HOTLINE - week of May 30, 2005

Xa is a nine-year-old Akha ethnic minority boy from a village in Oudomxay Province, in northern Laos. He attends grade one in a bamboo and thatch school in his village. This is the first school for Xa's village, and Xa's first grade class is the first in the village to ever go to school and to learn to read and write.

Xa’s village has not had a school until now because of its isolation – particularly in the rainy season, and because the village is made up of Akha minority people who speak their own language and have not yet learned Lao, making communication difficult. The Government has sent several teachers to establish schools, but these teachers all found the living and working conditions too difficult and did not stay there.

Because Church World Service has been working in the area for several years, the local education department asked if CWS could help in some way to bring primary education to Xa's village. CWS found Akha minority teachers from another province where CWS also has education projects and arranged for these teachers to come and teach grade one for Xa's village and four surrounding villages.

Given the years of working relationships and the trust that exist between CWS and the various Lao education departments and the government, CWS was in a unique position to make a difference. It could be said that at this particular time, CWS's intervention was the only possibility for bringing primary education to the people in this area.

The first year of the grade one class is coming to an end, and Xa and his classmates are doing very well with their studies. All of them plan to attend the first grade two class in the village after their school vacation.

The teachers have agreed to stay for three years. In addition, the government has sent its own teachers to teach and to work with the teachers who were arranged by CWS.

Now CWS is helping the five villages to build better classroom buildings so the students will be protected from rain. To encourage the teachers to stay in this difficult working environment, CWS has also helped the teachers build a basic dormitory for their housing, and CWS is assisting the local people to provide a clean water supply for the teachers and the students who attend the school. There is still much to be done and several more years of work to ensure that the schools are permanently established.

Xa now says that he wants to be a school teacher when he grows up. The idea and possibility that these students may be the future teachers for the Akha villages in this area is exciting and inspiring for everyone involved in the project, including the village people. Everyone involved is working hard to make this project and these schools successful.

Because of the success of this project, local education departments in this and other ethnic minority areas in northern Laos are asking CWS to help them establish primary education. In Laos, CWS is now developing a program for "Education in Especially Difficult Circumstances."

Though fighting between government forces, the Sudanese Liberation Army, and other militia continues in several areas of south Darfur, the areas where CWS partners are working remain relatively safe. CWS is helping to provide food, health care, clean water, and sanitation for some 325,000 displaced people in Darfur, as well as nutritional assistance for several thousand of the most severely malnourished children.

Partners have formed agricultural committees in a number of camps to organize seed distribution and provide information to the camp residents. Host communities also take part in these activities.

In cooperation with the Sudanese Ministry of Health, vaccination of children in partner-supported clinics has been increased and is now taking place two times a week instead of once a month. In addition, midwives participating in partner programs have taken a refresher course to improve their skills and raise the quality of care for pregnant women in the camps.

Your prayers and support - and your participation in CROP WALKS and the TOOLS & BLANKETS Program - make possible these and other life sustaining programs. For information on how to get involved, please call your Church World Service/CROP Regional Office toll-free at 1-888-CWS-CROP, that's 1-888-297-2767.

For information about free loan videos, please call 1-800-297-1516, ext. 338, or e-mail us at: videos@churchworldservice.org.

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