the Nam Ou.

Now that’s what weekends are all about!

Exam Week – GVI Laos = revolutionaries!

2012-02-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

I was extremely proud and beaming from ear to ear thismorning upon entering the Year 2 Interchange Exam at Xayadeth College. This week is exam week – and it has been stressfuland a lot of hard work for everyone!

GVI Volunteers have been incredible troopers; writing semesterfinal exam papers for classes they’ve been teaching for 2 weeks, vigilating theexams in a country where copying, talking, and sharing of answers (read:outright cheating with no shame or attempt to be discreet) and even teacherbribery are all par for the course, and marking hundreds of tests to record thescores. Woah! What a big job!

So, back to the reason I was so impressed and well pleasedthis morning....the students were SILENT! And diligent! And not copying orany kind of cheating! Just concentratingon their own papers and recalling the semester’s work and their revision (andmaybe, just maybe their own home study!).

It was a great moment and I think all GVI volunteers andstaff, as well as the students and school should be proud to be part of amassive cultural shift which will hopefully begin to become the norm. Having western standard exam conditions willinevitably raise the quality of testing, the reliability of the scoring and onewould hope the quality of the teaching and learning. It seems so foreign and inconceivable toimagine that the entire education system consists of this vicious cycle of poorteaching, low quality testing and students who are so accustomed to this thatthey know they don’t need to actually study to pass. Let’s see how things will change over thecoming decade! Exciting to be a part ofthe revolution :)

Progress Update

2012-02-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

The projects in Luang Prabang are very dynamic and we takeour feedback seriously. We’re alwayslooking at ways to improve or what can be added to the project to boost theamazing experiences our volunteers can enjoy. Here’s a re-cap of some of what’s going on lately in LPB:

Kids enjoying play-based learning

This week will see us commence teaching once aweek at an adorable village school outside Luang Prabang called Kok Nguu. These kids range from pre-school age, givingus the chance to do play-based learning, through the 5 primary years. We’re honoured to be invited into thisgovernment school for the first time and provide the English education theywouldn’t otherwise receive!

The new volunteers starting this week are thefirst to have received our new Welcome Pack emailed to them prior toarrival. This booklet is packed full ofinfo and gives volunteers a chance to learn all about the project, our schoolsand students, protocols working with Novices, a rough idea of the schedule etcBEFORE they touch down in Laos. Armedand ready with info will go a long way to smoothing the first week.

Lao teacher Xay teaches volunteers some basics

The social side and extra activities is alwaysfluid but GVI volunteers continue to enjoy optional Lao language lessons weeklywith a local teacher to get more out of their time and help them understandwhere their students are coming from. And talk about humbling! To be onthe other side of the desk as a student yourself is a great way to have somecompassion for your learners.

A dinnerwas arranged on both Saturday and Sunday night to help the new volunteerssettle in with the continuing ones and also try some local cuisine with arecommendation from field staff. Yum!

Volunteers having some powerpoint training on Lesson Planning

Finally, the training GVI staff provide tovolunteers in their first week continues to evolve and improve and nowvolunteer teachers receive 5 hours of comprehensive training in addition to oneor two Observation/Demonstration Lessons with reflection sessions from anexperiences teacher.

So all in all, it’s onwards and upwards for GVI Laos. Always changing, often challenging andstriving to be a life-changing experience for everyone – students, Lao teachersand of course our valuable volunteers – we love what we do!

Games Night...woo hoo!!

2012-01-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

Everybody loves Twister!

When volunteer Pauline brought a Twister board with her as adonation to Laos, GVI staff jumped on the chance to host a games night forvolunteers and friends of GVI. FieldStaff Sam reserved the deck at Utopia for volunteers (a VIP Bookingapparently!) and set up Games Stations for everyone to enjoy. We kicked off with a hilarious game of Twister(well away from the edge of the deck – H&S a priority afterall and a falloff the side into the Nam Khan River not good!), then moving on to CelebrityHead, Dirty Chinese Whispers, Giant Jenga, Truth and Lies, I went to PhousiMarket and Charades.

Volunteers were joined by GVI staff, some of our Laoteaching partners, and Lao friends for a night of competition and gamingrivalry and loads of laughs. We allenjoyed tasty food and some Beer Lao to help proceedings along after a longweek of teaching.

C'mon guys! How can you not guess?

Giant Jenga...but more fun

A fun night was had by all! The only question that remains is....when can we do it again?

