Longtime CPI volunteer Sandy Schubach is traveling with Southeast Asia Program Director Melody Mociulski and videotaping some of our programs there. This week, they are in Lao PDR where Clear Path is establishing a micro-credit program in an area heavily impacted by mines.
Yesterday and today I met so many amazing, dedicated, courageous people: a woman with a disability who opened up her home to help other women with disabilities and now runs a sustainable educational center to teach those women with disabilities skills and independence; an 18-year-old student in that center who has learned to weave with one hand; women who run a nation-wide union of Laos women; a man who has lived in SE Asia for over 20 years and is dedicated to helping clear the area of unexploded ordnance; volunteers who help run a shop to build and deliver wheelchairs to those in need of them; and people determined to set up clinics in the provinces to provide the most basic of heath care.
Traveling and meeting with other non-governmental agencies gives such an insight into the people and culture of a country, and truly makes me appreciate how much I have, and realize how some live with so little. While it's difficult to learn how much some of the local agencies are struggling to fulfill basic needs, it's encouraging to see their optimism and determination to provide services.
On a different note, Vientiane is an interesting city, with exotic smells, crowded streets, temples, heat and humidity. We made an early morning visit to a stupa and enjoyed walking around watching the city come to life. Tomorrow we leave this capital and head north to Luang Prabang.
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