School Support Laos

 Yesterday, on the 9 Th of March, was a very special day in SSl’s history. We signed a MoU contract with the Lao Government. This agreement means that SSl now officially is a NGO and that we are accepted even at national level. The contract is to be renewed every third year.

We at SSL are happy to get this wonderful possibility to continue doing what is in our hearts; to give education and a brighter future for the most unprivileged children of Laos.

 It was a great honor for us to listen to the Lao officers recognize SSL and the work that we have been doing in Laos for 16 years already. The Deputy Governor of Savannakhet held a speech and he said that he has known SSL for many years and that he have seen the changes and development we are bringing to the society when we give educational support to the unprivileged children. 
This hand shake can result in education to hundreds and even maybe thousands of children!
At first I was quite nervous to hold a speech in Lao language but after a few minutes I started sharing my heart and I told about how SSL was grounded. I shared the fire burning in my heart for the poorest of the poor children, and that my wish is to serve this beautiful country and people of Laos P.D.R.

Without Mr. Kito Phommakaysone who is our closest contact with the Provincial School Department in Savannakhet, and without my staff I could do very little. I’m so great full to work together with good people with a heart for our work. Satad and Nid was not there when the pictures were taken.

This day was really a special one. We wrote history.

– Marit

Today Nid , Sonevilai and Somchai were home visiting 8 Students at Nong Gorm School , Kaisone Pomviharn, Savannakhet Province. Since long time didn’t visit all of them.This times was good to visiting  and following  up all of them again. We planing to visiting them every 3 year.

Miss. Tong Leang she is 11 years old. Secondary school ( M.1)  support by SSL. Since Primary school ( 1 Grade)  Her family is Plan vegetable for cell. This Family ‘s very encouraged their children to go to school. They said it was very important to go to school and get education. because if you no have education. you can’t get a good Job. and you can change you life in better way too.

Miss. Phonsavan  15 years old. Secondary grade ( M.2 – Blue T- shirt right side ) This family also plan vegetable for cell. And her father’s is security at Koa Laos Company he work every day and every night. get paid 1.600.000 kip/ month.  Miss.  Phonsavan studying very well. and they are warm family.

Miss. San She is 16 years old. Secondary fourth grade. This family is very poor. her parents are day worker now she is M.4 and she want to out school for help family work. they are she has 3 sibling and brother and sister are married. only 3 people live in the house. we spending quite long time to talk with her and family. They have to looking for her future. if she can continue study more 3 years like much as you can.

Mr. Jame he is 10 years old. Primary school 4 grade. (Be-hide his Grandmother) all 3 children living with they ‘s grandmother. (Those 3 boys on the left ) parents were divorce 8 years ago. Now Mother work in Thailand and help her families.

Miss. Kvuanta she is 17 years old. high school grade 5.  Now she only 2 more year education of high school . She really like to study and want to be a nurse. Her mother passed a way since her 4 years. now she like with father and they are 4 people in the house. Her father is farmer.

Miss. Geowdone 15 years old. 3 grade secondary school.  She live with grandmother  she has 7 sibling and 3 of them are married. her father is driver of Nikon company.  Her parent live in rice field with 3 children. In grandmother house they are 6 people living together. She love to be a teacher in the future.

Mr. Lanoy He is 19 years old. 7 grade high school. from Nage village ,Supporting by SSl. 12 year. He is intelligent student. and he also good with Vietnam language. This family are very poor. his father is Tukk [Tukk driver and his mother is hose keeper. His dream is to be a teacher.

Miss. Geinchan she is 19 years old. 7 grade high school.from Sompoy village,Supporting by SSL. 11 years. They are very poor family.  Geinchan want to continue study at university but, they didn’t enough money to study now, from home to university is about 7 km. now she is intelligent student.  in her mind now. She want to work in Bangkok to help her parents.

Miss. Lamngern 20 years old. 7 grade high school, from Sompoy village. supporting by SSL. 11 years. in her mind she would like to be a teacher. but she also quite far a way from school.and her parents want her to continue study university. there for her future. and hope from family.

