Laos CAS Trip

The local partner for the trip to Laung Prabang was World Volunteers (http://world-volunteer.com), a group specialising in small-scale development programmes in the rural areas of Southeast Asia. For this trip that took place from 28 May to 2 June (including flight time), we, a team of 4 staff and 39 students were partners in one of their sustainable clay building projects, specifically the construction of boarding facilities for a school using bricks made of clay, mud and straw at the village of Nong Jon Village.

With just a short three and a half workdays, our students managed to complete the construction of one wall, helped to plaster several walls and prepared over 300 mud bricks for the next group of student volunteers joining the project. It was heartening to see every single student putting in their best at the worksite, overcoming fatigue, heat and humidity as well as bearing with lots and lots of mud splattered on their face and body.

Our students also spent three nights in homestay in the village, and had all their meals prepared by the host. Our fear that the food might not be to their liking was unfounded, as some complimented that the home-cooked food was better than those served in restaurants.

In a two-hour trekking trip outside of the village, we experienced heavy rain and had to walk on very muddy paths. Throughout the trek, our students were seen helping and encouraging one another on though a few found the going tough.

Acknowledgement must be given to the World Volunteers staff for their commitment. Besides working side by side with our students at the construction site, they were constantly checking on the well-being of our students every night and were at the village square before any student arrived in the morning.

In this invaluable experience, both our students and staff have gained a new appreciation for the simplicity and purposefulness of life in a rural settlement, the open space and the clean air.

Catch a glimpse of the trip on youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g563l9poHV8 produced by one of the World Volunteers staff.

Mr Chang Weng Moon, Ms Caroline Heng, Ms Delphine Esnault and Mr Chia Choong Kiat