Dear Bamboo School friends,
This week has been a busy week for us all, as usual.
First of all, let us introduce Patricia (PAT) from U.S.A as our new nursing volunteer in Nong
Khiaw and Muang Ngoi. She will be assisting the nursing team in Nong Khiaw as well as going
to Muang Ngoi every 10 days to support the nurses there during the market day (when a lot
of patients come from the surroundings villages to get checked).
In order to get her working permission, we had to go to Luang Prabang to get a signature
from a certain doctor there, as well as get our visas extended. Pat had been working for 3
months at the children’s hospital in Luang Prabang and comes with 42 years experience
under her belt. What a great asset to have on the team!
Furthermore, Frances (also referred to as Franki) has taken a 2 week vacation in order to
meet her friends and family in Laos. She is, however, coming back to join us after her time
off and we could not be happier about this news! She has been working very hard in Ban
Khon Khuen and we are more than glad to have her back in the team.
Silke, our nursing volunteer from Germany based in Ban Khon Khuen, has been teaching the
villagers in Khon Khuen how to keep injuries clean and is planning to show the villagers how
to reach the pharmacy in the village on the other side of the river (needs to be crossed by
boat). Apart from that, she has been having a difficult time trying to explain to the villagers
how important it is to attend a doctor in real hospitals (as in Nong Khiaw). Most of the
villagers still believe in the spiritual power of ghosts and ancestors and therefore sometimes
refuse to visit a proper medical facility.
Only yesterday Silke witnessed a woman who was dying in the village (it was too late for a
hospitalization and the woman was very old, too), which really affected all of us, and
especially Silke, who was holding this woman’s hand the entire time, massaging her
forehead. Her presence was yet highly appreciated by all the villagers.
Mohsin, our medical volunteer from the U.S.A was busy supervising a sports festival in Nong
Khiaw. He was assigned by the Nong Khiaw hospital to the football game in case of
witnessing any serious injuries. As per him, there were a few people with sprains and
dehydration, which the nurses handled very professionally.
As per me, (Isabel, the general manager) I had to go to Luang Prabang to get my Visa
extended. There, I also visited the Technical College. Here the Bamboo School Foundation
supports a scholarship of 4 young adults between the ages of 19-22, who pursue different
college degrees in basic business and mechanic. Therefore I went to settle the payment for
tuition fees and material for the 2 upcoming months.
In Luang Prabang I met Jorge, a web designer and blogger from Spain, who was very
interested in our projects and wants to write about us in his blog (which has about 2000
followers). This would be a great publicity for us and therefore I want to invite him to our
recent projects, so he will be able to take all the necessary pictures and spread the word
about our great foundation!
I wish everyone a great week and hope for everyone to have the kind of sunshine we have
down here in Laos!
Isabel Montano, Laos General Manager