First Few Weeks

Wed 20 – Sun 24 October 2010

First impressions

Flying over Vientiane at night it seemed that the city was unusually dark - there was a lack of street lights illuminating the area that you normally see when flying into most capital cities across the world.  I was wrong on this point - there are street lights, however they appear to choose not to use them or at least not all of them at the same time.  The national grid is a bit sketchy at best so perhaps they want to limit the impact of a power-cut if the city is already half dark.

Volunteer-wise, there is me and Evangeline from the Philippines who arrived on the same flight (Moses, joining us from Uganda missed his flight so joined us a day later).  There is also one volunteer, Ramona, who has been here a couple of months, already.

So, that was pretty much Wednesday taken care of.  We were met by the VSO Programme Manager and then taken to the orientation house in some suburb of Vientiane (three days later at the time of writing this I am still not sure where it really is).  The house is stunning – big, with four bedrooms and a reception area that would house my whole flat back in the UK.  The interior floors and stairs are all dark wood (which it seems is the main material used in most houses here) and you can imagine as a family home it would be fantastic.  As an orientation house, however, there were some sheets, pillows, four plates and four cups and that’s as far as the equipment goes.  There may have been gas, but with no pots there was little point trying to work that out.  The other volunteers have to stay there for a couple of months, so hopefully they will be able to sort something out.

Thursday was a pretty relaxed day, being driven to the office to meet the rest of the team and the partner organisation I would be working with (Evangeline being posted a couple of hours north of Vientiane would meet her employer later).

As there is basic lack of equipment in the house, Evangeline and I went foraging into the village where we were living to see what we could find.  There was only one place and so with zero Lao vocab between the two of us we attempted to see what we could get them to rustle up for us.  So, by a lot of pointing at what other people were eating (they were all eating the same so wasn’t sure what the problem was really) we were given a what turned out to be a Korean barbeque and soon some of the locals were helping us with what to add and when.  We thought initially that it was some kind of mixed grill, with pork fat, shaved pork and some kind of seafood, possibly a type of squid, we weren’t really sure.  We saved the ‘fish course’ til last (well who wouldn’t) but soon came to the conclusion that it was actually an unidentifiable part of a pig and following another game of charades with the staff we settled on it being the stomach.  Covered in the right mix of chilli and peanut sauces it actually tasted pretty good (those of you who know me well enough to be well versed in my love for all things carne, will probably not be surprised I think this).

I moved out of the orientation house on the Friday and into my home for the next six months, sharing with Ramona who is currently working for another partner organisation, based in the same office as me.  The house is on the edge of the city, about 15 mins cycle to the office and 15 mins cycle into the city centre.  That’s the other thing, I also picked up my bike which will be my only mode of transport for the next six months as there is no local public transport system and the tuk-tuk service is limited (both in the hours they run and how far out of the city they’re willing to go.  So, after almost 20 years of not riding a bike I now have to adopt one as my best friend.  There is only one slight problem with cycling – the Lao people have yet to grasp the idea of lights on bikes and as it is dark by 6pm here, it is a bit limiting if you want to beat the sunset home.  After checking with my employer, yes it is a security issue for me so they will cover the cost of lights if I’m lucky enough to find anywhere that sells them (I will probably have to go to Thailand to buy them).

Best of both worlds

When considering volunteering I was quite keen on taking a rural placement.  So, I ended up in an Asian city, which aren’t generally renowned for their wide open spaces.  However, the house we are in is in the middle of an agricultural reserve on the edge of the city (a project set up a couple of years ago to provide farming opportunities) and so it is like living in a rural village – the villagers are all very friendly and I feel quite safe here.  I even have pet geckos in my bedroom and as long as the keep eating the mosquitos they are very welcome to my wall space (although I do wish they were toilet trained).

They have just finished building a road into area, which runs along the Mekong, although when I say finished, it is open, it hasn’t been sealed yet and there is no lighting so can’t be used after dark (with or without bike lights!).  The other entry to the village is by footbridge (which has cycles and mopeds travelling on it all day and night so it sounds like we live near a rail track).  This does have lights, which is good as holes regularly appear on the bridge but I am reliably informed that the locals do repair it on a daily-ish basis.  I may have conquered my fear of cycling, but my fear of rickety bridges will take a little longer to overcome.  Until such time, I may become a hermit at night.

