Wednesday

25 JUNE
2008
thestar.com.my/lifestyle

MIND OUR ENGLISH

Care for some

purple water? >14

Text

YOUTH

Hands Percussions
Drum Slices >9

THEATRE

F o r e v e r P l a i d >19

Lifting
hopes
International humanitarian organisation
World Vision is helping to transform the
lives of Laos
Laos' new generation through
its poverty eradication work. < 2-3
By NIKI CHEONG / The Star

100% JUICE. NO SUGAR ADDED.

JUST PURE GOODNESS.

T2

YOUTH

STARTWO, WEDNESDAY 25 JUNE 2008

CHEER 2008

EDITOR: IVY SOON / youth2@thestar.com.my / 03-7967 1693

A chance to move forward

The fun begins

Johor Baru was the host of the
first cheerleading clinic of the
year. >4

YOUTH

Race to the
starting line
The race has begun, and its
for all you guys and girls out
there to make it for R.AGE
Trailblazer! >10

PEOPLE

Forces at work
Our writer recounts the horror
stories he has heard about
drug rehabilitation centres,
and who calls the shots there.
>13

HEALTH
Taiwan-based Malaysian singer Michael Wong, who is the World Vision 30-Hour Famine Ambassador, helping Aour to cook her familys
regular meal of bamboo sprouts in soup during a recent visit to Thongah village in Laos. By NIKI CHEONG/THE STAR
By NIKI CHEONG
niki@thestar.com.my

Stick with fish

Eat sensibly and dont panic

over bad news about fish. >17

MUSIC

Ready for take-off

Dexter Hollands high-flying
punk band the Offspring are
ready for more action. >20

StarTwo

EDITOR: LIM CHENG HOE

CONTACT
email: startwo@thestar.com.my
tel: 03-7967 1388
fax: 03-7955 4039
ADVERTISING:
Janet Khaw
janet@thestar.com.my
(03) 7966-8221
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peterhoe@thestar.com.my
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jean@thestar.com.my
(03) 7966-8224

PRETTY dress is what Torb wants most.

...There is little room for whims and fancies in the 10-year-old girls life, but
wearing a pretty dress is a wish she holds dear.
Torbs tenacity of spirit is nurtured on sheer
hardship and strong will.
She bears the responsibility of caring for her
family on her puny shoulders. Her single
mother, Chock, cannot see too well, and the
chore of carrying heavy buckets of water from
the nearby stream falls on Torb.

She also cleans, cooks mostly bamboo

sprouts in soup and takes care of her sevenyear-old sister.
Unfortunately, Torbs situation is not
uncommon in Laos. According to the 2004
Millennium Development Goals Progress
Report, the Indochinese country is the poorest
and least developed country in East Asia, with
more than 75% of its population living on
lower than US$2 (RM6.50) a day.
For many families living in the rural areas of
Laos, there are little income-generating opportunities. Agriculture remains their main occupation, but 93% of their produce is for their
own consumption. Most people survive on
hunting and harvesting.
There is also a lack of infrastructure in
Laos to bridge the distance between
villages and the nearest district centres or
towns.
Torbs village, Ban Thongka (Thongka
Village), for example, is more than three
hours drive away from the nearest town,
and most families are not able to afford
a bicycle, let alone, a motor vehicle.
The villages isolation does not only
affect them economically. It also means
that the children are not able to get a
proper education, and access to healthcare is extremely limited.
Aour, 13, and her two older brothers, had to drop out of school two
years ago when their mother was
diagnosed with diabetes. The initial
treatment went well, but it still cost
too much for their poor family they
simply could not afford a second visit
to the hospital in Tha Khek, which is
more than three hours drive away
from Ban Thongah where they live.
Each treatment would have cost
Aours family 500,000 Lao Kip, or
US$60 (RM195). Today, Aours
mother is unable to walk, and
crawls around if she needs to
move.

