Our Guiding Principles

Empowerment and collaboration are key philosophies in our program execution. Give Children A Choice collaborates with government authorities during the planning process, and empowers and collaborates with village leaders and families during the planning and program execution. This instills in them a very important feeling of pride of ownership. In addition, Give Children A Choice collaborates with other organizations that help fulfill the needs of the children.

When we first opened our doors in 2002, Give Children A Choice established key principles that we stand by today.

1. 100% of donor contributions go directly to preschool construction projects. 0% of donations are used for fundraising. Give Children A Choice volunteers are our fundraisers. Overhead to build a preschool averages a mere $200 to $300.
2. Immediate results from a given contribution. Donors visibly see the swift and efficient use of their donations. Our preschools are generally completed in 70 to 90 days.
3. Donor involvement. Donors are encouraged to participate in all aspects of the preschool projects, beginning with village selection for preschool placement and culminating in a visit to Laos for the official preschool turnover.
4. Local project "buy-in" is essential to ensure our preschools are maintained. Village leaders and parents are encouraged to contribute 10% of the preschool construction costs in the form of monies, materials or labor.
5. Preschools are tuition-free. We secured a longstanding agreement with the Luang Prabang Education Department that all Give Children A Choice preschools are tuition-free.
6. Preschools are integrated into the broader education agenda for the province and country. Preschool education was not a key part of Luang Prabang children's education program in 2001-2002, but it is now! This preschool agenda pushes to assimilate the many ethnic groups into the mainstream by teaching ethnic children to learn Paso Lao, the national language. 

We welcome all of you who are interested in contributing to our preschool program to contact us today for more information.

'Give Children A Choice was founded on the basic principles that all funds donated would be directed towards our projects, that we would set high standards and maintain them, and that we would strive towards creating long-lasting relationships with our supporters. We work on a tight budget, our overhead is kept to the bare minimum, and we operate efficiently and effectively.'