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My last report at the end of October was a reflection much travel in a short period. Well, it seems I’ve either not learned my lesson, or else learned how to ‘normalise’ the idea of constantly travelling. I’m not sure, because this time I didn’t take the time to reflect! In November I again made three separate trips away from Vientiane: road trips to Xiankhouang Province (a week) and Mission College, Thailand (a weekend), and another 10 days in Luang Namtha Province (air + road trip). There have been photos in the gallery on this site from these trips for a few weeks. In December I had a couple of weeks in the office at Vientiane to tidy up all my work for 2006 before heading back to Australia (Brisbane then Sydney/Cooranbong) for 2.5 weeks.
Road Trip to Xiankhouang to Develop a New Project
 Intense archaeological investigations
Anyway, the project we are looking at starting there will provide resources for the community to establish and maintain water supply and sanitary systems as well as health training and community-based health systems and facilities. We will probably target about 12 communities from among those we visited in this trip. I am currently writing the proposal for this project.
The trip there and back was the first long road trip I had done in Laos. Driving through the heart of the Lao countryside was very educational as well as breathtakingly scenic. At times I was not sure whether to feel sorry for or envious of poverty-stricken villages who happened to occupy some of the best mountain-top real estate imaginable! Three of us foreigners (from ADRA Laos) shared the driving, and a fourth Lao passenger (named Bouala, from the SDA Church of Laos) tried to sleep in the back, as he’d hardly slept the night before we left due to a motorbike (not-so-serious, but financially problematic) accident his daughter had been involved in. Unfortunately the windy road on mountainous terrain together with my driving didn’t help as he became carsick on top of his tiredness. Our work once we arrived also involved a lot of driving on rough roads – and he really struggled to get back to ‘normal’. In the end he slept the last day we drove around the villages, and then was OK to join us for the final dinner back in the provincial town with the government leaders responsible for inviting ADRA and with whom we’d arranged the trip. Bouala was the star of the evening, as he sang some traditional Lao songs and also sang a report of our trip in which he playfully and entertainingly highlighted all of the idiosyncratic behaviours of the ‘falangs’ (foreigners) with whom he travelled. Incidentally, Bouala had been, some years ago, a prominent actor and announcer on various dramas and other radio and television programs. Many people in the country recognise him, which added some interesting entertainment to our trip.Thai-Lao Wedding at Mission College
Immediately following our week in Xiankhouang, three of us from ADRA Laos went down to Mission College for the weekend for the wedding of one of our friends from church. She is Lao, but married a Thai man who works at ADRA Thailand. They met studying at Mission College, about an hour and a half north of Bangkok. The trip was about 600km but only took about 6 or 7 hours compared to all day in the car for only 400km to get to Xiangkhouang! The roads in Thailand are much better – 4 lane highway all the way from the border to Bangkok! I actually got booked for speeding on the way back – they said I was doing 130km/h but I think I was doing much closer to the speed limit which was 110. (Needless to say I did speed at other times though!) The Thai police initially asked for 400 baht (about AUD $14) but I negotiated down to 300 baht, so they wrote the ticket for that.
The Mission College Campus is a beautiful place. It is surrounded by bushland, predominately, though close enough to a small town and shopping centres (and a beautiful National Park which we visited on Sabbath afternoon) so that its location follows the pattern of most Adventist institutions around the world – far enough removed from distractions yet close enough to essential services. The campus is very neat and tidy, with well designed infrastructure and aesthetically pleasing buildings and landscape. And with friendly people and a safe atmosphere, it is in ideal place to be either for a short visit or, I’m sure, to live. I met a lot of interesting people from many countries. It was refreshing to be in an institution where all were openly and happily part of the same message and mission as myself, and this paved the way for instant connection and friendship.
The wedding was an interesting mix of Adventist/Christian, western, Thai and Lao customs, though it resembled the weddings I’ve become accustomed to more than I expected it would. The most interesting exception was at the end of the reception, when Lao custom is that the guests follow the couple into their wedding chamber to offer final blessings before leaving the bride and groom there. The wedding chamber happened to be the guest house right next door to mine, so walking back with the bride and groom was also a pragmatic necessity as well as interesting learning experience of another culture. Once we arrived, everyone (well, everyone that had bothered to be part of this tradition) crowded into the room and watched as each set of parents of bride and groom lay on the bed and embraced, before the bride and groom did likewise. At this point I thought it prudent to leave the room, and it seems most others did too, for soon everyone was making their way out amid various customary rites that I didn’t fully understand, and a lot of laughter and happy banter. The next morning the bride and groom left for a short honeymoon, and we left for the long roadtrip back to Laos. Overnight in a Village and Mixing in Rural Laos
The last 10 days of November I spent in Luang Namtha, where our main project activity currently occurs. It was a very full and productive trip, but I’ll spare you many of the boring work details. The most interesting highlight of the trip was staying overnight in one of the villages. Once again there were three of us foreigners from ADRA Laos, and we were treated like royalty – being given the best ‘beds’ (rolled out sleeping mats on the floor) of the best house – the chief’s house. We were given the treatment of honoured guests, which meant that some of the ladies of the village came to give us massages soon after we went to bed. Don’t worry – we were all together in one big room and fully clothed!
The people were of the Akha ethnic group – one of the poorest in Laos. They could barely speak Lao, so most of our Lao staff used basic communication and/or translators when working with them. If I was to communicate meaningfully, it needed to be through two translators! (English-Lao and Lao-Akha.) It was interesting for me to interact with the same people over a period of time (and actually remember people and ‘build’ a relationship of sorts, albeit with almost no communication), for the first time, rather than just make quick and passing village visits. I look forward to going back to the village and remembering the people, especially some of the bright smiling young kids who seemed to make it their number one objective to get in all photos that I took!
In the middle of the 10 days was my first weekend ever in Laos to be away from Vientiane. The weekend was absolutely full of socialising with our ADRA project teams and their families. There was a party for a newborn baby, a birthday party for one of the staff, and a Sunday bike-ride and picnic with many of the staff. On top of that, three of us from ADRA went riding around the town to visit some interesting people and places. On the way back, we took a short-cut riding along the narrow strips of raised ground between some rice paddies. This was a fun challenge, and not without a mishap or two for all three of us. Mine was perhaps the most comically spectacular. My pedal got caught and I promptly fell backwards straight off my bike and into the rice paddy, much to the amusement of the watching farmers. December Brings Some Changes at ADRA
 ADRA staff Christmas party 2006 |
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