Subsistence

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Laos | Thursday, October 14, 2010 | 5 photos

Thousands of unexploded bombs litter the country side of Laos causing many casualties each year. The people are poor and living standards are low, often with one family sharing a small room or hut. Western ways are slowly creeping in, but the culture remains strong.

I woke in the early hours to watch monks receiving daily alms at Luang Prabang. Sitting in a gutter across the road I focused in on a young girl setting up her baskets. As the procession walked through I realised that the young girl was not ‘giving’ alms to the monks, but ‘begging’ for theirs. She went home with a basket full of sticky rice, and whatever else the monks could spare.

Nothing is wasted when it comes to food, particularly sources of protein. Visiting a local market I was to discover congealed buffalo blood, incubated chicken eggs, a large variety of insects and dried anything – amongst everything else!

Walking the dirt roads of a local village, I’m ushered inside a Lao home to join their party. There’s no electricity on Sundays but this doesn’t stop the music. Amongst the exited shouting and convulsive laughter an old bucket becomes a drum and the women sing in harmony. I’m not allowed to leave until i’ve eaten, drunk a substantial amount of Lao beer and whisky, and learned to dance like a local.

How can the most heavily bombed country in history be so laid back?

Years ago I read an article in the National Geographic magazine about Bhutan. It described how the government bases its country’s wealth on a Gross Domestic Happiness rather than a Gross Domestic Product. This really appealed to me. Ive never forgotten it, and have wanted to visit Bhutan ever since to see how this affects peoples lives and whether it changes their attitude towards environmental management.