Lastly, my new home does have a fridge – yay!!  One of the toilets does have a flush – ½ yay!

Pak choi v kop jai

You think this would be easy – one is a Chinese lettuce, the other is a polite way of expressing your gratitude in Lao.  So why do I keep getting the two confused and what on earth made me think of pak choi in the first place!  I am quite worried that I am going to offend someone or, at the very least, order an additional side dish without realising.  I would write it on my hand to remember, but the mix of sunscreen, mosquito repellent and perspiration would make it a fruitless task.  Hopefully at language training I will get this knocked out of me!

Festival time

This weekend has seen a couple of festivals, with offerings to the monks on Saturday morning (my jet lag didn’t permit for this, unfortunately.  Saturday evening, families from across the province travelled to Vientiane for an annual ritual where they light candles, that are set within banana leaves and flowers and set them on the Mekong River to float away.  These candles signify their sins which the river carries way, leaving happiness for the family.  They come in various sizes, with one or more candles in the display.  We didn’t take part as my housemate didn’t believe she had any sins and I just couldn’t find one large enough.

Sunday was the annual river festival, with a boat race of teams from Lao and neighbouring countries taking part.  Boats take a minimum of approx. 40 rowers, usual number is about 50.  It took a while to work out the proceedings for the day and after a bit of vagueness from some locals which left us none the wiser as to the time of the race, on speaking to someone who was participating we managed to work out the race kicked off at 9 am. So, there we were, bright and early, quite literally on our bikes first thing to get to the other side of town for the start of the race.  After getting up at stupid-o’clock for a Sunday, we later discovered that there were a series of races which were going on throughout the day.  Barely a week in and I am beginning to learn that things operate very differently to how they do in the western world and things do seem to happen, but we can’t fathom how given the lack of precision or communication.  I have a lot to learn…

My housemate and I have found a solution to cycling in the dark – she has a back light for her bike and a head torch that can be used as a front light.  I have the head torch (which generally stays in place depending on the quality of road) and Ramona has the backlight (being a volunteer is all about problem solving with limited resources, which I think we’ve demonstrated admirably!).  The slight snag is that I have to go in front and seeing as a) Ramona is the one that usually knows where we’re going; and b) I have no sense of direction, this is probably not the best way round…

Mon 25 – Sun 31 October 2010

Setting up home

Settling in nicely to my new home but there are a couple of things that we still need to get so that we can be properly comfy – namely soft chairs.  This is proving a bit of a mission and whilst Ramona has seen some futon-type mattresses in one of the markets, we’re having problems tracking them down again and have left no market unturned in Vientiane since I arrived.  We were able to get the table home on the back of a bike, but I am not sure how we’re going to do the same with the mattresses.  But where there’s a will there’s way.  As John Lewis doesn’t deliver this far and it is impossible to explain to a tuk-tuk driver where we live, our bikes are the only option.  If we manage this, then I am seriously considering setting up a franchise for Argos Direct.  As there is a Tesco in Thailand, just over the border, I did wonder if they would deliver, but sadly not.  I’m finding new niches in the market every day.

Language training

Language school has been good but not without its challenges, not least because there are just some sounds we’re not equipped to make.  We are being taught by three students (secondary and university level), who are great and have given up their spare time to volunteer to teach us.  Our knowledge is a bit patchy and although we have plenty of vocab, stringing together a coherent sentence is proving challenging - we have a feeling that the way languages are taught here are very different to European methods and so getting details of a useful dialogue can sometimes be difficult.  Still, with a lot of pointing and a few charades I should get by. 

Mon 1 – Sat 6 November

Okay, so this is where my learning continues.  Although not officially started work yet, I have spent most of the week on a trip to Xiang Khuang Province, in the North, with my two colleagues, recruiting.  Just to recap on what I’m doing out here – I am working with an not-for-profit organisation that looks to place volunteers from rural communities on year-long placements with NGO/INGOs.  The target demographic for the volunteers is 18-25 year olds, from minority ethnic groups with priority given to women or those who are disabled, usually due to UXO explosions.  The idea is that they get the opportunity to unlock their potential and develops personal and work-related skills so that they can improve their situation in life.

