HelpALittleDavid's Blog · Loving Laos

I received a phone call in July from Peter Banwell a Trustee at LEOT School. Recently the school received 20 computers from the World Bank to set up a computer classroom. With no local resources to set up computers, networking, software on such a scale and establishing systems to allow the ongoing maintenance and availability of the systems,  without my help the computer room may not go ahead as planned in October.

So I was very excited when Peter asked if I could return to Laos in Sep and Oct to:

1. set up their computers and network infrastructure,
2. establish a procedure for the ongoing maintenance of the system so it remains available,
3. develop a computer training course using the Click Start curriculum from the United Kingdom,
4. run train the trainer courses for the local Lao teachers,
5. implement the computer course with all 200 students.

This will be my biggest challenge at the school yet and a very exciting one because it establishes a permanent ongoing computer training facility at the school for all students in the coming year (starting Sept 2015) and future years.

You may know that recently I developed a thrombosis in my upper arm, (unrelated to travelling), which is now fully cleared after a recent hospital stay. It was looking like I would have to cancel my planned assignment as the medical support was not available in Luang Prabang however Roche has kindly loaned me a personal blood testing kit while I am away! Without this nothing would have been possible.

Thank you to everyone who has helped out in a variety of ways and for sharing my updates.

You can assist by donating here, and thanks to all who have donated.

Laos Stats

Luang Prabang is a town located in north central Laos, at the confluence of the Nam Khan river and Mekong River about 300 km north of  Vientiane. The population of the city is about 50,000.

• Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world.
• 80% of the population are subsistence farmers. 55% of the population are under 20.
• Out of an estimated population of 6.6 million only 32% live in urban areas. The remainder of the population lives in mountainous, hard to reach parts of the country.
• Access to education is limited to those families that can afford to pay for their children to go school and to those families who can also afford for their children not to support them in farming activities.

Education, Laos

By David

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