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 amongst ethnic minorities (World Bank 2014).
Pencils of Promise works with 88 communities in Laos to ensure that our students overcome these, and other, barriers to accessing a quality education. To date, PoP has impacted over 61,000 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 88 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 Vieng Hinsoung, Laos, we found students being taught in an aging provisional structure made of bamboo and aging wood with a roof partially made of thatch and rusted metal. Classrooms were heavily congested due to overcrowding, with 30 students trying to fit in each small class. There was one formal classroom dedicated to the preschool students, however the space was not adequate for the 80 preschoolers of the community. This overcrowding made it difficult for students to focus and concentrate.
Your Impact with the New PoP School
You recognized and responded to the needs of Vieng Hinsoung by helping PoP and the community break ground on a new 5-classroom school, the Vieng Hin Soung Preschool and Primary School. Teachers, parents and community members were dedicated and committed to the project, contributing up to 20 percent of resources and labor. The new school is equipped with formal blackboards, benches, desks, doors, walls and windows. You made this school build for the students of Vieng Hinsoung possible and created a safe, strong structural foundation where they will be able to learn and realize their potential and promise.
