Sponsoring a Lao student

I travel to Lao several times a year on business and was often approached to sponsor a student there. My hesitation to do this proved me right as during the last year I received disturbing information. Some students , former Monks and Novices , met their sponsors at their former temples. But many of the students , now at University or Colleges in Vientiane showing not much interest to learn , but using the money for alcohol and drugs. Or in the case of former Novice Boun Lord Vat Nong temple , now studying at Lao American College in Vientiane , who was so insincere ';collecting'; 6(six) sponsorships for himself , each sponsor not knowing the other , which gives him now a monthly ';income'; of around 600$ per month, almost the twice the average yearly income in Lao.

This is a classical example how corrupt people become , abusing the generousity of visitors and sponsors.

Sponsoring a Lao student

Yes, Moose, it is an example of how corrupt people become, but also an example of how eager naive people are to part with their money.

I presently sponsor a monk and a novice for their education at Lao American College, and got to know them before I decided to sponsor them. I go over there at least once a year to check up on them. (I stayed at the home of the novice with his parents last September.)They are very eager to get an education and are excellent students. Perhaps people who don%26#39;t have the time to do this but want to help could establish a private scholarship at Lao American (they have several already) where you%26#39;d be sponsoring a student that THEY choose.

By the way, how did you hear about Novice Boun(Lord?) and what is the name of the temple? (Wat Nong? Where is that?)

Sponsoring a Lao student

It really disturbed me to hear about the abuse of sponsorship like this.

I have some correspondence with a Professor from London University (I think) and he and his friends had set up an education trust for %26#39;poor%26#39; Lao students. The trust is called ';Lao Education Opportuniyty trust'; www.leot.org.uk

If I were moose009, I would cut off the sponsorship immediately. There are thousand more students who need help. Even better, if you have a chance to contact %26#39;other%26#39; sponsors, inform them of the behaviour of this student.

I am ashamed of that kind of behaviour by that student. I am a Lao and I think that materielism has really corrupted some innocent souls.....

Please do not think that i am harsh. But I certainly do not want the world to see Lao people in a negative way. One bad %26#39;mango%26#39; (instead of apple) can ruin the whole basket.....

Quidnunc-

I don%26#39;t think Moose actually was sponsoring that ';student';, rather he had heard of the situation (correct me if I%26#39;m wrong, Moose).

I am a university teacher in Japan and see how kids here just drag through school, failing tests %26amp; repeating entire school years on their mommy and daddy%26#39;s money, taking education entirely for granted. If a young person ina developing nation wants an education and is sincere and honest about it, I will do my best to help.

I am still curious as to how Moose heard about this ';corrupt'; monk, and where the temple is. Please fill us in! :-)

Dear Maneki,

Sorry if I jumped the gun....

As I said before, I felt so sad and embarrassed to hear about the abuse of sponsorship like that...especially when there are more people who need help.

Anyway, if anyone who wants to sponsor students in laos, it is advisable to go through an organisation where the money can be monitored.

My Lao friends who actually came back to laos from the US to volunteer for an organisation called ';choice for children'; (I am not sure....will get back to you on that).

I feel that you are quite an oficionado of Laos and Luang Phrabang. Our paths may have crossed either in VTE or Lp......

Next time you are there, I%26#39;ll buy you a cup of coffee...!!!

Cheers.

Sadly, I%26#39;ve also heard about such abuse of sponsorships in Luang Prabang wherein the same %26#39;student%26#39; received multiple sponsorships with none of the sponsors knowing that the same student recevied funds from others.

Unfortunately even some of the so-called NGO and non-profit organizations are rife with abuse and corruption. So choose your organization very carefully.

Thus far, although there are many so-called non-profits in Luang Prabang, I%26#39;ve come across only one where I really trust the director/organizer.

I think it%26#39;s a wonderful thing that travellers want to support young people in Laos in need of an education but they should also take the time to ask the hard questions and request a copy of financial statements to see if they are genuine. If there%26#39;s any hesitation or they cannot produce said documents upfront, then I would be very suspect.

Or another thing to do is to check the progress of their studies...!!!!

Make a condition of sponsorship. If they are genuine students, get will perform well.

And another thing (again) we should see that GOOD and poor syiudents get the sponsorship not just anyone who has the %26#39;nouse%26#39; to approach foreigners to do that.

Please do not think that I am heartless.....

I was a DUX of my school but very poor. We (the family) tried everthing to support each pther. Our parents passed away when i was 12 and I was raised by my sister. I am the 7th boy of a family of 8. I am proud to say that we did t get any sponsorship from the (then) government. Evryone of family is doing o.k.

I amthinking very seriously to return to Laos to teach those novices or orphans either in VTE , LP or Savannakhet (where I came from). As I said earlier in my othjer message, I already have a friend who is doing the teaching in Laos as a Volunteer.

I ust want to reciprocate what Loas had given me. My identity, Pride, and what I want most is to give those Lao kids a better chance to succeed in their lives.

That is why I do not like to hear that Lao students abusing other people%26#39;s generosity.

No, Iam not a sponsor. This was told to me by a Monk on my last visit to Luang Prabang in February this year. I understood the name of the student as Boun Lord , if it%26#39;s written right , I do%26#39;nt know ?

He studies now for about 4 years at LAC . Vat Nong Sikhoun Muang in Luang Prabang is the Temple opposite L%26#39; Elephant Restaurant and opposite the second building of Villa Santi.

As I understood the students home village is in Luang Prabang Province and he has still a younger brother at this Temple.

That%26#39;s good you did not decide to sponsor anyone before really looking into it, Moose. good on you.

Quidnunc-

No, I do not think you are heartless at all. I am very aware of the situations over there, both of the needy and the greedy, and on the other side, the benevolent and the naive foreigners. I get receipts and transcripts from the students I sponsor and they are well aware that if they do poorly, I will discontinue sponsorship. The chance for getting a decent education (while the standards there are still very low compared to those in the west, it is stil something) has given these young people a different and positive outlook on life, and they hope to make something of themselves in the future.

Maybe we HAVE met. I will PM you with my info. BTW, I was in Savannakhet last September (albeit for only 2 days) and loved it.Let me know the next time you%26#39;re in Laos. (I%26#39;ll be ther ein September)

Moose009

If you heard from a monk, it must be true then. I know that tourists/foreigners can come to Laos with benevolence and Good will but some Lao people exploit that. Tha is sad. If it is true, it must be a very small minority (I sincerely hope).

Like I said before, materialism starts to have big influence in Laos, sadly. There are always some good and some bad people in every culture. But I thought that LP (or Laos for that matters) will have very small bit of it.

Maneki,

We might have met....I don%26#39;t know. I used to work in Bangkok and travelled to Laos almost every 2-3 months either VTE, Savanh or LP.

In 1999, I was working with UNDP on a project and based in VTE for 4 weeks. At that time, LP was just opened for tourists....but the trip was not really easy. So my team and I did not go. But I made up after that time.

I feel so proud to hear all the positive things people write about Laos (and especially LP) and it disappoints me to hear about some bad things..... But that%26#39;s life

Please keep writing.

The thing that%26#39;s ultimately funny is that people think novices and monks are revered, spiritual people. They aren%26#39;t. They are young boys and men in robes that went to live at the temple when their parents could no longer afford to feed them. A rare few of them go there to ';get merit'; but are usually out after a week or a month. You%26#39;d be surprised at some of the stuff I hear that these guys do.