The future of this World ... is in this classroom
It is almost 12 000 km between Brussels and Don Khon; it takes six days and almost all imaginable means of transport to travel forth and back there. Even if I have less and less time, it is always worth to go there, even if only for three days. These visits allow for planting ideas for the future and keep on checking their implementation.
That is how in 2019, just before COVID-19 I kicked off the idea of scholarship for the talented students in Phonsavanh Talent school in Pakse. Now I am dreaming of training one of the students to become a medical doctor and another a nurse, so we could open a small hospital on the island.
Hence, I stopped in Pakse, where the second batch of scholars is finishing their last year in Phonsavanh Talent school. First, I passed through the bank, where due to inflation, for a moment having exchanged the donors’ funds, I became a millionaire. I prepared envelopes with scholarships for the students and jumped on a tuk tuk that brought me to the school. On the way there, I stopped in the New Life hospital to leave another envelope for Dr Phuc who kindly advanced subscription fee for Thip’s* medical university in Vietnam. In the school, the kids were already waiting, with plenty of stories, proud of their grades, certificates, full of plans and dreams for the future.
Having distributed the scholarships and some school materials I took Little Girl* and headed off to the International English school, where last year Thip finished her language course. The International English school is not far away, but one needs to travel there by car or motorbike. Little Girl does not drive and is scared of motorcycles, which blocked her to study English last year. As she will need to pass English exam to enter the medical College to become a nurse, she decided to commit to study English and got convinced to try an electric moped. We completed the subscription for the next semester of English and went to motorbike shop to try a moped. Little Girl seemed to like it and be in control. A husband of her sister promised to go with her later on to the market to choose the best one, buy a helmet and practice driving with her before she starts hitting the busy road on her own. Standing in front of the door where she will be studying English, she knew that the future was in this classroom. We visited the Pakse Medical College to understand all the formalities she needs to fulfil to enter the three years training to become a nurse… She will need to study hard to pass the entry exam in August.
That is how in 2019, just before COVID-19 I kicked off the idea of scholarship for the talented students in Phonsavanh Talent school in Pakse. Now I am dreaming of training one of the students to become a medical doctor and another a nurse, so we could open a small hospital on the island.
Hence, I stopped in Pakse, where the second batch of scholars is finishing their last year in Phonsavanh Talent school. First, I passed through the bank, where due to inflation, for a moment having exchanged the donors’ funds, I became a millionaire. I prepared envelopes with scholarships for the students and jumped on a tuk tuk that brought me to the school. On the way there, I stopped in the New Life hospital to leave another envelope for Dr Phuc who kindly advanced subscription fee for Thip’s* medical university in Vietnam. In the school, the kids were already waiting, with plenty of stories, proud of their grades, certificates, full of plans and dreams for the future.
Having distributed the scholarships and some school materials I took Little Girl* and headed off to the International English school, where last year Thip finished her language course. The International English school is not far away, but one needs to travel there by car or motorbike. Little Girl does not drive and is scared of motorcycles, which blocked her to study English last year. As she will need to pass English exam to enter the medical College to become a nurse, she decided to commit to study English and got convinced to try an electric moped. We completed the subscription for the next semester of English and went to motorbike shop to try a moped. Little Girl seemed to like it and be in control. A husband of her sister promised to go with her later on to the market to choose the best one, buy a helmet and practice driving with her before she starts hitting the busy road on her own. Standing in front of the door where she will be studying English, she knew that the future was in this classroom. We visited the Pakse Medical College to understand all the formalities she needs to fulfil to enter the three years training to become a nurse… She will need to study hard to pass the entry exam in August.
Having completed all the tasks in Pakse, I headed 140km south to Don Khon island, floating on the mighty Mekong where can only get by a traditional wooden boat. Each year boats capsize and several people get taken by the current and lose their lives in the waterfall. Each year, several children playing around, get too close to the current and cannot come back and drown. That is why I decided to continue to give swimming classes.
But predominantly it was time to celebrate Thip’s admission to the University of Medicine in Vietnam! She will depart to Hanoi in January for 6 months intensive Vietnamese language course before starting a 6-years course of medicine. To kick off, I brought her Lao-Vietnamese dictionary. We had long discussions with her and her family about her future of studying abroad, about plans to set up the hospital, about opportunities and risks. I promised she will not disappear and that her scholarship will allow also for trips back home.
Visiting the island, I stopped by parents of all the scholars but also visited the students who did not make it to the Talent school. Most of them, in their early twenties, start having babies, some already the second one. The contrast between those, who left the island, have ambition, dreams, study , believe in themselves and those who stayed, is impressive. I was surprised seeing small girls, who used to guide me through the island’s waterfalls, to sit under their houses on stilts all day long looking after their babies while their partners were working somewhere. I left some funds with the poorest ones, who struggled the most. I also distributed books so that those from most disadvantaged environment could get inspired and start dreaming of leaving in the future.
And it all starts with education, which opens the door to the future. Meanwhile in Don Khon yet another school got closed. Now there is only one primary and one secondary school. And it serves for kids from several islands in the neighbourhood. They travel there by boat, which is particularly dangerous in the rainy season. And for all these kids there are only 7 teachers! Hence they were so happy I passed by and could give some classes to the kids. We looked at the English and Lao alphabet , learned geography of Lao neighbours, I also brought school materials and books so that the smartest could compete to get them as prizes.
They say there is not enough money to get more teachers (n.b teacher earns 2 million kip per month, which equals EUR90). I would be happy to contract more teachers, but being so far away it is not easy to make sure that the teachers will actually arrive…. So while thinking of ways to make it happen next year, I am still dreaming of a long term goal to set up a hospital on the island to save lives…
*the real names were changed to protect the kids' identities