One of the areas where Laos trails the economically developed world is in books. While many other countries may be moving beyond the world of ink-on-paper books, most of Laos has yet to enter this world. In most villages there are no books. By which I mean: NO books, even in the school (if there is a school).
Why Are There So Few Books?
Laos is still overwhelmingly rural and remote; a country comprised generally of villages. Most people are engaged in lives centred on subsistence or near-subsistence agriculture. People are economically poor (GNI per capita:US $880 (source – World Bank, 2009). People don't have cash money, they make what they use and consume. People grow what they eat, and sometimes struggle to have enough food. Books are therefore a luxury, unaffordable, even at the typical price of about $2.
In addition, there are not many books to buy in Laos and few places to buy them. There are only a handful of small bookshops and they are found only in the three or four largest towns. These shops don't have many titles, because there are few books written and published in Laos. In the late 1990s, there were fewer than 50 new titles published in the Lao language each year, usually far fewer. Now there are more, but still far fewer than 100 titles are published per year and only a hundred or two hundred copies are printed of most books.
What are the Implications for Lao Children?
What does this mean for Lao children? They study in schools with no library and no/few textbooks. They have no access to books to read at home. There are only a handful of community libraries (all small) in the country. Lao children, with a few exceptions, simply have no books to read. You can imagine the impact this has on their educational development. What if children in London, Vancouver, Sydney, New York, were the only ones in their countries who had ever had books to read?
What is Community Learning International (CLI) Doing About This Problem?
They are trying to make some children’s circumstances the exception to the national pattern. They are doing a great deal bearing in mind that they are a small NGO:
- They operate the Lao Children's Library Book Boat, the only one in Laos. This brings books to children, and some adults, in 75 villages alongside the River Mekong, as well as circulating 50 book bags (100 books in each bag) to river village primary schools.
- They have established the only province-wide system of district town small community libraries in Laos. From these rural centres, CLI staff, two in each district, also take book bags to more remote primary schools so those students can have access to books.
- They have established several high school libraries and are working to set up more.
- They have begun to provide school vacation training workshops for high school students who are interested in writing. They have inaugurated an annual prize for best short pieces written by high school students. They will publish a collection of Lao student writing.
CLI supported the recent awards for Best Lao Books of 2007 and is leading a project to publish 25 recent titles (not published for lack of funds) of special value by the end of 2009 and also 2010.
What Else In Addition to Books Does CLI Need?
CLI is also grateful for old clothes to distribute to poor villagers, as well as old computers, printers or help with their ink fund.
How We Can Help
CLI is small and under-funded but they have taken on an element of the books challenge in Laos. Please help them give children books to read. $50 buys 25 books. $200 buys a whole book bag. $500 sends the Library Book Boat out on the water for an entire month. If you are travelling in Laos then you will be very welcome to join the Book Boat for a day!
How Do I Find Out More?
Mrs Chantha is the CLI Programme Coordinator.
Contact her by email thantasay@yahoo.com or refer to the CLI website.
If you are travelling in the area, Mrs Chantha will be pleased to welcome you at the Luang Prabang Library in the centre of town opposite the Vat Mai. To find out more about travelling in northern Laos you may wish to refer to the sites about river journeys and also tourism in Luang Prabang.
If getting books to children makes sense to you, and you can help, please make a contribution to CLI. The kind of children you see in the CLI video on the above website will appreciate any help.
Martin Oldfield - Martin Oldfield I have worked as a Tour Leader taking groups of travellers to a range of countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and ...
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