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 104 communities in Laos to ensure that our students overcome these, and other, barriers to accessing a quality education. To date, PoP has impacted over 13,000 students 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 104 schools in Luang Prabang Province, working in collaboration with communities to couple school builds with educational programs, 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 visited Sa Kuan, Laos, they found students attending school in aging provisional structures made of simple wood, with dirt floors, no doors and leaky roofs. There were 241 students enrolled in this small five-classroom school. As a result, classrooms were heavily congested due to overcrowding, making it difficult for students to concentrate and limiting the number of students that were able to enroll in the school. In addition, the community previously lacked the finances to replace the old building with a new permanent and safe structure to help further their students’ educational growth and development.
Your Impact with the New PoP School
You recognized and responded to the needs of Sa Kuan by helping PoP and the community build a new six-classroom school. Teachers, parents and community members contributed up to 20 percent of resources and labor necessary to complete the build. Additionally, the Ministry of Education was supportive of the community and helped throughout the construction process. The community is excited that their students will now have access to safe classrooms, equipped with 100 student table sets, five teacher desk sets, one black board and five cabinets. You’ve made this school build possible and created a strong foundation for the students of Sa Kuan to learn and realize their full potential and promise.