GVI returns to some old friends

2012-01-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

Last week GVI happily sent volunteers back to classes wehaven’t been at for several months. First was heading back into classes at Xayadeth College with theexcellent Lao teachers at that school. GVI volunteers teach 3 classes, twice daily, five times a week tostudents studying their Diploma of English at this school. It’s a terrific opportunity for volunteers tohave direct and clear impact on the learning of young adults. Due to a scheduling change for this academicyear however GVI haven’t been working in the classrooms with Lao teachers. One teacher recently commented how he missedthe interaction and sharing of skills and teaching techniques with a native orfluent English speaker, so we took the opportunity to place a volunteer in asmany of their classes as possible. It’sa highly positive experience for the volunteers because of the interaction,skill building, relationships and shared teaching workload with excellentteachers with high level English.

On the other end of the spectrum was our happy return afterextra long holidays to Phaasa School – a rustic and sometimes chaotic extracurricular English school offering classes to younger students across 7 classeswith teachers and students ranging in ability. Phaasa is new to working with foreign volunteers at all and areimmensely grateful for the opportunity to work with English speakers and providethis exposure to their students. Alwaysa surprise (is the teacher going to actually have a lesson planned or am Igoing to be thrown in boots and all to take the class?) and sometimes achallenge (poor resources, inexperienced teachers, low English comprehensionetc). GVI love to be able to offer thisauthentic and clearly worthwhile teaching site to our volunteers and arm themwith training, guidance and resources to help tackle the task. It is schools like this where obvious needexists and GVI volunteers have the chance to have positive and genuine impacton the education and futures of young Lao people.

So we say ‘Sabaidee’ again to both schools and look forwardto working with our Lao teaching partners and friends of GVI.

We are also due to recommence with the Technical andVocational School, assisting Hospitality and Tourism students with the Englishcomponents of their studies and giving them the best chance of success in theirfuture.

And finally, an exciting start in a wonderful,well-maintained, proud little village school out of Luang Prabang. GVI will work with primary school childrenacross 5 year levels, as well as pre-school kids, providing the government’sprescribed hours of English tuition that in a village with no English teachersgoes untaught! A very exciting chance forvolunteers to get out of the ‘big smoke’ and sample a real Lao village in thiswarm and welcoming country.

A Night at the Royal Ballet

2012-01-11T02:46:00.000-08:00

The Royal Ballet Theatre dance troupe

With a misnomer such as the Royal Ballet you could be forgiven forthinking this was a) ballet and b) quite formal and high quality. Whilst the performance of the Monkey KingHanuman at the Royal Palace Auditorium is neither of these things, it certainlymakes for a delightful and interesting cultural experience!

GVI volunteer, Hayley, is a flautist in Australia’sQueensland Symphony Orchestra – quite the prestigious job indeed! Due to her interest in music and performanceshe instigated a visit to the so-called Royal Ballet with a group of volunteersas a way to spend an idle Saturday night. GVI Field Staffer Sam managed to obtain adiscount so the group had the ‘luxury’ of the plush comfy seats up the front,and sat down to a stage filled to one side with seated musicians, and asolitary prop off to the side awaiting its role as the ‘Sadness Tree’ in theupcoming story.

The audience was first treated to an all women traditionalLao dance, then the story of Hanuman, the Monkey King, sent to rescue hismaster’s abducted wife, fighting off monstrous guardians of the seas and castspells over palace attendants. Lucky forthe handy English translation so the falang (foreigner) audience had some clueas to what was going on!

It was short, sweet, and punctuated by frequent dropping inand out of character, an onset of the giggles by the lead female, and somesketchy singing from the orchestra. Nevertheless, terrific fun and an experience in itself.


Volunteers Sandra, Hayley, Sue and Jasmin

The night finished off with some rather high activity allmale dances in all too tight costume, and yet another female dance. An hour later with some culture up our sleevethe group headed off for dinner and a couple even made it to a second culturalperformance at Roots & Leaves. Acultural weekend indeed!

Farewell to 2011

2011-12-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

Thursday signalled a farewell to 2011 in terms of departingvolunteers. A new group commenced onFriday 30^th December, but both are historic in their own way becauseas of 2011 all GVI projects will start on Saturdays instead of Friday. In Laos this works well because we teachMonday to Friday so ensures classes are covered every day, but makes for a busybeginning to volunteers’ projects with orientation, demo lessons, training andgenerally settling in!

This photo shows volunteers with their certificates ofappreciation as they leave the project – some to travel onwards, some to returnhome – but all happy for their experiences in Luang Prabang working with ourstudents and teachers. Many of thisgroup were only 2 week volunteers and as usual expressed regret at coming forsuch a short time. Alas, better than notat all!

2012 looks set to be a huge year for GVI Luang Prabang with3 new project streams coming online -long term volunteering (6 months),Internships (which includes a BTEC Leadership qualification and Introduction toTEFL certificate) and a Construction project (starting later in the year).