Having thought I’d established that the trip would be for three or four days, when I arrived at the bus station I was presented with a schedule for the trip, which gave the itinerary for the next nine days.  No wonder my colleagues were so surprised about my lack of luggage!  Given it was going to be considerably colder in the North (yes, the North is grim here too) I had every item of warm clothing I could muster so wasn’t too worried about this.  The bus we were due to catch was scheduled for 8.30 am, however due to the lack of passengers they decided to cancel it and run the 11 a.m. bus instead.  What I don’t understand is this - there are pick-ups all the way along the journey and whilst I can understand it wouldn’t make sense to run it for a few people, I’m not sure how they know there was no one waiting en route, given that there is no automated system – I guess with the transport system here you just have to wait and hope.  At least we knew what was happening and could bide our time with a bowl of noodle soup. 

The bus journey is about 9 hours and takes in some stunning scenery along the way.  The last 4 hours of the journey is mountainous and whilst it was beautiful countryside the journey was not without peril - travel sickness.  Usually, I am fine with travelling (and let’s face it, I should be by now) but one thing that gets me is mountain roads and as it has been a number of years since I experienced this I had obviously chosen to forget.  Luckily the majority of roads are sealed otherwise this may have been a very different story.  I was slightly heartened by the man on the bus who kept going up and down the aisle handing out small plastic bags, realising I was not alone.  However, I was keen not to disgrace myself in front of my new colleagues who I had only met briefly a couple of times.  I survived the journey unscathed but after, when faced with the prospect of another bowl of noodle soup, this time dinner, I felt it best to politely decline as I couldn’t be sure of the consequences. 

The main purpose of the trip was to interview for two new volunteers for placements in the province.  This was my first opportunity to meet people from the different ethnic groups in the region and although I was unable to understand the interviews, it was really apparent to me how very humble these people are and how there was an aura of despair mixed with hope that they may finally have an opportunity.  This is in stark contrast to the average 18-25 year old back home who are, in general, incredibly self-assured.  I also had the opportunity to meet a couple of former volunteers who, prior to the placement, were pretty much as described above and had low confidence levels.  I had a chat with one of the former volunteers at some length – he is a UXO victim and dropped out of school as a result.  After his placement he went back to finish secondary school, studied general management and is now working in the province and is planning to move to the capital to work.  He also taught himself to speak English and does so with a great deal of fluency.  I have three Lao teachers and can barely string a sentence together in Lao!  I think if he were to turn his hand to world domination, he would achieve it and he’d certainly get my backing.  It was really encouraging to see the result of just giving someone the opportunity to unlock their own potential and so I’m very glad to be working on this programme.

So, following what turned out to be only a few days in the frozen north (I know that’s an exaggeration but compared to the lovely weather I’d left behind, it may as well have been) we returned back, taking the same route which I prepared myself for this time.  Although given we’d paid for seats on a bus with air-con I was slightly dismayed when a bus circa 1950 pulled up.  Nine hours is a long time to sit on a bus with no air-con, plastic seats, and bags containing a few hundred kilos of rice and sticky rice that were laid along the aisle.  There were a number of villagers who were heading to Vientiane to sell their produce at the market – I do hope the bags didn’t contain anything more delicate than rice, given we were walking back and forth on it, getting on and off the bus.  They did keep the birds on the roof, though and they kept singing so we knew they were okay.

Being back in town has meant being back in the warm, relying on my trusty bike to get around and the end of my language training.  These last few hours of training were mainly spent learning how to read & write Lao (not something I need to do as I’m only here for six months but those who are here for the long haul have got a month or so of learning it so that they can survive on placement).  It’s really too complicated to explain and just when I managed to decode some of the days of the week up popped a ‘complex vowel’ and my hopes of getting to grips with it disappeared.  It is actually quite interesting to try to learn a written language based on a completely different alphabet.  I have this great idea at the moment that I will learn it either out here or when I get home, just for the fun of it.  But we all know what happens to 95% of great ideas and I think this one may fall within that. 

I now have an arrangement with one of the teachers that she will pop over every weekend to practice her English and she brings me different Lao foods for me to try out – I think I get the better end of the deal as my technical knowledge of English Grammar is pretty poor and the food is great.

Just to prove we are capable of organising things without VSO’s help, we finally managed to arrange a dinner out with just volunteers – you wouldn’t think it would be difficult seeing as there are only four of us – and it was good to get to know each other a bit better, especially as we are all from different countries and as much as we need to understand Lao culture, it is good to get to discover the cultural differences between volunteers. 

I have finally found the one shop in Lao which sells bike lights – safe at last!