Hey everyone,
This last week has been a real adventure, crossing from
Northern Thailand into Laos and slowly cruising down the Mekong River on a boat
full of great people who made the trip lots of fun. I will expand on all of that,
but this is just a short post to tell you about the very rewarding morning I
spent at Big Brother Mouse, in Luang Prabang.
Big Brother Mouse is an organization in Laos that works to
help Lao people improve their English skills and to distribute books (in Lao
and English) to the children in villages throughout Laos.
This morning I went to the shop/office located in Luang
Prabang with another couple I have been traveling with for the past week. At
Big Brother Mouse, Emma, Phil and I spent about two hours talking with Lao
students and assisting them with their English. The young man I was helping was
called Shaun and he is in his fifth year studying law. When he is not taking
classes at university, Shaun comes to the Big Brother Mouse shop/office in the
mornings to practice his English. In the afternoons he spends time working on
his Chinese… if he can fit it in with working too.
Shaun is hoping to get a good job within the government
after he completes his law degree, but he must be fluent in English if he hopes
to do this.
Emma and I spent some time helping Shaun to understand the
definitions of different English words and phrases that he had copied out for
this purpose. The list included some very complex vocabulary, and when we
questioned him on its origins he explained that he had been listening to the
political speeches of Barack Obama on the internet and copied down any terms he
did not understand.
After we had assisted him with definitions for all the words
on his list we listened to a speech he was preparing (in English) for his law
class and helped him to correct some minor grammar flaws. For the most part it
was very well done and I couldn’t help but be impressed by his hard work and
dedication.
Afterwards we chatted for a little while about his life in
Laos, our lives in England and Australia and some of those universal things in
between.
Laos is supposedly one of the twenty poorest nations in the
world, not hard to believe when you travel outside the major towns. Still, the
people have an amazing warmth and friendliness that I have not seen to the same
extent in other countries. In their language the words for mine and yours are
actually the same, which explains a lot about their peaceful demeanor.
After we had finished chatting with the students Emma, Phil
and I each paid 100,000kip ($12.50 AUD) to buy a pack of ten books that will be
distributed to children in the villages around Laos. It felt great to be able
to give something, no matter how small, back to a country that seems to have so
little.
Chatting to Shaun and the other students it is apparent that
they are working so hard to better their situations, and also that of their
local communities. I was both humbled and impressed by their hard work, determination
and positive attitudes.
A pretty great way to spend the morning xox Nads
