Helping those in Laos

The world needs to be an educated society but due to locations and cultures, it is difficult

for minorities or third world countries to receive the education they deserve. There have been

wars and fighting in Laos since before, during, and after the Vietnam War. The Hmong

population in Laos has been targeted by their government because the United States decided to

recruit the Hmong males to fight against the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. Due to

the targeted Hmong population, many have fled or gone into hiding, which has prevented them

from receiving a proper education. Even before the war, most Hmong people did not obtain an

education higher than a fifth grade education (Bankston). I would like to use the hundred million

dollar grant to help improve the education for the Hmong population in Laos.

Since the country of Laos is a mountainous one, people are spread out. As of July 2014,

the total population in Laos is just under seven million, and about thirty five percent of the total

population, just under three million, are children from birth to age fourteen (Laos

Demographics Profile 2014). It takes about $30,000 to build a school in Laos, which can hold

and educate about one hundred children (Neta). I want to build three hundred schools, which will

cost around nine million dollars. The schools will be able to instruct roughly thirty thousand

children. The factor that needs to be considered is the issue of having someone to teach these

students within the new schools. I will employ 1,200 teachers to travel and live in Laos to teach

within these schools. I choose to employ this amount of teachers because then there will be

approximately four teachers per school and each teacher will have around twenty-five children in

his or her classroom. Each teacher will be given a contract that states they will employed for the

first year with a salary of $45,000. The total expenditure of the teachers salaries for the first year

amounts to 54 million dollars. This annual salary is within the middle of the range for educators
teaching abroad. Abroad teaching salary depends on where the teacher will be instructing and

teachers are usually paid between twenty thousand to ninety-five thousand dollars, depending on

the countrys cost of living (Teaching Jobs Overseas). The cost of living in Laos is lower than

in most other countries because Laos is one of the poorest countries. This then leaves six million

dollars for fundraising more money so that we can still employ teachers at these schools.

Before the Hmong people in Laos can start being educated, they need to be given

nourishing food. Many Hmong people living in rural areas do not have much access to nutritious

food and this has caused children to become stunted. People are malnourished because Laos is

landlocked and has several floods, droughts, and pest outbreaks which causes food to be scarce. I

will team up with the World Food Programme (WFP) and donate one million dollars to help this

program help fight world hunger. In Laos, this organization has already setting up the farmers

with local markets (World Food Programme). Feeding the general population of Laos is not

enough. For the children who are already in school, there are school meals programs that gives

snacks and take home rations to help feed their family. School meal programs cost $10 to $60 per

child for a year (Buttenheim, 7). I plan to spend the last of my grant money, which is thirty

million dollars, on funding for the school meal program. By using the rest of the money on this,

there will be about five hundred thousand children benefiting from this program. This amount is

using the highest cost for the meal program, $60. The money for funding this meal program can

be used towards the children that attend the schools that I plan to build for about sixteen years or

for five hundred thousand children at any school for one year. Students will be able to

concentrate on their lessons rather than worrying about when their next meal will come. When

schools have meal programs, there are improvements with childrens nutrition, which reduces
stunting. Schools also see an increase in attendance because children know that they will receive

food when they are there (Kristof).

This area in the world is in desperate need of these improvements. The people in Laos

want to be educated but due to lack of funds and food availability, education has been pushed

aside. By tackling the issue of hunger in Laos, people will have one less problem to worry about

and can focus on other important thinks. Without education, a person cannot move up in the

world. Many people are stuck in less than ideal situations because they do not have the means to

enhance their circumstances. With education, a person can obtain a well-paying job and make a

better life for his or herself. Especially in Laos, Hmong people who obtain an education will be

able to leave the country and start over in a place where they are not limited or hunted by the

government.

There will be backlash for the actions that I plan on achieving. The Laos government will

not appreciate that I am educating the Hmong people or even the general population because the

government fears that the people then might rise up against them. By educating the people, they

will be aware of the happenings in their country and around the world. The Laos government will

have to see that in educating society, it will benefit the whole country in the long run. The

economy might improve or the country would become more modernized. Because the Laos

government is hostile to the Hmong population, the educators and supporters might be in danger

for trying to help the minority. But anytime that a person stands up for the right thing, there is a

chance that other people will disagree and try to hinder or oppress his or her efforts. Malala was

targeted by her government for wanting to educate women. The leaders in Malalas country

thought women were only property and they considered women lesser beings than males

(Yousafzai). One should not be afraid to stand up for ones belief just in case his or her idea is
challenged and rejected by an authority. It will be difficult to find teachers who are willing to put

their lives at risk but if we take precautions and follow all of the laws, the educators should be

relatively safe. The backlash from the government of Laos is not the only challenge that will

arise with this agenda. There is also the challenge of a language barrier between the teachers and

students. Teachers will have to know the native language called Lao and Laoss culture in order

to affectively instruct their pupils. Having teachers knowing the native language and culture of

Laos, will help the students learn more easily and be more receptive to world views. Intercultural

education should be how the students are taught in any foreign country. In the ever changing and

global society, people need to know and understand the different cultures and languages of the

world (Lopez, 9-10).

I believe that educating the people of Laos is the best way to help the world. Not all the

people will benefit from or be receptive to being educated but there are those who will be

interested because they want to have a better life. There are those who need their children to stay

home and work in fields. But for those children who attend the schools, they will be able to help

their families more when they have graduated from school and obtain better, well-paying jobs.

Starting an education can have a lasting effect on a family. It can improve the lives of the

generations to come and continue to improve a familys status or living conditions. All it takes to

better ones self or family is an education.

 Work Cited

Bankston, Carl L. "Family and Community Dynamics." Hmong Americans. Advameg Inc., 2015.

Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/Hmong-Americans.html>.

Buttenheim, Alison, Harold Alderman, and Jed Friedman. "Impact Evaluation of School Feeding

Programs in Lao PDR." The World Bank, 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

<file:///C:/Users/sterneme/Downloads/Impact Evaluation of School Feeding in Lao.pdf>.

Kristof, Nicholas, and Sheryl WuDunn. "Investing In Education." Half the Skies. NY: Alfred A.

Knope, 2008. Print.

"Laos Demographics Profile 2014." Laos Demographics Profile 2014. CIA World Factbook, 30

June 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

<http://www.indexmundi.com/laos/demographics_profile.html>.

Lopez, Luis Enrique. "Reaching the Unreachable: Indigenous Intercultural Bilingual Education

in Latin America." Education for All Global Monitoring (2009): 1-13. Print.

Neta, Nisandeh. "Schools for Laos." Indiegogo. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

<https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/schools-for-laos#/>.

"Teaching Jobs Overseas." Salaries and Benefits. Liquid Web Inc. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

<http://joyjobs.com/resources/salaries.htm>.

"World Food Programme." Lao PDR. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <https://www.wfp.org/countries/lao-

pdr/home>.

Yousafzai, Malala, and Christina Lamb. "Prologue and Chapters 5-7." I Am Malala: The Girl

Who Stood up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. Print.