Wat Pasaviet

I love visiting and teaching English at Wat Pasaviet, am always welcomed with warm beaming smiles. I have planned formal lessons but the best times are often when we simply practice conversation and talk about the news or use flashcards to stimulate conversation. On this day the novices gave Karen and I some flowers to have during chanting which was followed by a procession to the Budha where we left the flowers and made a wish

Mai's new home

Mai's a very bright kid, he wanted an education in the hope of a different life, he comes from a subsistence farming community, like the majority of Laos people. There is no high school in his village so he made the sacrifice of leaving his family and village to follow his dream. 5 years ago he came to Luang Prabang to become a novice monk and to complete his secondary education. In the UK education if free for everyone, in Laos it's a luxury.

Mai has just finished school, he graduated with the highest score in the region and now would like to study to become an English teacher. It was looking like he would have to return home as his family could not afford to pay for university fees but a sponsor has agreed to pay his fees and living cost for the next 3 years, £500 a year. He is so excited!

He's already found his place to live, a huge contrast to my new home, it's a 3x2 meter concrete box, he's sharing with his best mate nani, there's a communal toilet and kitchen. He's so chuffed to be given the chance to go to university, he invited Karen and I around to show us his new home, went to buy some new glasses so he could give us a drink, great host

Karen, is passionate about helping more young people to have an education. Karen  and I are setting up a project to raise funds to support people like Mai, so watch this space

today we went to visit the district where we'll have outreach clinics ....

.. i helped in clinic, it was great to see patients, today's were all children with a fever, the clinic has rapid malaria testing, all were negative. After seeing the patients the staff showed us the ward and birthing room. Looking forward to coming back to do some more teaching and see more patients, hopefully they won't be scared of me next time, the children looked terrified when i arrived, not sure if it was me or the lack of exposure to westerners - no tourists here, but by the time we left they ran after the car waving, it was wonderful seeing their smiling faces, a feel good moment. There is huge poverty here, enormous need for healthcare as well as all the other things we take for granted in the west, and everyone we met today was so grateful and graceful, can't wait for next time, hopefully can stay over!

.... went on to visit Phonxay community hospital

.. the staff welcomed us and told us about their work, the 3 main problems they deal with are malnutrition, pneumonia and gastroenteritis. There was only one patient admitted to the ward today, she was 14 months old and was malnourished, her family will receive health education, unfortunately there is insufficient funding to provide nutritional supplements which is what she really needs. When she returns home her family probably won't have enough money to buy nutritious food, this is something we hope to change when we open the hospital and start outreach clinics here.
We heard better news about the immunisation programme which is working well with good uptake, and 4 healthy babies were born yesterday, they had all gone home this morning so we missed new babies to hug, very disappointed. Antenatal care is available and more women are choosing to have their babies at the hospital, hopefully next time i will be able to cuddle a baby.
Dr Vannaly was checking the weighing scales while I checked the information posters!

.... and on the way back ..

.. we stopped for a picnic by the river, disturbed a family's bath time and shared my laos sandwich with the local kids, they loved it, i only got one bite!
Then sat back and enjoyed the scenic drive back to luang prabang through the mountains, some roads tarmac, some mud and it's the rainy season! so big mud, our driver was ace and loved it, i shreeked at all the near misses with chicken, dogs, ducks, goats, people - thankfully no lives were lost

my new, old house

I've moved in to my new home, it's in a UNESCO world heritage site nestled amongst ancient temples

I wake to the morning drums, the monk's alarm call for their daily alms ceremony

and I cycle home past a stretch of temples listening to a harmony of chanting, evening prayers to the Buddha

from my bedroom balcony I have a view of temples with a backdrop of the mountains covered with tropical forest

am feeling like a very lucky boy, it's idyllic.

the owner of the house is my neighbour and she was born in the house

it's an old style French farmhouse, about 150 years old

hope the roof doesn't leak in the monsoon rains!

as is normal here, i had to pay the whole year rent upfront! the contract was hand written in laos

the village is Ban Xieng Thong after the local temple, 3 doors down
it's a royal temple and I join the temple dogs for chanting in the evenings
getting to know another group of novices who want to practice their English

visitors welcome, i have a spare room

a trip to the waterfalls

the school year has finished and a few of the novices have recently dis-robed, about to start a new phase in their lives. there aren't many treats at the temple and to celebrate passing exams and with their new freedom form the novices code of conduct they asked if we'd arrange a trip to the waterfalls. karen and i obliged, word got back to the temple and some of the remaining novices didn't want to miss out and asked to join the party, monk etiquette was followed - karen had to sit in the front (not next to the novices) and there's a separate swimming areas for novices and monks. we all loved it, you can't beat simple pleasures, i got a buzz from their sheer joy and excitement. there were sleepy nodding heads on the way home, they said they were drunk on life!