Center Provides Safe, Nurturing Environment for Children in Vientiane, Laos
Children performing traditional dance at the Donkoi Development Center.
Photo: David Mulder/CWS
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In Vientiane today, several problems continue to nag Laotian children and youth. They are besieged with urban problems and issues that governmental agencies have failed to address; namely urban unemployment, juvenile delinquency, teenage drug use, runaway and street children, exploitation and trafficking of children, child labor, high drop out rates, lack of skills, illiteracy, etc. The government institutions assigned to address such problems are unable to address such problems due to limited infrastructure, lack of resources, and inadequate training of staff.
To help these children and youth at risk, CWS has been funding several complementary projects to target this group in the capital of Laos including the Donkoi Children Development Center, based in Vientiane, Laos. At this center, young people are taught the vocational arts such as weaving, gardening, basket making, carpentry and pottery. They are also exposed to the creative arts, literacy drives and theatrical productions. They also participate in several youth exchanges all over the country. Besides being productive citizens, they will now be able to contribute to an overall rise in the average household income of the city.
The center was built in 2000 and is a successful after school program managed and run by Ms. Xuyen Dangers, CWS consultant and United Church of Christ staff. Xuyen is Director of theCenter and also works with the Open University in Vietnam. She has also participated in various international conferences on children’s rights, child labor laws, and commercial sexual exploitation of children held in Yokohama , Jakarta, and Bangkok. She is a much sought after speaker whenever she visits major cities in the United States.