To Laos with Love

In the April issue of SNAP, a local newspaper whose mission is to capture images of community events around Toronto, there is a short article which focuses on my media-rich event, To Laos with Love, which took place at the community centre just down the street from where I live. For the presentation portion, I spent hours and hours gleaning the World Wide Web for images and video as I did my research on Laos, and then hours and hours after that assembling this content into a visually powerful and captivating story. There were two very significant influences who inspired me to create this presentation and share it with the world: Steve Rutledge and Mike Yap. This presentation was not only to honour them, but their tremendous work as well.

The SNAP photographer who took these images wrote:

On Friday, March 4 The 519 Community Centre hosted a consciousness-raising fundraiser presentation and concert dedicated to educating the citizens of Toronto about Laos and the hill tribes.

The event had a strong focus on how two people and their small humanitarian organization, Adopt a Village in Laos, from Port Hope, Ontario have positively impacted (and are continuing to impact) on the lives of the hill tribes of rural Laos. The presentation covered important issues of health, poverty and social struggles.

The event consisted of the presentation part done by Roland Drake and the concert part performed by Julia Campisi and Mery Perez of "Voces Poeticas".

  

Event coordinator and key presenter Roland Drake with motivational magazine.

Artistic performers and the key speaker for the event: Jose Gonzalez, Julia Campisi, Mery Perez and Roland Drake.

Even though this event was lightly attended (with about 25 people in all), the people who did attend found the presentation engaging and educational. Several of the attendees later emailed me with their impressions, which you can read in their entirety on my presentation blog. Days after the presentation, I was absolutely thrilled when two of the attendees each made a donation for water filters.

The event at The 519 was just part of a process to illuminate the world at large to the wonderful humanitarian work of Adopt a Village in Laos. But overall, it has been a daunting struggle to get the word out in the mainstream media. One of the few glimmers of hope has been SNAP. In addition to covering my March event, for which I am very grateful, this publication will be doing a 1/4-page story in their June issue featuring this small organization from Port Hope.

Water Filters! Water Filters! Oh my!

Featured in the latest edition of My Journey to Laos newsletter, which exclusively focuses on the subject of water filters, this image reveals dozens of these units awaiting distribution in front of the schoolhouse in the village of Pha Yong. Located on the north side of Nam Ou River near the village of Muong Ngoi, which lies northeast of Luang Prabang, Pha Yong  was one of three villages to receive a portion of the 202 water filters distributed by Adopt a Village in Laos this past season.

On March 9, 2011, I received an email from my friend, Steve Rutledge, president of Adopt a Village in Laos, with an update about some of the projects for next season. One of them was, of course, for water filters. According to his estimates, he will likely need at least 500 water filters!

Since December 19, 2010, I have been collecting donations specifically for water filters. To date (March 18, 2011), I have secured at least 15 such donations. If Steve's estimates are accurate, that means we have only 485 units to go. I think we can manage that.

Loonies for Laos Update: 3rd Water Filter Donation

Since the installation of the Loonies for Laos donation box on December 19, 2010 at my local cafe, Java Jive, the response has been amazing. On Friday, March 18, 2011, Loonies for Laos finally secured its third water filter donation! Wow!

Travel Fundraising Fund Tops $1000

On Friday, March 4, 2011, my travel fundraising fund finally reached the $1000 mark, which means that I am half way there to achieving my goal of $2000! This money will be specifically used to help me cover my travel expenses to and from Laos. Hooray!

Lao Hill Tribes Book Finally Arrives!

After almost two months the book, Lao Hill Tribes: Traditions and Pattern of Existence, for which I had been eagerly awaiting arrived late last week. I won't go into details about why it took so long. I am simply happy that it is finally here.

(Cover illustration: A Phunoi woman with her hair braided and fixed with beads. Click image to enlarge.)

When I picked it up from my friend's place, I was surprised by how small the book is. But don't let its minor dimensions fool you. What it lacks in bulk is more than compensated for with the wealth of fascinating information contained between its covers. I am really going to enjoy reading it.

The back of the book provides an overview about what lies within its pages. It states (and I quote):

The highly distinctive cultures and ethnic diversity of the Lao hill tribes, and the fact that so little has been written on them, make these groups and their fragile micro-cultures some of the most fascinating minorities left in the world, and the habitats of tribes living in the remoter regions of Laos, some of the least explored.

Because of decades of war and unfavourable political circumstances, Lao hill tribes have been relatively sheltered from foreign encroachments. However, as Laos begins to open up, visitors are increasingly given the opportunity to observe even the least publicized of these groups. Thus, though the semi-nomadic patterns of existence and the interminable wanderings of many hill tribes continue today, at no time in their history have they been so threatened, their way of life so vulnerable to extinction.

Loonies for Laos February 2011 Update

Since I started this pilot project in mid-December 2010, it has proven to be an unexpected success. This morning I did an official tally of all the money which has been collected. I am happy to report that there is a whooping sum of $98 in donations. That's two dollars shy of the money necessary to buy two water filters!

Shortly thereafter,  I emailed Steve, who is in Laos until April, to share this wonderful news. I informed him that I wanted this money for two water filter donations. On each water filter,  it would say the following:

FROM THE STAFF AND PATRONS OF JAVA JIVE

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

My Best Friend Contributes to My Travel Fund

Last night my best friend, Jeremy, whom I have known since grade 1,  and his girlfriend dropped by my place for a short visit. While they were there, Jeremy and his girlfriend presented me with sixty dollars, which he explained was a donation for my Laos travel fund.