The BTEC will also be made an option to volunteers comingfor short stays, for those wanting to maximise the professional/career aspectsof their time spent volunteering. Andlastly our capacity will increase to enable more volunteers to work with ourschools – all the better for our students. So, all in all, a big year to come!

GVI Luang Prabang wishes to sincerely thank all ourvolunteers over 2011 for your time and effort, your hard work (yep, we know it’shard work, albeit extremely rewarding!), commitment and support.

We wish everyone a safe and happy New Year, and look forwardto an even bigger 2012 with our new and returning volunteers so we may continueto provide education to the community in this stunning town in beautifulLaos.

The Emperor’s New Clothes

2011-12-29T00:07:00.000-08:00

OK, so actually it’s new robes for the Novices at WatPasaviet, but it was a catchy blog name!

GVI played Santa Claus on Boxing Day to the 40 or so Novicesat Wat Pasaviet – a temple school we teach 4 classes at 5 nights a week. With the onset of the cool season (well,downright freezing some mornings), Novices – restricted to wearing theirsaffron, one shouldered robes – find the cold a little too much to bear. Some Novices especially come from poor ruralfamilies and have just one set of robes – difficult enough to keep clean letalone warm!

So the day after Christmas the GVI staff headed to thetemple once the robes had arrived on order from Vientiane and presented them tothe students. Of course they weregratefully received and Novices chanted for us in thanks....very special.

So now all they need are orange beanies and gloves, and theymay be able to stave off the low temperatures this season!

Christmas at Hmong New Year with the Buddhists and Khmu!

2011-12-27T21:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas in non-Christian countries is certainlydifferent. The uptake of certainChristmas traditions, even here in Laos in a profoundly Buddhist and Anamisticcountry, was touching – token things such as Christmas trees and decorations, makingof cards, and the odd smattering of Christmas cheer with a heartfelt ‘MerryChristmas’.

GVI volunteers celebrated in some very special and uniqueways in Luang Prabang. On Christmas Evefour lucky volunteers headed out to Ban Luk Sip – a mostly Khmu village about10km away from town – to teach English and play with the children of thevillage for the morning. This week theywere making Christmas cards, which although odd was warmly embraced andenthusiastically carried out. Afterwardswe took some Christmassy photos and said farewell for another two weeks.

Following this our volunteers had the honour of aninvitation to a largely Hmong village, where families were celebrating HmongNew Year and the calling back of the body’s spirits. Much chanting by the shaman, clucking ofchickens (and their ultimate demise in ritual bleeding, boiling and thenfortune telling), eggs, sampling ‘Hmong pizza’ and partaking in a basi (blessingceremony) in which we were each blessed by the shaman for good health for thecoming year. Although a feast wasprepared, we had to be off to our next engagement....

Mr Nii and GVI staff Sam

GVI hosted a Xmas Eve party at a Lao-style BBQ restaurant, spreadingthe season’s cheer with our Lao colleagues – all who make a vital contributionto the project....from teachers to school directors to our drivers and guesthouse owners. The meat sizzled, beer andwine flowed, and much merriment was enjoyed. Secret Santa gifts were swapped amongst volunteers and our valued GVIpartners received a small gift of thanks.


GVI-hosted dinner with teachers

Christmas Day was celebrated by volunteers intheir own ways – some heading back to another Hmong Village for day 2 ofcelebrations (where the spectacle of traditional garb is a sight to behold),one doing a weaving course, lunch cruises on the Mekong River, and parties andfeasting at various venues around town. I think it’s fair to say it was a Christmas with a difference, but awonderful weekend all the same and some very special memories of the closing of2011.

A Buffalo, A Blacksmith, and a Sticky Rice Basket....

2011-11-24T21:00:00.001-08:00

How fascinating! Thatwas my first reaction to an invitation to go out to Living Lands – a workingorganic rice (and vegetable) farm about 10minutes from Luang Prabang in BanPhongvan. Living Lands aims to promote andeducate on the traditional art of rice growing and harvesting through aninteractive experience on their stunning property. At the same time, they offer to Luang Prabangthe first organic produce farm using European methods, growing vegetables andherbs including many non-native or uncommon in Laos. Finally, the project provides extremelyvaluable work opportunities to a community with fewer prospects but a lot ofdying skills, such as blacksmithing, as well as opening tourism to the villagethrough sustainable methods and showcasing traditional ways. What a great initiative!

GVI Volunteers were invited to trial the Living Landsexperience free of charge in a mutually beneficial arrangement – we got a funafternoon in the mud and fields and they got feedback on the experience andwhat works well.

Our guide Lei took us through the 13 stages of rice growing,from germination, to ploughing the fields with the help of a (very heavilypregnant) buffalo named Susan, to planting, harvesting, threshing, milling....andlucky 13....eating! Each stage has aninteractive component where visitors can use the equipment or practice thetechnique – with as much skill as they can muster. Some volunteers found a new calling!

