You’re Making a Difference Here
LAOS
In Laos, one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia, a lack of educational infrastructure is one of the greatest barriers to accessing a quality education (BBC News Asia). 27% of people in Laos are illiterate, with even higher illiteracy rates among ethnic minorities (World Bank 2014).
Pencils of Promise works with 94 communities in Laos to ensure that our students overcome these, and other, barriers to accessing a quality education. To date, PoP has impacted over 64,000 lives in Laos.
LUANG PRABANG
Luang Prabang Province, located in northern Laos, sits at the intersection of the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers. Although a beautiful area, Luang Prabang lacks sufficient educational infrastructure.
PoP has built over 93 schools in Luang Prabang Province, working in collaboration with communities to couple school builds with teacher training, in order to ensure that our students are benefitting from access to both educational infrastructure and quality instruction.
Before the PoP School Build
When our team first visited the school in Kok Ngiew, Laos, we realized that the school had only enough classrooms for the Primary grade 1-5 students; leaving the preschool students without a formal space for learning. Previously, over 100 students were attending the school and that number continued to grow as the Kok Ngiew community population grew into the thousands. As a result, the existing 7 classrooms were heavily congested, which made it difficult for students to focus and concentrate during lessons. Additionally, due to this high volume of students and lack of classroom space, many preschool students were unable to attend school.
Your Impact with the New PoP School
You recognized and responded to the needs of Kok Ngiew by helping PoP and the community break ground on a new 8-classroom school, the Kok Ngiew school. Teachers, parents and community members were dedicated and committed to the project, contributing up to 20 percent of resources and labor. The Luang Prabang Education Office was also supportive throughout the build. After months, we mounted the plaque, concluding tireless work on the school build. Through your generosity PoP and the community were able to complete the construction of an additional classroom; this formal learning space will allow all the preschool students and many more classes of Kok Ngiew students the opportunity to access a safe, dedicated place for education. Your compassion made this school build possible for the students of Kok Ngiew and created a strong foundation where hundreds of students will be able to learn and realize their potential and promise.