Wednesday 6th was a much needed day of rest.  In the evening a few of us got together to watch the sunset over the Mekong.  We stayed for drinks and dinner and took the opportunity to get to know each other a bit more but not a late night as early start the next day.

Thursday, December 7th 2023, saw us all up and ready to head to Savannakhet with the sunrise.  Upon arrival at Savannakhet airport, we met up with Sidney Phommarath and Sean Kaye (taking pictures - video) where we boarded buses and headed to the village of Phoxaykhoun for the inauguration of the secondary school. The journey was much easier than the previous one and we reached our destination in a couple of hours.  Upon arrival the celebration began with some traditional dancing performed by the school children.  The speeches followed and then with the presentation to the school of supplies for the classroom, sports equipment, and some medicinal products.  A special thank you to Lynda Boutah who purchased clothes for all the students. Also Ben Chang and Boris Petkov bought and gave books to build a library. We are so grateful. Then SKL members were presented with certificates of appreciation and finally the ribbon was cut.

The traditional blessing ceremony took place with SKL volunteers and donors being blessed and wished good fortune by the local elders.  We then joined with the local villagers and dignitaries for lunch of chicken, fish soup, fish larb and fresh vegetables followed by us all joining in with the traditional dancing.  A very long and eventful day and we headed back to Savannakhet tired and happy.  But the day was not over as we all stopped off to eat at a local well respected floating restaurant, Savan Lao Deam, where a typical Laotian dinner was picked out for us to share.  Delicious!

Friday saw some beginning their journey home.  Those of us who had a later flight went for breakfast at cafe sugar where we were recognized and shown appreciation by some local people who had seen us on the tv news!

A big thank you to our donors and volunteers and especially to Ken, Francois and the SKL team who did a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to make sure everything went according to plan.  Of course, many people made this happen and we can all be proud of our contributions to the well being of rural Laotian children.

December 2 is a national holiday in Laos.  December 4 was a public holiday.  We decided to take the opportunity to meet a businessman living in Vientiane.  Mana Jangmook runs several very interesting businesses.  Ken, François, as well as Ben and Boris, both donors, and I met him at his home and at his printing business.  It is obvious that Mana loves Laos.  He actively helps Laotians to improve their quality of life.  In fact, Ben and Boris were so convinced by his sincere and solid words that they made a donation on the spot.  They purchased books for the creation of two school libraries, one for Khonevat and one for Phoxaykhoun.  Thanks to Ben and Boris for their great generosity!

Today was the inauguration of the school in Khonevat village, located northeast of Vientiane.  It took over four hours to get there due to poor road conditions!  Many donors from around the world and local dignitaries were in attendance.  The children were adorable as usual and very excited about having a new school.

The ceremony began with welcome remarks from the dignitaries.  Then François Tremblay, president of SKL, thanked numerous donors from the United States, Canada, Malaysia and of course Laos.  For Manitoba, Vidday was among the major donors, with Jérémie Brémault as his personal representative, who was very touched by this type of event.  François also praised the volunteers who allowed SKL to build the schools.  For Laos, he also took care to recognize the residents of the village, and especially Mr. Phouvong and his team, for their remarkable contributions.  Subsequently, SKL members were presented with a certificate of appreciation and the traditional ribbon was cut.  The school was thus officially inaugurated.

All guests were then invited to a large, varied and exceptional meal including, among other things, delicious fried bamboo worms, a rare and expensive local delicacy.  We made sure to try them!  Surprising and good for your health, they say.  Then we took some photos.

We are delighted that this 5 classroom school meets the standards set by SKL and we thank our contractor for ensuring this.  He also gave the people of the village a workshop on basic maintenance which they appreciated.  In short, a tiring but extremely enjoyable day!

Jackie, Board Member of SKL Inc.

Good morning!  Here, the weather is nice and warm (31 Celsius during the day and 22 in the evening).  Preparing for inaugurations requires a lot of our time.  There are many details to organize.  We already have school items (books, erasers, pencils) and sports items (soccer balls and volleyballs).  Transportation arrangements for guests and donors are almost all settled.  We are currently working on accommodation for one night in Savannakhet.  Recognition plaques with the names of major donors arrived today.  They will be attached to the walls of schools.  We have banners printed during the day that we will use to highlight the contribution of donors.  In the coming days, we will focus on welcoming our donors and guests.  Thank you for following us on this unique stay in Laos.

Francois

Good morning!  Sabaidee!  A group of representatives from SKL Inc. - School for Children in Laos (Ken Sengkeo and François) arrived on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 in Vientiane.  I am writing to you on their behalf to let you know what we are doing through the business of a small blog.

In a few days, we accomplished several tasks.  We met with donors.  Subsequently, preparations for the two inaugurations were undertaken, including the purchase of school and sports items for the students, the presence of an interpreter for the translation into Laotian, the schedule and transport possibilities.

Colleagues and donors will join us for the inaugurations.  They will come from Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and of course Laos.

We remind you that there will be two inaugurations.

On Tuesday, December 5, inauguration of the elementary school in the village of Khonevat, located a three-hour drive northeast of Vientiane.  Around a hundred students will benefit from this new school building with five furnished classrooms, with facilities for toilets and a pump to draw filtered water.

On Thursday, December 7, inauguration of the secondary school in the village of Phoxaykhoun, a two-hour drive from Savannakhet in southern Laos (ten hours’ drive from Vientiane).  Nearly two hundred young people will attend the institution with seven furnished classrooms, also with toilets and a reinforced water pump.

We will keep you informed of what happens to us.  Thank you for following us and accompanying us on this great adventure. 

The much-anticipated construction of a brand-new 7-classroom Phoxaykhoun Secondary School complex has officially kicked off this previous weekend. Despite a few minor setbacks, we are thrilled to announce that the wait is finally over and progress is in motion!

For Project Number 10 we are heading to Xaysomboun province: Khonevat village is located within the Longxan district and is approximately 250 km northwest of Vientiane. Ban Khonevat has a population of 2,939 with 517 households made up of 75% ethnic Hmong, 10% Mien and 15% other ethnic groups including lower land Lao.

Khonevat primary school currently has 381 students from Grade 1 to 5 mostly of the Hmong and Mien ethnic minorities. There are two school buildings one of which is in such bad repair that it cannot be used. That means 201 students are forced to attend schools in neighboring villages.

Working with the local community SKL will build a new school which will include 5 classrooms, furniture, clean water supply, electricity and sanitary washrooms for all 381 students. 

Total cost is estimated at $85,000. With our new cost-sharing approach with Khonevat and neighboring villages, local business and stakeholders, we estimate our share of the cost will be approximately $45,000. Stay tuned for further details and photos.

SKL is pleased to announce a new cost-sharing partnering approach for two school building projects. This is a new collective collaboration with two respective local professional and business groups in Laos. The first project is a 5-classroom Primary School for the village of Khonevat in Xaysomboun Province, and the second project is a 7-classroom secondary school for the village of Phoxaykhoun in the province of Savannakhet. For more details on these projects, please check out our newsletter and our new video below.

Check out these fantastic videos!

On YouTube

https://www.la-liberte.ca/2020/06/18/la-croissance-des-bons-sentiments-en-ligne/