We had the added bonus of learning about a sweet named ‘khanom’made from sugar cane juice (with a demonstration of the press), ground riceflour (with one keen visitor giving the grindstone a try), sugar and coconutcream. Yum! Our labours lead us to enjoy Laos’ ubiquitousand renowned sticky rice, along with a traditional rice cakes, khao kop, andjeow bong – a chilli dip which is much less spicy than you’d imagine butoh-so-delicious!


Khao kop, Khanom and Jeow Bong...yum!

The day was topped off with a stroll through the organic veggiegarden and learning about methods used to grow the produce, which is sold tosome of Luang Prabang’s most luxurious hotels and restaurants.


Volunteers with Living Lands team

Volunteers all had a terrific afternoon in the villagelearning about this age-old process, and came away feeling a little more intouch with Laos! Thanks to Mark and theLiving Lands team for your hospitality. Good luck, or as they say in Laos, “Sok dee”.

GVI gigging its way around Luang Prabang

2011-11-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

Turns out that GVI offers more than opportunities to teachnovices, kids and community members on the project in Luang Prabang. Budding singer/songwriter/guitarist Anna, andher sister Emma, set up a gig at the new Pilgrim’s Cafe. To show our support all the volunteers andGVI staff, plus some of our Lao teaching partners came along to watch andlisten a bit of live music. It was sucha great show, albeit not a fantastic venue!, but after convincing Anna to playa second set, somehow we opened the mic and had an impromptu performance byteacher, Siphai, who belted out Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Because of you’.

Oh, but that wasn’t the end of it! Anna set up a second gig at the populartourist bar/restaurant, Utopia, and performed to a packed crowd, again withEmma on back up vocals. Students,teachers, volunteers and staff all came along to watch and a very fun night wasenjoyed by all, despite being packed in with too few seats!

As agreed, it then became open mic, and a visiting touristhad her moment in the limelight with ex-volunteer, Becky, providing guitaraccompaniment! Somehow, GVI staffer Samwas also convinced to join Anna in a Tracy Chapman duet with yet anothervisitor on guitar.

Anna has since had another Utopia gig, and alsoperformed once again at Pilgrim’s, and this time Lao teacher, Xay, performed two songs along with Becky on guitar. Maria was convinced to get up on stage and sang both English and French numbers to everyone's delight!

So it seems GVI is a platform for budding artists as well asEnglish teachers!

What do you do with a talent like Maria?

2011-11-14T23:28:00.001-08:00

All volunteers come with talents, some which can be put topractical use, some which influence their teaching style and stories theytell. But Maria, an 18 year old Germanlass visiting us in Luang Prabang for 6 weeks has a very special talent wellsurpassing her years, which impressed the pants of us all!

First Maria just started sketching in her notebook –everyday scenes, the people and places around town and on the project. Then she was asked to draw a poster for alesson on ‘Describing People’, and all we could say was ‘Wow!’ It was incredible, and will certainly be onefor laminating to keep in the Resource Room.

Tricia, the Project Manager, was also keen to have Mariawork with novices at our temple schools doing art. Being a novice in the temples givesdisadvantaged young boys many opportunities for education, and Tricia believedthat this gift of Maria’s may translate to be another avenue they could followfor those interested or found they have an aptitude for sketching anddrawing.

The project is always evolving. In the field it’s very dynamic and we areforever on the lookout for ways to incorporate skills and opportunities for thecommunity, and for volunteers. So checkout Maria’s work....I’m sure you’ll be as impressed as we are!

Not a typical tourist

2011-11-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

by Lynn Wilkinson

On the morning of our village visit, we are up and out ofthe guest house by 7:30am, ready for the 30 minute tuk-tuk ride to the village.I am happy to be driving into the mountains. I remember from the view on theflight here that Luang Prabang is surrounded by mountains, but the city is socompletely dominated by Phousi hill and the two rivers surrounding it, that itis easy to forget that we are in the midst of hilly jungleterritory. The tuk-tuk stops at a small cluster of shops by theroad, and we climb up the dirt path to our school.

Our first stop, literally before we have a chance to say"hello", is at what the Lao volunteer coordinators call the “dream toilet”. The village has painted the school lavatories with anastonishingly beautiful mural of fish and flowers. Each door is clearlypainted (“so there is no confusion”), with a little girl, a little boy, and… ateacher. Our teachers’ bathroom is absolutely spotless. It is clearthat they are very proud of the beauty of this space, and to me it seems a verytangible demonstration of the appreciation they have for the work we are doingand the importance of education for the village. I wish that I couldsomehow show appreciation back for all this effort, and I suppose the teachingis appreciation enough, but it still feels indirect and inadequate somehow. We have already been warned that there is not actually any water inthis bathroom, and so nobody is likely to use it while we arethere. I wish I had the courage to try to use the bathroom but Itell myself it’s better to leave it pristine anyway and so we move on.

