Laos
Landlocked between China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, Laos is a small, sparsely-populated country that is still very poor, despite real economic development. It is classified as a Least Developed Country by the United Nations.
With a population of 7.5 million, Laos has the lowest population density in the region at 27 inhabitants per km2 . Its surface area is 236,800 km2, and it is linked to Thailand by three Friendship Bridges spanning the Mekong in Vientiane, Thakhek and Pakse. We have been operating in southern Laos since 2012 in the province of Khammouane, in the district of Boualapha. We work in the 15-village Lang-Khang cluster, located on the border with Vietnam, where we develop projects promoting access to education, hygiene and nutrition. We will continue to develop sustainable projects there. Following feasibility missions carried out in 2023 and 2024, we are currently working on a project to develop new initiatives in other villages in the same district: the Kayab group of villages and the small town of Boualapha.
We have a permanent, salaried team on site: a project manager, BounMa, and three project coordinators, Doliseang, Parthana and Lucien.
Education
For sustainable access to education
A Sourires d'Enfants school is an attractive building equipped with several classrooms, a playground, an enclosed outdoor area, outdoor play equipment, a canteen kitchen and toilets.
These isolated villages have very few books in their schools. We have launched a programme to give a large number of children access to reading material.
Since 2016 we have organised four youth projects bringing together French students and young Laotians to renovate elementary schools in the villages where we work. Built out of wood by the local people, some of the schools were built on bare earth, with broken doors, torn shutters and very precarious furniture. Several adjoining classrooms no longer had any internal partitions.
Sourires d'Enfants helps young Laotians to build their professional future. Our aim is to offer them professional opportunities without encouraging a rural exodus. All the young people we have trained are now working in their villages with a high level of professional qualification.
Access to healthcare, water, hygiene and nutrition
Almost a third of the world's population still has no access to clean water
Although access to water was already a major step forward, lack of drinking water was a real problem, causing many infections and diarrhoea, especially among children.
Many Laotians living in remote rural areas have no access to healthcare.
We regularly organise campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of personal hygiene, hand washing and teethcare among our schoolchildren.
Menstruation is a real obstacle to education for teenage girls: the frequent absence of toilets in schools, the lack of sanitary protection and, above all, a lack of knowledge about the female cycle and the significance of menstruation mean that more than 75% of girls in the villages of Lang Khang to interrupt their schooling for one week a month when they are menstruating, and 30 to 40% gradually stop their schooling altogether for this reason.
To promote better nutrition for children, we are opening a canteen in each of our schools, where pupils can receive a balanced lunch every day and a snack in the afternoon.
Our canteens are run by volunteer parents who come in every day to cook and serve meals to their children.
Women's empowerment and local development
We have opened two cotton weaving workshops in Lang-Khang (2013) and Phanob (2015) thanks to our local partners: the local branch of the Laos Women's Union, which manages the workshop, and the Vientiane-based company Lao Cotton, set up by the Laotian government and the United Nations to share their knowledge with women in rural areas of the country.
What is a mothers' group? A meeting place for women and with women : regular meetings of women, including pregnant women and young mothers.
Since 2021, we have been helping around 50 families to develop economic activities in their own homes.
