News From Lao PDR

The News from the Lao People's Democratic Republic

MiVAC

In December there was a MiVAC Board meeting in which there was a quite bit of change to the size and personnel of the Board. Naturally, there was then a settling down period during which there was some doubt about funding being made available due to some big bills approaching (new car, year’s rent on the house).  The options considered were (a) pull out of Lao, (b) put Lao operations on hold until money was found or (c) press on in the hope that funds would be found. I told them I would not hang around if they chose (b). They chose (c). As a result of two papers submitted to the board - one by a volunteer who was here for a couple of weeks in November and one by me - and input from others who had been in Lao, the Board chose to abandon the biodigester, fish farm, market garden and probably the mushrooms. We already had some pineapples and we have planted some onions, garlic and 'greens' and when all crops are next harvested that will be that - no more. I kept telling them at every opportunity to focus on water supplies, toilets and UXO/mines and it looks like they agree. The seamstresses have got an extra month to finish the school uniforms and then they will be on their own – allowed to use the room/machines but we won’t pay their wages - more on that later. 

I have refused offers of taking short-term volunteers as there is nothing for them to do at the moment. I have also been pushing the line that they should only send volunteers that have a specialisation that is useful – it’s no good sending people who will just be unpaid labourers taking paid work from our guys. I laid off the 4 labourers 2 weeks ago until we get the next MoU up (Memorandum of Understanding - the document we need approved by government to start Phase 3). If they get volunteers who have expertise in project management, toilets, water supplies, sanitation, hygiene etc then ok.

Before we could start Phase 3 we had to get approval from the government that we had satisfactorily completed Phase 2. So we went through an evaluation - questionnaires, interviews with the 'beneficiaries' of our labours, Naibans (village senior), government departments (Health, Agriculture, Education, Police). All seemed to go well. We had a party in December at Ban Xai with lots of government officials to celebrate and handed out 172 water filters - one to each family in the 3 villages. Then they told us we had to have another, even bigger, meeting! Lots of senior dignitaries, speeches, lunch at a local restaurant. So we had that a couple of weeks ago – cost us 7m Kip (AU$970)!!. Fortunately the chap from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vientiane didn’t come which saved us a shed-load in air fares and accommodation.

Anyway, I believe we have now closed Phase 2. I’ll be happier when we receive something in writing to that effect. I have been drafting the new MoU. The timeline is quite complex for the 12 villages – and Phoukood District government told us to drop one village and gave us another. So last week I spent a very pleasant day driving/walking up a tiny, steep-sided valley in the sunshine with some government types. We meandered along a very narrow path through the trees, with the sound of a stream in the valley below us, to a peaceful, rocky pool. This was the source of water being piped to a nearby village about 5 km away. Is there enough flow for our village to take water from here as well? Why you asking me? They seemed to think so. I took some readings of position and elevation with the 2 GPSs we use for mine clearance.Tried to make it look like I knew what I was doing! Took some photos of the headworks. (See, I do know what I'm talking about.) Enjoyed the walk though!

I have submitted what I am hoping will be the last draft of the MoU for Phase 3 to the Board and, I am hoping, they will take the decision at their board meeting tomorrow to allow me to get it translated and submitted to government.  I am assured by government that it will take 2 or 3 weeks to go round inside the various departments of government at each level - not sure I believe them. Even CASA's not that quick! Then, I hope, we will start on the next 3 years' work. In the 3 villages we have been working with in Phase 2 we have to do some more water supply upgrades, a school dormitory to build for kids who can't commute cos it's too far and some school playground equipment to construct. In the nine new villages - water supplies piped from streams to large header-tanks, from there to standpipes every 100 m or so in the village. And lots of septic toilets so that each house has one.

The immediate problem for me is that I, obviously, want to maximise the value/benefit of my time here but I may have nothing to do for 2 or 3 weeks apart from the trip to Luang Prabang (below) whilst I wait for the government wheels to grind. I'll find something. There is another group here called The Lone Buffalo - the only free English school in the Province. They also teach computers, film making and soccer. Maybe I can give them a hand. Hydraulics? Sanitation? Plumbing?

We have 5 young ladies that we have trained in sewing and have been paying them for the last 4 months to make school uniforms. However, we stop paying them in 2 weeks and they need to get themselves organised on a commercial basis. Trouble is they have little idea how to do it.They seem to be reliant on me to organise things a bit for them.  Dodgy ground again. We discussed going to Luang Prabang next week to let one or two of them have a look at the big night markets and the Ock Pop Tok craft studio and shop. I wrote a short business case for the trip and sent it off to Australia for approval - about 4m Kip required ($600). They have approved it but if they hadn't I'd have been after you lot to share the cost with me! Luang Prabang is a lovely old town - former royal/colonial capital. Very peaceful - 17 Buddhist temples in the main part of town. And lots of lovely, rich tourists just waiting to be ripped off with hand-made laptop/iPad covers and so forth. That's the idea anyway. Like I said, what do I know?

Other stuff

It took ages for the pain in my side/back to ease off after that spill off the motorcycle on my birthday in December. Anyway I’m feeling really fit these days - slack work hours, plenty of sleep, no stress and I'm back into my running. I've entered the "Monthly Challenge" on  www.strava.com to run the furthest in the world in the month of February. I've done 56 km in 2 weeks and am leading in the whole of the Lao PDR! Yeah, OK, I am the only Lao competitor. But I'm only 354 km behind the world leader. So all is good.

The weather here was very cold before christmas and after New Year. The house is not heated so it got very cold to sit and work in the office here - about 10 - 14 degrees. I used to wear several layers including my hoody and a beanie! We did have frost one morning. Apparently the coldest winter in 15 years.

Plans? 

1  Get the Phase 3 MoU approved and up and running in the next few months. Then MiVAC really need someone with more project management skills than me - I've told them that.
2  Travel to Myanmar to visit some of the places where my dear old Dad fought the Japanese. Some are pretty far off the beaten track but I'll give it a go. Then to Bali in June for the wedding of a friend.
3  Siem Reap, Cambodia to work for the New Hope School until a couple of weeks before I come back to CASA. In those couple of weeks I shall travel a bit more - maybe Vietnam. When I get back I will have no leave at all so I had better make the most of my Gap Year! 

If you've read this far, thank you.