At the start of the school day, the students line up andsing a couple of brief songs, and then we are introduced as today’steachers. The children have an incredible amount of energy and it isclear that they are excited about the day. I teach with a partnerGVI volunteer and there is also a Lao volunteer, training to be an Englishteacher, to help us. Today we are teaching some new vocabulary andsimple grammar. We start with an “icebreaker” exercise using animals, andit is a fun and exciting start. The kids know their animals very well,and they seem to pick up new ideas fairly quickly. After teaching somenew vocabulary, we play a game of Concentration (they have to match the newvocabulary to a picture) and they just love it, crowding around the game spaceexcitedly and helping each other out.

I am still a fairly new teacher, with only a couple ofclasses under my belt, and so I make some simple mistakes during the course ofour teaching exercises. I believe that it matters, and I feel a littlebadly. GVI volunteers have been taught that in the Lao culture, theteacher is “always” right, and that students will never correct a teacher nomatter how egregious the error. I am convinced that my students spottedmy errors but we all just move on past them. The Lao phrase “Bo-pen-yang”(it doesn’t matter), has been important at many moments during my visit, and Idecide that now is an especially good time to embrace that philosophy.

After teaching, we move outside for games. We playan educational game with our class for a little while, but soon all the classesgather together and one of the Lao volunteers leads us in a series ofgames. All the games seem to be aimed at inculcating a sense of“one-ness” amongst the group. The first game is a singing/chantingexercise where everyone sings/says the words together with a lot of armmovements to illustrate the dance. It is very hard to follow but once Igive up on all pretence of doing it “correctly” it becomes fun, and I enjoy thefeeling of being a part of it all. The second game is acompetition, and the goal of the game is for each team to perform some fairlysimple tasks in perfect unison. We have four teams, one for eachGVI volunteer. I am paired up with one of the Lao volunteers, whoknows the game well. As a result of his skills, my team is one of thelast two teams standing, and we have a “face off” with one of the other teamsto determine the “winner”. The face-off involves lots of standing up froma squatting position and sitting back down again while chanting our team nameand then the other team’s name. All of this happens very rapidly to thebeat of a drum, which gets faster over time. The kids are squealing withdelight, and it is definitely a lot of fun, but my 50 year old thigh muscleswere squealing with agony. My thighs had already been protesting theregular use of squat toilets, and this game was more than they signed up for. I manage to hang on until victory is awarded to the other team, in gales oflaughter from everyone as our team collapses in disarray. It is a greatending to the day.

Afterteaching, we have lunch with the Lao volunteers at the local villagerestaurant. There are chickens walking around our table; a family washingclothes in a stream by the road; the food is really tasty; and I feel veryLao. This is an experience you could never get if you were traveling as atypical tourist and I am extremely glad that I decided to take the plunge andtry it out.

Food Culture...my favourite type!

2011-10-31T01:48:00.000-07:00

I’ve been meaning to do a class for months but every weekendI forget to make any plans and miss the chance. So when GVI volunteers, Anna and Chris, offered me to join their cookingclass I jumped at the chance!

The day begins at a very reasonable 10am where we load intothe back of a tuk tuk and head down to Phousi Market – Luang Prabang’s biggestmarket where you can buy everything from footwear to fermented fish and buffaloskin to textbooks. This day was strictlypurchase of fresh vegetables, rice, meat and some other items such as coconutpowder and fish sauce, in preparation for the storm we’d be cooking uplater.

Phousi’s crowded and narrow walkways weave amongst the vatsof rotting fish (ok, fermenting! Whatever!),the pigs’ heads, baskets of chillies and piles of different varieties of rice. Our Cooking Instructor explained about someof the more exotic fruit, vegetables and wood (yes, there’s a spicy edible woodused in a local dish called Orlam) and answered our questions about all mannerof weird and wonderful things the purveyors were flogging. Personally I took the opportunity to takemental note of the local prices of fresh produce so when I return I can avoidpaying ‘falang’ (foreigner) price!

Back in the tuk tuk and munching on snacks of sweet stickyrice and fried peanuts I’d picked up, we got back to the kitchen and watchedthe expert Instructor, Phia, prepare two initial dishes we’d need toreplicate. Luang Prabang Salad was easy,even making our own mayonnaise was simple enough, but flowering the cherrytomato for garnish was a little beyond my skill level! No Masterchefs in sight.J We also prepared a Fried Sticky Rice Noodlesand Chicken dish called ‘Feu Khua’ which I eat regularly so was pleased to giveit a go. My noodles were perfectlycooked and my cooking partner suitably impressed!