For all information you had read is about students life those are supporting by SSL. Some of them good with study and do not have chance to continue study. And want to work  help they parents. But Now education is very important. If they had education and they can get good Job and help themselves and family.

: Somchai

This week Somchai and Satad left for a trip to Nong district. The reason for the trip was to visit a student, that just learned that SSL had gotten an extra sponsor which wants to give scholarship to a student, and he might be eligible. One can just imagine how happy the family were when he got this message; that he might me able to get the education that he always dreamed of: To be a Teacher!

After a long trip, that demanded a sleepover halfway, Satad and Somchai were finally there. They were greeted by the elders in the village, and they had prepared a pig for them to eat. The whole village were in a festive mood, when one of their own sons were to get a Teacher Education!

Aboe lives in this house with his whole family.

Everyone in the village was in a festive mood when they learned that one of their own was to have a Teacher Educaton

This fall we have taken in 19 students in total from the ethnic minority people “Bro”, that is going to start their education to become a Teacher. This is a new record for SSL history, and we would like to thank all of our supporters and friends in the world that has contributed to make this possible!

-Marit

The school year of 2014/2015 has officially started for all of the Elementary Schools in Laos. The Student Teachers which is in the second or third year has been enrolled and started their schooling. The new Student Teachers isn’t ready to start until October, and the excitement is huge when they are the brink of starting at a new school.

The school year in Laos only has one semester, and besides three months of summer break, they have only one week in the middle of january, and a week in april when they celebrate the Water Festival. The summer break starts May 31st, and lasts until September 1st. At this time of year is is the rainy season in Laos, and the planting of rice is almost all you can see at the fields. The whole family usually helps with this.

The school system in Laos is built with 5 years at primary school, 4 years in middle school, and 3 years in high school. Usually the children starts in 1st grade when they are six years old, but a lot of them are poor, and does not have the possibility to start until they are a bit older.

School Support Laos supports children and youths in all stages of education. Last school year we supported about 600 students in elementary school, over 100 in middle and high school and about 50 in university or college. All of the students SSL has supported up until now, is currently working, and we are incredibly happy for and with them.
Now it is time for new youths to start studying, and new goals to me made and reached.
Please keep following our blog through this next school year, and read about the living proof that you actually CAN help!

-Marit

This weekend we arranged our very first Teacher Seminar, ever. Exclusively for the teachers we have supported in the past, and off course the newly educated teachers. The common thing for them is that they are working full time all over the poorest mountain areas in Savannakhet Province, areas where the aboriginal minority people of the Bru-people live.

The location for the seminar is in Sepon. Surrounded by tall mountains and beautiful nature. The teachers comes from those districts in Savannakhet province, with the fewest amount of kids pr citizen gets to go to school; Nong, Sepon, Vilabury, Phin and Thabanthong district.

Even the director of the school authorities in Savannakhet Province, Mr. Kamphone, drove over 400 kilometers on bad roads just to teach at our seminar. We have a lot of goodwill at the regional and local school authorities because of what we do, and it really was a great honor both for the teachers and us that the director himself saw the importance of focusing on the main subject of the weekend, which were ”The Heart of A Teacher”.

The Director of School Authorities is a skilled and a dynamic man, with a huge heart for children and their education

New songs are being taught, so they can teach them to their pupils

Everybody was divided into groups and was assigned different topics to discuss, and then present this to the rest of the teachers.
Suksidaphet talks about what she and her group put into the topic “The Heart of The Teacher”

In addition to the teaching, there were a lot of time for group work, socializing, and exchange of experiences to being a teacher.

A lot of experiences is shared, and a lot of good stories are told, after seeing each others for the first time since college.

Teachers who works miles and miles apart, has now gotten new impulses from each others and from SSL, which they can take forth to their own school, and the year to come.

One has to eternalize the moments. It might be a long while until good friends unites again.

