Luang Prabang Orphanage

In August 2008 we visited the Luang Prabang Orphanage where children suffer from chronic malnutrition and hunger.  Although the children were hospitable and appreciative they were not very happy.  These young people not only have to deal with the loss of their parents but they also suffer from hunger.  Approximately 500 children ages 6 through 18 live at the orphanage.  Roughly 15% are girls. As we walked around the campus we met many children.  They were well behaved and greeted us with a smile.  One boy extended his right hand and said hello to us in English.

The orphanage has school classrooms, dormitories, a small art center, a basketball court, an area to play soccer, a kitchen and dining area.  The classrooms were in great shape, the boys dormitories were messy while the girls dormitories were tidy, the kitchen was medieval, dirty, dangerous and inefficient.  The children did their own cooking, otherwise they would go hungry.

We visited the orphanage with Ms. Phonsvanh, a retired English professor at the National University in Vientiane and a graduate of the University of Hawaii.  She opened the art center at the orphanage for young promising artists.  She is continuously seeking outside support for the children at the orphanage and she contacted us to visit the orphanage and meet the children there. Small in frame her efforts to help the children are massive.  Some of the children call her Mama.  Not only does she feed the children's stomachs but also their minds. 

She teaches and tutors the students who stand out academically.  Several of the students have competed for honors nationally.  She furnishes the art center with supplies and has several gifted artists at the orphanage.  If you have the chance to visit the orphanage please stop by the art center and purchase some of the children's work.  We hope to in the future make arrangements for the artists to showcase their work and have an art show.  Our friend, Ms. Phonsvanh dedicates her free time and limited personal funds for the children.  She has asked us for help, and we in turn are asking you to help.

We met a young girl who excelled in math and was chosen to travel to Chaing Mai, Thailand to participate in a regional math competition.  We also met three young boys 12 to 14 years old who manage the art center and are talented artists.  One of the young boys, 13 year old Kong Lee, won the grand prize in the annual Luang Prabang art competition.

We visited the kitchen where large, long burning logs were slowly pushed into the broken cement frame upon which large metal pots are used to cook meals for the children.  One of the large pots was actually an oil drum cut in half with two handles welded on to allow the children to maneuver it.  What did they cook in this drum to feed 500 children?  Rice!  And what else were they preparing with the rice?  Nothing, just rice!  Two times a day!  We were there for two mealtimes, the cooked rice was dumped into two or three 'clean' cement bags and dragged to an open area just outside the kitchen.  All the children knew it was mealtime.  The older boys reached into the bags with two hands and grabbed a huge handful of sticy rice and made it into a large ball of 5 to 8 inches.  The younger boys made smaller balls.  Some of the boys and all the girls were a bit neater, placing the rice in a bowl or a sticky rice basket with a cover.

Give Children A Choice purchased new cooking pots and utensils, 500 bars of soap, pads of paper and pens for the children.  We would like to help these children even more.  There are so many things they need: clothes, school supplies, medical attention, soap, but most important is nutrition, a healthy meal.  We went to the market with Ms. Phonsvanh to buy the ingredients for one meal with vegetables, meat and fruit.  It cost roughly $200.00.

As a short term goal, we would like to see the orphanage children have at least one healthy meal a week.  Please help us help them.  We are looking for 52 generous donors to provide one healthy meal to 500 children.  That is 40 cents per child for a decent meal.  If we can do this then the children would have meat, vegetables and fruit with that rice once a week.  Our longer term hope would be one healthy meal a day.  Help us make that a reality.

Please make your tax deductible donation via paypal or send a check to our mailing address.  Please mark your donation 'Luang Prabang Orphanage'.

Thank you!

October 2008 Update

Since Barbara's initial appeal, lobbying her dismay to other nonprofits, diplomats, friends and family Ms. Phonsvan notified us in October 2008 that thanks to our effort, the provincial government doubled the daily per child budget for their meals.  We visited the orphanage in November 2008 and saw that the children were now receiving meat and vegetables at mealtimes.