Lao flavours are quite unique and although there are commonelements with its more famous neighbours’ cuisines (think Thai, Vietnamese,Chinese), there are certainly typical Lao dishes and flavours and the key isnot in flair or originality but in fact preparing food in the traditional wayto achieve the perfect balance of flavours and presentation. Lemongrass, lime, chilli, fish sauce and fishpastes, soy sauce and the balance of sugar and salt combine with all manner ofexotic vegetables, particularly bitter leafy greens, and typically eggs andmeats including buffalo, pork, fish and chicken. Most dishes are served with the ubiquitous stickyrice, called Khao Niaw.

The group set about making the first two dishes, stuffedourselves around noon and congratulated each other on our efforts! Then it was on to the afternoon session. We watched the preparation of 5 Lao dishes,including the very traditional and unique Laap (somewhere between a salad andstir-fry), and a chilli dipping paste called Jeow Bong, which you expect to bedragon spicy but is in fact delectable for even wussy western palates! We selected 3 of the 5 dishes to try our handat, and chopped, sizzled and plated our way through an introduction to Laocuisine.

Of course the best bit was the eating! Sitting with a Beer Lao at the end of a dayin the warm kitchen feasting on each others’ creations, sharing stimulatingconversation with new friends just a stone’s through from the pretty Nam KhanRiver was the highlight of the day. For$30USD, it’s not a bad way to spend a Saturday!

Cooking Courses in Luang Prabang are offered by 3 main restaurants:Tamarind, Tamnak Lao and Tum Tum Cheng.

Best Birthday EVER???

2011-10-31T00:56:00.000-07:00

by Chris Taylor

I answered the knock on my door to find two of my newvolunteer friends waiting with a card, Lao sandwiches (you'll find out) and arendition of Happy Birthday. I could not have asked for a nicer wake up thatmorning and really appreciated the thought. After breakfast I headed down toXayadeth English College to teach my class of 2nd year students. It seemedappropriate to build a 'birthday' element at the beginning of the class which,conveniently, let everyone know about the special day at the same time. I noticedthat two of my students slipped out of the classroom but thought nothing of it.Around 10 minutes later, much to my surprise, I came back into the classroom tofind a Birthday cake, complete with my name, age and candles already lit. Itwas a very sweet thing to do and something that I would have never expected tohappen. After giving all 16 students and my teaching partner a fairly tiny slice of cake we took somephotos, joked around for 10 minutes then went back to learning English!

I was lucky in that the day ended just as great as it began.In the evening I taught a small class of Novice's at Wat Pasaviet (a templeschool). After being informed it was my birthday, the Novices gathered roundand gave me the gift of a Birthday Chant or blessing. It was a truly uniqueexperience and one which I am unlikely to ever forget. If that wasn't enough,after the chant I was blessed individually by numerous Novices who each tied abracelet onto my wrist; by the time I left I probably had around 30.

Luckily for me I actually got to celebrate my birthday twice as it fell on theday when some of the volunteers were leaving the program. A meal had alreadybeen planned but I didn't mind at all. Despite it being for those leaving, Iwas still treated to 'Happy Birthday' sung in at least 6 languages (seven ifyou count 'Australian' as a separate language). For my actual 'Birthday nightout' we all went to a restaurant near to the guesthouse and ate more food thanyou would think possible. It was nice to have almost all of the volunteerstogether, as well as my Lao Language teacher, Xay, and the Lao teacher from WatPasaviet, also names Xay. Great conversation, great food and, of course, Beer Lao.

It was atruly excellent Birthday and I cannot think of any place I would have ratherbeen!

Teaching English in Laos for two weeks – gaining memories for a lifetime!

2011-10-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

by Regina,22 years, Germany

A challengebecomes a pleasure

Of course it is not that easy to stand in front of theclassroom and teach a language that is not your mother tongue. The first time toprepare and teach the lessons make you feel tired and exhausted! But at thesame time it is so much fun, a great challenge and a chance to grow!


The new puppies at Xayadeth make it difficult to lesson plan but sooooo cute!

The first days of teaching started with an insecurefeeling. “Will I do a good job? Will the students get it and enjoy the lesson?Will everything be fine?”
The answer is: As long as you do your best and try really hard to do a goodjob, you definitely will! The more lessons you are teaching and preparing, themore confident you become and the more fun it is.

Being a good teacher means to GIVE. But at the sametime you GET a lot of things. Being needed, helping underprivileged children,having a positive impact on the people’s education is just gorgeous and GIVESyou a good feeling and you feel pleased .