Thank you so much to the School Authorities office in Savannakhet, who is willing to see and acknowledge the important work we do. Thanks to Martine, Erling, Tik and Phen for a fantastic volunteer effort. Last but not least, thank you Satad, Somchai, Nid and Lek, which is the worlds greatest, toughest and best SSL team a leader could ever wish for!

– Marit

If YOU want to see more of these things happening, please support us! Click HERE

For the first time ever, SSL is arranging a seminar for the newly and formerly educated teachers we have supported as students. These teachers live and works in seven different districts in the same province, Savannakhet. The thing in common for all the teachers are that they all descend from the aboriginal mountain villages of the Bru-people.

SSL has a standing agreement with the school authorities about all our students being guaranteed a job after their education, and that is no small agreement!
Up on till now we have educated 36 teachers which works at 36 different village schools. These are the teachers we are holding the seminar for. The seminar will we held in Sepon, and we hope it can contribute to inspire our teachers.

The main subject of the seminar will be “The Heart of The Teacher”. And SSL will do all of the teaching.

• Nid will be teaching about ”The Development of People in Simple Environments”. She will dive into both hygiene, and how to better you own self-esteem, and talk about the importance of routine in your life.
• The subject Lek will be talking about is “Love”. She will be talking about the importance of seeing all your students equally. How to get the unique features of each child, by loving them. At the same time how patience, discipline and caring goes hand in hand.
• ”Children in Development” is the subject Somchai has chosen. He will talk about how a child develops, how important it is to take a child serious, and the curve of learning in the different ages.
• Stian is making a movie about the teacher students from they started school, until today.

Nid gives us a run-through of her material, so we may give her feedback

We believe that this weekend will be an incredible weekend, and we can’t wait to update you further, next week.

SSL always needs new donors to support the work. If you want to support, please click HERE

We’ve had a graduation party, and said our goodbyes to the graduate students from TTC(Teacher Training College). They are now a proud group of Teachers, and we are equally proud. During the three years we have supported and connected with these great young people, we have grown to love each others as family. We haven’t just been there when the School Fee had to be paid, but also when they have been far away from the family, or if it’s just hard being a student. We have also been there for the times we’ve celebrated, for their success, and when we’ve visited them when they had their internship at small schools deep into the jungle.

This bunch of people are really worth celebrating. We served up with games, badminton, a good dinner, and for those who felt like it could say a few words about what they’ve learned, what they have experienced after working with us in SSL. For some people this resulted in a shaky voice, but with an overwhelming gratefulness by the chance given through being supported by SSL.
A whole lot of that gratefulness goes to all of you who is donating to SSL every week or month.

We thank each other for some good years together, and wish good luck for the years ahead.

The next thing that will happen specifically is that we will contact the School authorities in the different districts these young people originally descent from. Every district takes responsibility over the teachers, and will in the next few weeks find a suiting post for them. At this point they will be an official worker of the State, and will receive their paychecks from there. Our economic support ends at this point, but we will still visit them, and be a support when it is needed. We also wish to look at the elementary-schools our teachers are working, and support the kids with school packages, so more kids will have the opportunity to attend school.
But to accept more students. We need more donors!

Click here, if you wish make one or several donations

The big day finally came. Two and three years of studying at the Teacher Training College are over at a blink of an eye, and the students could finally accept the certificate from the Headmaster at the TTC. By our own tradition, The SSL Staff was outside waiting with big boquets.
TTC educates over 2000 students every year, and most of the families and relatives is there to see their children accept the certificate. SSL’s students views us in the SSL Staff as family, and wouldn’t think of not having us around for the celebration. The graduates has an even bigger reason to smile, they have been guaranteed a job in their own home district. The school starts at the 1st of September, and everyone is excited about what village they will be working in. Will they be working at a big school with multiple teachers, or will they be told to go deep into one of the remote mountain villages, and start a school there?
Our students and us has been through a lot, but even if our scholarship stops now and the government takes over from here, we will always be their families, and they ours. We will always be connected, and have a special bond together.

Follow our blog through the fall and winter! We will visit our new teachers, and se how they are doing in their new job.
In about two weeks we will hold a Teacher Seminar in Sepon, so keep following us!

