September - October 2019
Laos - Mission Trip Pt2
This album is all about our time spent in Phonsavan building 6 Greenhouse projects, completing 1km of piping for access to water and a kids club based on healthy eating and hygiene with ADRA Laos.
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If the adventure hadn’t already begun, today the adventure really begins. First stop, ADRA Phoukoud to meet the project team. But wait! Actual first stop: the markets, because it’s always a good time to spend some Laos Kip. As we arrive at ADRA Phoukoud we are warmly welcomed by the local team and quickly learn that going with the flow is of the essence. We are orientated to the local dynamics and the ADRA team establish how our skill sets can be best utilised to directly meet the needs of the community this week. Today’s tasks will be to help build the greenhouses and Kid’s Club at the local school. Meanwhile the while national agency will survey the water project site for explosives to give us the all clear before we commence digging (don’t worry mums, we promise we’re safe!) We’ve just had lunch while waiting for government officials to arrive.
The amazing ADRA Laos team are well accustomed to working with peeping authorities within the constraints of what is still a communist government; such a foreign concept for us Aussies. We’re on our way and first drop off the Kid’s Club team to the school. The children are beautiful yet curious at the influx of foreigners. The rest of us head out to the site of the first greenhouse and quickly get stuck into helping the locals with construction and cleaning the ground. The construction amusingly goes against all design principles, but is admittedly effective and sufficient. We may never fathom the value of this greenhouse and the array of vegetables it will provide for these families. What a privilege to be involved! Just like that, Day 1 in the field is over and we load the bus sweaty, dusty and ready for a shower. But wait, there’s more. A scenic detour along the way back to catch the view at the Xieng Khouang Lookout. The steep climb was worth the vanilla and taro ice cream at the top...the view was stunning too. A quick shower and we’re out for the best Indian in town. What a feast. Tired and blessed - we’ll surely sleep well tonight (after a quick trip to the night markets, that is)!
- Nicole Brzezniak
I can’t get over how beautiful it is here. I mean on face value you wouldn’t think so, because it is vastly different from Australia but looking out over rice fields to distant mountains will never get old. The weather is warm and comforting like your favourite blanket on a really hot day. In all seriousness though despite how good the views are the people here are are my favourite. Getting to know them, their culture and their way of life has been really eye opening to me. Lao has a very poor population, financially speaking, but what the people here lack in money they more then make up for in practicality, innovation and happiness. I also can not get over how kind these people are.
Today we ran our first “kids club” session in one of the schools here in the Say province. Man alive the smiles on these kids faces just light up the world I swear. Their eagerness to learn and engage is just so beautiful. Mikaela and the team taught the kids Heads and shoulders, how to wash their hands and touched a bit on healthy foods and food groups. Brenton then taught them how to play tunnel ball, which they all loved. We had puppets and craft and an all round great time engaging with amazing little kids. We then headed off to help the rest of the crew with the green house project. Which has been going really well, as far as I’m aware anyway. However I’m really enjoying getting my hands dirty and helping out where ever I can. It’s been so good to watch our team grow work and live together. I honestly do believe that this whole project was and is truly a God thing. I am so blessed to be a part of it and am looking forward to what ever it is we get up to tomorrow.
– Leila Jones
When we first arrived on site in the morning, the team continued working on the first green house, which only needed one more side of plastic roofing put up. After an hour the first greenhouse was complete, together our team and the locals celebrated as it was exciting to have accomplished the project together! Then onto the second greenhouse which was nearly ready to have the roofing put up. Together we continued building and eventually completed half the roof of the second greenhouse. It was then finally time for lunch, with some enjoying rice and vegetables and others the Laos food with the locals. After lunch it was back onto the site and in no time the other half of the roof was constructed and the second greenhouse was completed!
Once the day was wrapped up we visited a UXO centre where we were able to see the emptied explosives that had been collected from the clean up of the Secret War in Laos. It was saddening and informing listening to the amount of bombs still effecting Laos. We then went back to the hotel for a much deserved rest and shower. Next, we met for a debrief and walked to dinner in the local night markets where they sell the best mango smoothies! We enjoyed a Laos style hot pot dinner and to work off the food a local dance teacher taught us two traditional Laos dances and in return we taught her the nut bush and solider boy. After an exciting night and an exhausting day it is time for bed!