Although the teaching part was alot of fun and filled most of my time in Laos, there are very many otherthings to do and discover! Well, you can stay in your room, have a rest andsleep in your free time… But you definitely shouldn't!

During my free time I had thechance to explore the great and charming city of Luang Prabang….it’s colourfulnight market or its peaceful temples (there are plenty of them!!!). Giving almsto the monks in the early morning, listening to the monk’s chanting or justentering a temple to enjoy the quiet and peaceful atmosphere were very specialand unique experiences.

A view over the Nam Khan River

Giving alms at dawn

I will never forget the beautiful scenery and amazing landscape in front of myeyes while I was riding my bike along the Mekongand around town. I will never forget the trips to the gorgeous Kuang XiWaterfall and to the Ban Lak Sip Primary School out ofLuang Prabang, an extra excursion organised by GVI staff. I will never forget the friendly and helpful local people. And Iwill never forget that I had the chance to discover a country’s culture that itso different to that of my country. Those are memories that will stay for a lifetime…

Novices go about their day, on their way to school or back to the temple

Coming to Laos and teaching a foreignlanguage was a challenge. But I am glad that I accepted and grew by doing it…

The prettiest festival in Laos

2011-10-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

Boun Ok Phansa, or the Festival of Lights, would have to beLaos’ most beautiful festivals by far. Coinciding with the celebration of the end of Buddhist Lent, households,businesses, guesthouses all join with the temples to create illuminated boatdisplays. Some temples put incredibleeffort into decorating not only these magnificent boats but also the Wat(temples). A procession is held throughtown on the Full Moon where each temple’s boat is paraded through the town toWat Xiengthong, where judging occurs and tourists and locals alike gather toget a closer look at the amazing creations.

Other festivities include firecrackers (one of my personalleast favourites!), and the release of both traditional flower wreaths down theriver and fire lanterns into the sky. Itis truly a wonderful and joyous sight to behold! Food, drink and much merriment is the orderof the night and it’s a terrific atmosphere when it seems the whole populationdescends on the peninsula.


Volunteers light candles with Novices at the boat

GVI Volunteers enjoyed an extra special treat on the eve ofthe main festival, being invited out to Wat Pasaviet (a temple where we teachnovice monks five evenings a week), lighting candles and saying prayers overtheir boat. Apart from the dastardlyfirecrackers, which both novices and local kids like to throw wantonly at eachothers’ legs in jest, it was a sublime evening and well enjoyed by both ournovice students and the volunteers and staff.


One of the winning boats on display at Wat Xiengthong

As with all festivals and Buddhist occasions in Laos all theschools shut down to partake in the festivities for 3 days. A small disappointment for some volunteerswith 2 week durations, but more than made up for by the spectacle and wonder ofthe week.

An authentic night out

2011-10-19T03:24:00.000-07:00

By Anna Lindblom

One Saturday night field staff member Sam arranged for someLao teachers to accompany volunteers to have a Lao-style dinner. This was an exciting new experience for mostof us because we were new arrivals (at the time) and not yet familiar with theLao culture.

They took us to a local restaurant which was like a big openterrace with a roof but no walls. It wasnicely lit up by colourful lights. Weput together some tables so we could sit all together to eat Lao (communal)style.

We left the teachers to order for us and we had a fewdifferent dishes, 3 of each, and shared them. This was a good idea because there’s often only one or two chefs in thekitchen, so if everyone orders different dishes you never get the food at thesame time. In this way we ate one dishafter another. As we had finished one ofthe meals, the next one was ready. Weenjoyed grilled fish, friend and stir-fried vegetables, duck ribs, rice and tomyum chicken soup.

In Laos they usually grill the whole fish and you eat itsskin too. That’s actually deliciousbecause that’s where the flavour is.

The chicken soup was a bit scary, because they use all partsof the chicken – the feet as well as the whole head (with the comb and thebeak!). We all cheered in frighteneddelight when one Lao teacher, Xay, cut up the chicken head and ate itstongue. None of us were keen on tryingit though!

After I thought we’d eaten every part of the fish we couldeat I looked away and 5 minutes later the whole head was gone! Another teacher, Chan Sipheng, had eaten itall! He offered to taste the fish eye, aLao delicacy, which one of the volunteers did. Emma chewed it for a while then looked surprised and spit out a hardbit....apparently the cornea is a bit crunchy! She said it had a horrible taste and a strange, jelly-likeconsistency. But Lao people love the eyeover any other part. There was nofighting over it at our table!

We shared some bottles of Beer Lao, and two guys playingguitar created a really nice, authentic Lao ambience.