Meet 20 year old Thongkan, from Savannakhet. He tends to the TTC(Teacher Training College), in Savannakhet. He first was supported by us when he was 9 years old; We’ve went through kindergarten, primary-school, high-school and he now studies math at college.
His family is very poor, they work every day, to make the ends meet. They can’t even afford a motorbike, so they have to rent one each month, for 1000 baht( about 30 USD), so that Thongkan can attend to school. So each month they have to earn atleast 1000 baht, to pay the bikerent, and then they will start earning for food and such.

Outside school, Thongkan works at a restaurant as a waiter. In the weekdays he tends to school from 8am – 5pm, and works from 6pm – 12am, each day and every week. He makes 2000 baht per month, and he gives all the money to his parents.

Because of this schedule, he has very little time to spend with his friends. He tries to hang out as much as he can. But the days tend to be too busy, as he only has one hour off. That hour mostly goes to getting home, change clothes, shower and get to work.
He doesn’t always get time for homework, but his boss is very nice. He lets Thongkan do his homework, when it’s not busy at the restaurant. As long as Thongkan works those hours back.
Despite the workhours, school, homework, and helping out at home, Thongkan is still one of the top students in his class.
His dream is to study abroad, but he doesn’t dare dream of it, because of his dream already has come true, being able to go to high-school and college.
It seemed like he had a very loving family, his parents is immensely proud of their son. They supports him in any way, and wish more than anything that his wishes will come true.
They are truly grateful for the support from the people out there, that is supporting their son and their family, through SSL, all these years. Thank you so much!!

This is only one of the many hardworking students we support. We truly look up to them, we look up to all the honor and energy they put into their work, how much they make out of their chances in life.
There is a lot more, that we haven’t had the chance to support yet.

Become a donor, and support these wonderful kids, so they can have the chance to be a teacher!!

We went to the university, to visit four students we have been supporting since the first started school. We sat down with them, and talked for a bit.

Phimpon was a little girl at age 7, when we first started supporting her for school. She is now 19 years old, and studying at business-school. Which she has been doing for 3 years now.
She chose this subject because of the possibilities  of getting a job, or an internship. She also likes working in an office, in stead of working outside.
She really likes the school. This was her dream, when she was a little girl. With an education, it will be easier to plan her future, easier to build a better life, and easier to support her own family.
If SSL hadn’t supported her, she would be forced to have a job, without the option of going to school.

Ponsamay is 20 years old. She was 8 years when we started supporting her. Her major in studies is English. She really likes school, and would love to become an English-Teacher. Ponsamay has always been interested in languages, and wish to continue learning. She says knowledge is extremely importand. In addition to getting a nice job, she thinks it’s important because of development, both for her self and her family. If she didn’t get help from SSL, she would have to work. And the going to school would be very difficult.

Vanta has been supported by SSL for 12 years now. She is 20 years, and studies to become a Math-teacher. Which she has been doing for 4 years now. She really likes it. Both the school and the subject. She has always liked working with numbers.
When we asked her why she wants to study, she said she was doing it for her future. To be able to work. She wants to develop her self, and wish to expand her knowledge. If she was to pay for school her self, she couldn’t afford going to any university. But she would try to go to school.

21 year old Manivon has been getting our support since he was 9. Hes subject is Agriculture and Plants. He is at his 4th year. He really enjoys the subject. He grew up liking Agriculture. He told us, the more plantspecies he knows, the better quality he can grow. He likes the school, and agriculture, because he can use these skills everywhere in life. It’s great both for improvement and development. He told us, if he didn’t get support, he can’t see the future he sees right now. It would be too much work, and too little school.

This is just a fraction of all the students we have known for many years. And it is eaqually fun every time we meet them. Watching them grow older, taking grips for their own future, and their families future.
This is why we do what we do. Both our students and us thank you for ALL your help so far.

But we are far from finished doing what we do. In the near future, we wish to expand, by supporting more primary-school students, and more university students.

If YOU want to help us expand, click here to get all information you need, to support us.