The Lao government is trying to discourage the age-old practice of “slash and burn” agriculture. Most Lao farmers consider the method, also called “swidden agriculture,” to be essential to maintaining their way of life. By employing fire to remove the vegetation, cut by hand and dried in the sun, a single family can clear...
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It must be difficult for Lao parents who migrate to the west, to establish reasonable boundaries for their children. In Laos, there is little observance (or even understanding) of the concept of “childhood” as we know it in America. People here are young or old, big or small, but youth are not assumed to...
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It’s especially heart-breaking to meet people in Laos who have lost limbs or vision to leprosy (the illness previously called Hansen’s Disease). Heart-breaking because victims of this disease, if treated promptly, can be spared its ravages. Patients undergoing treatment, consume three different kinds of antibiotics over a six to twelve month period. The earlier...
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After we move into a village and set up camp, word spreads quickly that an aid group has arrived. People who are desperate for help often find their way to us in the hope that we might have knowledge or resources that can improve their lives. In the past we’ve been approached by people...
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There are, basically, two kinds of unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance. The form that probably comes most readily to mind is “area clearance,” in which technicians sweep an area with metal detectors, searching for ordnance. From a distance the techs might well appear to be using equipment similar to that sold on the consumer market....
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I’m comforted by the research that shows that, like me, a great many Americans struggle to remember their phone numbers and passwords. Apparently the only password used more frequently than 123456 is the word “password” itself. When I bought my SIM card for my Lao cell phone I rifled through a tall stack of...
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I was just about to begin interviews to hire a new interpreter when I got a call from my long-time sidekick Yai: he announced that he had worked out an arrangement with his new employer and would again join our team when we head south to Sekong.  He’ll take a leave to help me...
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Last year when we set up camp in Sekong, we boldly attempted to keep the village pigs in their place which, from our point of view, was any place of their choosing except our camp. We underestimated how persistent pigs can be. They were constantly around, rarely close enough to catch a boot in...
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There are places in Laos that get more than eighty inches of rain a year, and the Lao countryside is laced with rivers and streams. Still, many villages do not have a dependable source of clean drinking water. The World Health Organization estimates that forty per cent of the Lao people drink water from...
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