Two days hanging with the elephants

2011-10-17T03:19:00.000-07:00

By Dani Howison

8:30am: The day started with a tour os Luang Prabangguesthouses, picking up tourists as we went. We soon crossed the Nam Khan River to the outskirts of Luang Prabangwhich turned into dusty, bumpy roads.

We passed through small towns that seemed solely populatedby chickens and small children until we arrived at the Whisky Village. After sampling the whisky containingeverything from snakes to centipedes and claiming to cure all ailments, wewalked through dirt streets meeting local people and watching women weavebeautiful scarves on wooden looms, the clickety-clack following us down theroad.

After seeing the sights, we piled back into the van withother tourists from Israel, Holland and Spain, and experienced the jolting rideup and down hills until we reached the Pak Ou Caves. Crossing the river in traditional long boats,we were presented with the sight of steps carved into the sheer cliff face. Climbing the stairs to the dizzying heightswas an achievement that was rewarded with the hushed darkness of the caves andthe spectacular views of the countryside.

On leaving the caves we drove to the elephant camp for anafternoon of mahout training. Aftertaking a sedate ride safely strapped into a chair on the elephant’s back, wewere then treated to ‘real’ elephant riding.

Having been given a hastily written list of commands and abrief Lao lesson, we hoisted ourselves onto the elephants and rode on theirnecks around the camp.

After 10 minutesof confidence building tameness with the supervision of mahouts, we rode theelephants down the steep riverbank into the water where we bathed and swam withthem. After a lot of splashing and beingdrenched by elephant spray, we rode the elephants into the jungle where theywere to spend the night. We then madeour way back to the camp for a well-deserved shower and hiked to the WhiskyVillage for a Beer Lao and a chat with the locals.

Walking back in the dark to the elephant camp we wereserenaded by our guide until we reached camp and sat down to a meal of soup,sticky rice and stir-fried water buffalo with ginger. Making the most of the light provided by thegenerator, we talked until lights out at 10pm, and rolled into bed, thoroughlywarned out by the day!

Next day: Waking upfor our 7am start, we trekked into the jungle to collect the elephants, againtaking them into the river for their bath. After breakfast we had free time until lunch. Intending to read my book in the sun, I hadan impromptu English lesson with our guide and driver.

After lunch we climbed into the van for another grimey,thrilling ride back to Luang Prabang. After 2 days of too much fun, I’ve got about 200 photos courtesy of oursnap-happy guide...and of course a bunch of great memories!

For more info about ethical elephant tourism click here and if you're also interested in elephant rescue, see GVI's Thailand project.

Novices get dirty for the environment

2011-10-17T02:20:00.000-07:00

GVI Volunteers held special lessons with the novices at WatMano to educate them about, and celebrate Moving Planet Action Day.

The novices were taught the importance of throwing their rubbishin the bin through activities and games. The lesson ended with the novices tidying their classrooms and pickingup litter around the temple making sure to yell and chant “In the bin!” as theytossed trash in the traditional bamboo baskets used as bins.

The day finished with everyone a little dirty, very happy and Wat Mano 4bins richer.

And so it begins...high season kicks off!

2011-10-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

It’s October....that must mean the start of the highseason! Tourists are starting to arrivein Luang Prabang enmasse. The famousNight Market has grown, and all manner of handicrafts, textiles, silver,woodcraft, bags, knick knacks etc are beautifully displayed by stall holderseach night in the main street and stretching further and further along the roadwith each evening. Restaurants arefilling and guest houses are finding themselves with more enquiry than rooms!

But here at GVI things are going along the same asalways. As most of our students are notdirectly involved in the tourism industry their lives carry on through the highseason much the same. Students acrossLuang Prabang are mostly all back at school /college and into the new schoolyear. Novices and Monks carry on asusual with their daily rituals and study, however as the weather cools and therain eases off we’ll see a little more rugging up!

There have been a few changes this school year for GVI, inmost cases affected by the upcoming Laos Games to be held in Luang Prabanglater this year, but also our increasing involvement in certain colleges. For example, at Xayadeth College GVI will take anactive part in assessment and exams and have also been welcomed into the school’spermanent program with the school’s Director offering GVI Volunteers their ownclasses 10 times weekly! It will keepeveryone busy with lesson planning, resource development and teaching but isindicative of the strong community relationship GVI has with our partnerschools in Laos and we’re grateful for the opportunity to teach so manystudents on a regular basis.

So whilst the tourists come and go and enjoy Luang Prabang’sincredible and intoxicating vibe, GVI volunteers get all that and more....theunique opportunity to step into the hearts and minds of the locals everyday andmake a real difference to their lives through education and culturalexchange. How blessed we are!

If you’re thinking of a holiday with a difference – a working holiday which will more thanscratch the surface of an amazing destination, visit GVI for the lowdown on theproject and come and join us for an unforgettable and profound experience!