Like Torb, Aour does the housework at home

cooking, cleaning, foraging for food and taking care of her younger sister.
Torb still manages to find time to study,
though. However, in a few months time, she
too would have to drop out of school as she
suffers from the same eye ailment that has
almost robbed her mother of her sight.
There is nothing that Torb could do
because they could not afford the costs of
treatment.
For now, Torb can still go to the forest to
look for mushrooms and bamboo shoots for
their meals. She also goes mining for lead with
her mother; it is their only source of income.
Near her village, a mine has opened up in
recent years. It offers employment to some villagers, but they are paid very little.
Torb and I go mining for lead, but we usually only find enough to earn about US$11
(RM36) after five days of work, Chock shared
through a translator.
Torb and Aours families fortunes could take
a turn for the better soon, as international
humanitarian organisation World Vision has
included their villages, along with more than
160 others in the Hinboune district in Laos, in
its Area Development Programme (ADP). The
programme aims to improve the lives of the
poor in the next 10 to 15 years.
One of the ways that World Vision raises
funds to help families like Torbs is through
the 30-Hour Famine campaign, which will
culminate in Malaysia on Aug 24.
The 30-Hour Famine campaign is a global
movement against hunger and poverty.
Participants collect donations to support their
pledges to go without food for 30 hours for a
taste of what many families in poorer countries endure each day.
Earlier this month, Malaysian journalists
were invited by World Vision Malaysia to
visit some of the areas in Laos that the
organisation is helping to develop. Joining the
trip was Taiwan-based Malaysian singer
Michael Wong (or Guang Liang, as he is known

Torb fetches water several times a day from a stream

about 500m away from her home in Thongka Village.

STARTWO, WEDNESDAY 25 JUNE 2008

to fans), who is the 30-Hour Famine

Ambassador, and TV personality Owen Yap, a
30-Hour Famine Angel.
Their role is to help spread the word on the
dire conditions that many families in Laos are
living in, and to encourage Malaysians to lend
a helping hand.
External help from agencies such as World
Vision is crucial in tackling poverty in developing countries like Laos because they are
able to bring in technology and provide
knowledge and skills, which can help the
people improve their lives.
In Laos, the poor is so bent on day-to-day
survival and it is hard for them to look too far
ahead.
Education, one of the tools for social mobility, is not accessible to the poor in rural areas.
Even when they do get the opportunity,
children in the villages study in old, wooden
classrooms without fans and lighting.
Students often do not study beyond grade
two or three as there is a shortage of trained
teachers.
There is only one school in Thongka village, and its in a small, old building. It only
offers grades one to three, so many kids are
not able to further their education, World
Vision ADP managers assistant, Sonesay
Thammavong, said.
Nevertheless, the children speak fondly of
school.
Joy, 9, also from Thongka, enjoys school
and loves to read, although she only has textbooks as reading material.
I like studying maths and Lao language,
said the young girl who comes from a family
of nine children.
In other areas in Laos that World Vision is
working, improving education facility is one
of the key strategies to lift people from
poverty.
At the Phalanxai ADP in the Savannakhet
Province, World Vision is currently building a
concrete primary school to replace a dilapidated building which has walls made of
leaves. The school is located in the Nakair village, and is expected to be ready by August, in
time for the new school semester in
September.
There are currently 281 students, who hail
from 16 nearby villages, enrolled in the
primary school.
This new building will allow the children
to study from grade one to grade five and
encourage them to stay in school, Latthaya
Kho, World Vision Savannakhets Design,
Monitoring and Evaluation assistant, said.
In each ADP, for which long-term funding
is secured through its International Child
Sponsorship Programme, World Vision uses

YOUTH

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Education is a fundamental part of improving the lives of the poor in Laos, and keeping them out of poverty.
an integrated development approach to work
on a variety of aspects including Mother and
Child Health Care, Food Security, Water and
Sanitation, and Education.
In Laos, there are currently 19 ADPs at
various stages of implementation.
Besides the ADPs, World Vision also helps
people in other districts through programmes
such as its Livelihood Support Project and
Improved Crop Yield (ICY) Project.
Under the ICY project in the Nachan
Village, Authumpone District, 40-year-old
Somphong and his family were given 1kg
each of three types of seeds for paddy
farming.
In five years the project started in 2001
Somphong has become self sufficient, and
was even able to provide his neighbours with
seeds to start planting their own rice.
When everyone saw how successful I was
doing, they all wanted some seeds to the
point that I almost did not have enough for
myself for another round of planting,
Somphong shared.
The provision of seeds by World Vision has
raised his income and improved his familys
living standards; he is even able to buy a
motorcycle and make his home more comfortable.
These projects are a clear indication of
how a little help can go a long way in
helping the many families struggling to

The new primary school in Nakair Village in Laos that is being built under the World
Vision School Construction Project.

survive in rural Laos.

For those in Torb, Aour and Joys villages,
the help extended by World Vision is a
promise of a better future for the next generation.
If you are interested to take part in the World
Vision 30-Hour Famine Campaign, visit
www.worldvision.com.my.

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