kamiel79

May 26. A very nice man.. not!

Rather than niceness, it are the events of flat bluntness that stick to a traveler's memory. I have this experience this morning at "bigbrothermouse". This is a small ngo aiming to increase literacy in rural Laos by publishing and distributing bilingual children's books. It is and remains a wonderful concept, and so we visit their ...

May 25. Hey. Pssst. Motorbike?

Countless curves await us on the eight-hour busride to Luang Prabang. The scenery is pretty as we expected, and makes up for our diet of dry cookies and sodas. I remember having a can of beer during the break, but apart from that, don't expect any events from the busride.
Arriving at Luang Prabang comes ...

May 24. Of motorbikes and hospitals.

We almost miss our morning ride to Namtha. I have the bus tickets and the bus (there are only a few daily) stops at Bryan and Leila's house early. We rush to the streets and take our seats in the crammed minibus. Quick handshakes and best-of-luck constitute our goodbye to these wonderful people. I want ...

May 23. Easy bashing German state aid.

We have a delicious noodle soup for breakfast in a place that looks like what you would expect of a Lao eatery: the wooden terrace was built in the field, and farmers are ploughing in sight. This valley has always played an important cultural role as many different hilltribes interact here. Even today, local schoolchildren ...

May 22. Paper mash.

The accident could have been avoided. It was my idea to do paper maché, and I feel a little bit guilty about it. The kids gather at the porch as usual and when we let them storming in they are enthousiastic as always. Yeon prepares a bowl of glue and we start dipping little pieces ...

May 21. Jump around.

We have found a beautiful place. We stay under the mosquito net long this morning, before enjoying an extended breakfast, as far as the reconstruction goes. The house is really quite, despite the main road that crosses the fertile valley and should connect to China and Thailand. The local market in Luang Namtha does offer ...

May 20. Butterfly children.

The bus to Muang Sing leaves early in the morning, and after a nearly two hour ride through the staggering subtropical beauty of a national park, the road winds down into the big valley of Muang Sing. This region has the most different ethnicities of Laos, and is currently being discovered by travelers and nonprofits ...

Project HOPE

Project Hope, Ubud, BaliBali, Indonesia. July 2nd - 15th, 2010.
Project Hope provides basic healthcare and educational activities for marginalized children in Ubud, Bali. We work with project Hope from July 2nd until July 15th, 2010. Our activities include
painting of the centersupporting empoverished families personal hygiene workshop
NameProject HOPE, Ubud, Bali.AimTo support ...

Myanmar Child Refugees School

Myanmar Child Refugees SchoolKuala Lumpur, Malaysia. July 1st, 2010
Every year, a number of political refugees from Myanmar make it across the border with Thailand and further into Malaysia. Their children are semi legalized but aren't entitled to basic services. A private initiative offers them education and safety from traffickers.

Occasionally, ...