These are very down to earth: toilets in Laos. Does Lao Communist know how to help Laotian people?

 

Cached:  http://news.yourolivebranch.org/2011/03/10/grassroots-development-fund-aids-laos-villages/

Ode Magazine
March 10th, 2011

Beautiful people doing beautiful things. Not necessarily with a lot of funds, but surely with tremendous idealism and dreams. Those are the kinds of people Ode is all about.

Credit: Broken Sphere

Here is another such person with great dreams. These are very down to earth: toilets in Laos.

Please read the following correspondence a friend sent me. Her friend is the mother of Paddy, the founder of this remarkable project. And if you want to see some photos or read more, please visit their Facebook page.

For the last five years, my son Paddy has been dividing his time between Vancouver (a couple of months a year) and SE Asia (primarily Laos).

He started as a volunteer with the Bokeo Nature Reserve and Treehouse Eco-tourism project in northern Laos. While working on the project he lived in the village of Houay Xai, slowly accepted and trusted by the Hmong people, from the small children to the elders of the village, fluent in their language and customs.

Before he left Vancouver for his fourth year away, he decided that there was more he could accomplish on his own for the villagers (his Hmong family – as he calls them). He worked for a bit in Australia and raised enough money to build 12 toilets. See his report below:

Basic Outdoor Toilet

In many villages in Laos, isolated or right beside a major road there is still little or no infrastructure in place. Villagers usually go into the bushes near the village and find a good spot; the waste is then cleaned up by either the pigs or the dogs, creating a danger of contracting diseases from these edible animals (Tapeworm infections pose a serious public health problem in many less developed countries due to poor sanitation conditions.) Disease is most common where livestock, such as cattle and pigs, are raised in areas where human feces are not disposed of in a sanitary manner.

Costs Bricks – Made locally in Lao Concrete – Made in Thailand but purchased through local suppliers Gravel – Most likely available from rivers and streams, if not then easily purchased Toilet bowl – Made in Thailand, also purchased through local suppliers Wood – Possibly supplied by the village, if not then bought through a source that does not deal in poached timber from Nationally Protected Areas Labour – Most labour done by the villagers themselves – digging the pit, and moving sand to mix the concrete – Necessary to pay a local skilled mason to ensure that the toilets are made to proper standards Transportation – pay a ute to pick up the materials and deliver them to the village

Total Cost (in Canadian dollars) Per Toilet: $200

After consulting with the village chief and local families about the most suitable location, we will arrange a small team to help get the project underway. When each toilet is completed, photographs will be taken and posted on the Bokeo Development Fund Facebook group page. Regular updates will also be posted, keeping everyone informed as the project progresses.

Life is challenging in Laos – a beautiful tiny country – third world and all but forgotten by aid agencies and other charitable organizations we see and hear about. After the 12 toilets were built last year, Paddy had villagers lined up to plead their case for why they should get a toilet. This is why we have decided to continue the fundraising efforts. We have established a society call The Bokeo Development Fund and are in the process of getting charitable status.

Until we are granted charitable status, we are campaigning for funds at the grassroots level – family, friends and email contacts.

We are asking for you to help us with any amount you are able. A Bokeo Development Fund Society bank account has been set up, and we also take Visa and Mastercard. Just contact us at bokeodevelopmentfund@gmail.com or send cheques to the following address:

Bokeo Development Fund #77 – 6588 Barnard Drive Richmond, BC V7C 5R8

Thanks for reading. Your support means a great deal to us. All it takes is a small amount of money…

…And I would add dreams, passion, persistence, and Love.

I recently received an email from Paddy’s mother. Here is what she said:

An update about my son: Paddy is now living permanently in Bangkok with his Thai partner, Mae. This allows him to be only a few hours away from Laos, able to make decisions with the Project Manager, release funds for the next round of ‘outdoor sanitation units’ to be built, and meet with village elders and leaders when the need arises.