- Kiana Knoblauch
Another day another dollar! Just kidding! Today we've split into two teams one headed to the water project and the other continuing to smash out the kids clubs! There's a bug going through our team so the water project team was only Tim, Malik, myself (Mark) and Pom (our awesome ADRA Laos guide). After 4wding through the slippery mountains of Laos in a dodgy minivan we found ourselves in the middle of the jungle. We carried 1km of piping for about 2km up, down and through the jungle. Carrying the 1st two pipes down I thought to myself this is going to be a long, hot and hard day! But as soon as we got to the end of the pipes and placed them in the trench the locals had said it's now all done and time to cover! I couldn't believe it but once we walked out to a clearing in the jungle where the old pipe and new pipe connected I was astonished of the number of villagers/volunteers helping! The pipe is going to supply water for 74 houses in the village so there was at least one sometimes two people from each house! This really clarified the work ethic, community and amazing culture they have here deep in Laos. In no time thee trench was then covered as the trail of 70+ villagers with hoes and spades smashed through the work. Trying to get into the line was impossible but really hit me that it's not about the blood, sweat and tears I need to pour out here on the field, but giving these guys the opportunity to have and do what they need to simply have the necessities of life. Having been on many overseas mission trips before this has got to be the community that has taken the greatest ownership over the projects which is so powerful as it allows them to understand where it is, how to fix it but simply to know it is theres.
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Lunch time came and we headed to the kids club to see how the other group were going. Through the trip, we often teased each other that they were the bludge group but boy do they work hard! In the afternoon the group were teaching 40 Pre kindergarten to grade 1, straight after lunchtime who were like energizer bunnies! The group have been awesome all week, singing songs, teaching them healthy hygienic habits and giving the students amazing creative projects that many of them had never seen before.
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Brenton was a lone ranger each afternoon this week as he trained ADRA team members, doctors, nurses and midwives interested in his counseling training which also encompassed mental health components. Mental Health in Laos is something that is not fully understood or discussed. Through his training he covered different counseling contexts, community, health and education. Micro skills of level 1 and 2 counseling, practicing procedures and role-play. Don't forget that all of the training was translated from English to their native Laos. Brenton found it difficult at the start but quickly adjusted to the needs and loved the whole experience. There was a considerable amount achieved despite the language barrier. The highlight and most valuable part for Brenton was enjoying the local lunch with the participants each day which continued to the relationship between Brenton and the Laos people. One more day tomorrow and its all over!
- Mark Elbourne
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Our fifth and final day of the project! It's exciting to see everything complete but also sad at the same time saying our goodbyes! What a week it has been! We've completed 3 greenhouses, 1km of piping for water access to 74 houses and 10 kids clubs! Today was all about the school, we spent the morning doing 2 kids clubs. Mikaela taught the kids how germs spread and she used glitter to illustrate it! It was hilarious but also such a foreign concept to the students who have not been educated about simple healthy hygiene practices that are second nature to us. After lunch, it was the handover of the projects and gifts to the schools. The village really put on a show for us with special items from the school children and one of the villagers performing a special dance/music piece! Check out the awesome video with the highlights of the project under the 'videos' tab. The handover was a special time for me as this is one of the better experiences I have had with a service project and the community being fully immersed in it. At this presentation, the program manager of ADRA Laos and a Government official of Laos both were so thankful to our group who raised funds and helped construct but highlighted something very important. They both urged the villages to take ownership, maintain the sites and continue to work together to make the village a better place. Goodbyes were hard, but like a bandaid, we did it swiftly before we adventured to the top of the city where many bombies were dropped during the 'secret war' in Laos.
- Mark Elbourne
Sabbath Blog
Today we were blessed to worship at the local Seventh-Day Adventist church and experience church in a different culture. Worship is held at the pastor’s family house in their living room, which converts to a worship room on Sabbath. The service was relaxed, unstructured, inclusive and full of singing, testimonies and prayer. One of our own, Luana shared a message from the Word of God with us. From what we understood, having a female, let alone a young female with tattoos, preach the sermon is not a cultural norm however it was embraced welcomingly.
In the afternoon we had some fun with the kids teaching them songs about God in English. They picked up the songs so quickly and sung enthusiastically. A skit and bible memory verse game followed, engaging the youngest to the oldest.
Before heading back to the hotel for a rest we visited the Plain of Jars, a popular tourist spot in the Xieng Khoung province. Some local girls were dressing up in local costumes and offered for us to dress up with them - Mikaela obliged and certainly looked the part! We had fun being tourists and taking plenty of photos.
After a quick rest we headed back to the pastors house for closing Sabbath together and had our final debrief with Porm and Tai. It was a special time of thanks, appreciation and affirmation, but also sad considering how close we’d all become in such a short space of time. We will certainly miss them.
The star of the day was definitely the puppy - look how cute she is! Looks like Mark and Mikaela may be getting a new family member on their return to Australia! Tomorrow we leave for Luang Prabang, with a new tour guide and friend - Jack!
- Nicole Brzezniak
