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School for Kids

Gradient Ocean

Alan Groh

Oct 3, 2023

Laos

Categories:

Children, Education

Laos is a landlocked, developing country in the heart of southeast Asia. Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and China border it. The country has a small population of 6.5 million made up of several ethnic minority groups. Laos is also the most heavily bombed country in the world. To this day, rural and remote villages are living with the fallout of the 1960′s Vietnam War.


Laos is abundantly rich in culture and traditions. Its people are very friendly and hospitable. Because Laos is still rebuilding and the population is young, this puts a heavy burden on providing schooling. Government resources to build schools are limited, and most of the schools that are built are poorly constructed - usually of bamboo and thatch which deteriorates quickly. Students often endure the rigors of the rainy season with barely a roof over their heads - not the most encouraging environment for learning!


School for Kids (SKL) was established to provide safe, comfortable schools for Laotian children in poor, rural areas of the country, in 2007 by a group of Laotian ex-patriots (expats). It is a Canadian registered charity (830245411 RR0001). While its central committee is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the organization has active supporters and committees across Canada and the world. All SKL’s members are volunteers, meaning that every penny contributed to their endeavors goes directly towards the mission: that of building schools for children in rural regions of Laos who are in critical need of an adequate learning environment.


Funding for schools built by SKL Inc. comes from individual donations, and diverse initiatives such as garage sales, concerts, and annual fundraising dinners, and to date they have completed nine schools in Laos!


SKL just announced a new cost-sharing partnering approach for two school building projects. This is a new collective collaboration with two respected local professional and business groups in Laos. The first project is a 5-classroom Primary School for the village of Khonevat in Xaysomboun Province, and the second project is a 7-classroom secondary school for the village of Phoxaykhoun in the province of Savannakhet.


Many of us live in communities with expats from other countries around the world. Does your community or organization reach out to these groups to understand their connections to their countries of origin? This may be an excellent opportunity for non-profits, such as faith-based organizations to expand their work and deepen expatriate bonds with their adopted community. A past example was a coalition of churches in one city in Florida (USA) that helped Haitians rebuild housing damaged by an earthquake. What can we do as one community to help another somewhere around the world?


You can learn more about School for Kids (SKL) and their work at https://www.sklinc.org.


Originally published October 12, 2021.

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0921.102.01.101221

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