As he takes no income from the Society, he has entered into a partnership with an eco-resort on the Thai island of Koh Kood, building and running a children’s summer camp – teaching children about nature, recycling, arts and crafts, English. This has never been done in Thailand and the first camp is set to run at the end of March. How exciting!

He has also been asked to write a monthly article for a Thai magazine on creating useful items from recycled materials.

Anyway, enough from the proud parent…

Story originated at Ode Magazine

Free Tibet: Dalai Lama gives up role as political leader

The spiritual leader’s move is intended to prevent a political vacuum after his death and ensure an effective response to Chinese crackdowns.

The Dalai Lama reads a statement from the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile at the Tsuglakhang Temple in the Mcleod Ganj village in Dharamshala, India. His statement came during a ceremony marking the 52nd anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising against Chinese rule. (STRDEL, AFP/Getty Images / March 10, 2011)

Cached:  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-india-dalai-lama-20110311,0,1889100.story

By Mark Magnier Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 10, 2011, 3:35 a.m.

Reporting from New Delhi

The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, said Thursday that he will pass the reins of political power to the elected prime minister of the self-proclaimed Tibetan government in exile.

The announcement formalizes an approach the Tibetan leader has been edging toward for years, hoping to prevent a political vacuum after his death and ensure an effective response to Chinese crackdowns and Beijing’s increasingly effective use of diplomatic pressure.

But the Dalai Lama, 75, made a point of saying he wasn’t retiring, and his global status and reputation ensure that he will continue to play a major role in Tibetan affairs.

The Dalai Lama’s decision will be presented Monday to the parliament in exile, which convenes in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala.

“As early as the 1960s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power,” the Dalai Lama said in a statement Thursday. “Now, we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect.”

Lobsang Tenzin, 71, also known as Samdhong Rinpoche, steps down this month after serving for the past decade as prime minister in exile. His replacement will be elected March 20 from among three candidates: Lobsang Sangey, 42, a Harvard Law fellow; Tenzin Namgyal Tethong, 63, a Tibetan studies fellow at Stanford University; and Tashi Wangdi, 63, a civil servant with the government-in-exile, with Sangey expected to win.

The Dalai Lama’s announcement comes as the Chinese government tightens its grip on the restive Tibetan plateau, which saw a major uprising in March 2008. Recent pro-democracy demonstrations in the Middle East and North Africa have further unnerved the Communist Party in Beijing, analysts said.

China responded skeptically to the announcement. “He has often talked about retirement in the past few years,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters Thursday in Beijing. “I think these are his tricks to deceive the international community.”

At issue is whether future Tibetan leaders are chosen by China or Dharamsala, said Rukmani Gupta, a research fellow at New Delhi’s Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.

Recent attempts by Beijing to influence the succession by controlling the Karmapa Lama and the Panchen Lama, among Tibetan Buddhism’s most senior positions, were unsuccessful.

“Their last two efforts ended in failure,” said Robbie Barnett, director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Program at Columbia University. “The Karmapa fled China, and their candidate for Panchen Lama has not been accepted by the Tibetan people.”

Barnett said it may be difficult for outsiders to understand why China gets so worked up about a religious leader, but he noted that control and stamping out any potential threat are fundamental to their psyche.

“There’s deep anxiety for China that they don’t leave a vulnerability for the party that allows a new, charismatic leader to emerge,” he said. “A key Chinese official recently told me that the specter of the Dalai Lama returning is more serious than a vast army.”

Kate Saunders, a London-based spokeswoman with the International Campaign for Tibet, said the Dalai Lama’s decision represents a further move to ensure greater democracy among Tibetans, both in China and in exile. The announcement came on the 52nd anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet amid a Chinese government crackdown in 1959.

Barbara Demick in the Beijing bureau contributed to this report.Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

 

Related:

• What now for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause? The Guardian
• Profile: The Dalai Lama BBC News