Nahay Community Center

Nahay Community Center is the third children's development center that Madame Xuyen showed me and Hoa. We went on Friday, January 21st to the center. It was a longer drive out to the center and after we left Vientiane, the road went from paved to dirt and the traffic cleared out. The center is set up like Dongsavat and Donkoi with a dream garden and other projects. On the day we visited the center, the 4th and 5th graders at the school were doing a Child's Rights workshop. The children were learning what rights they have, and how to protect themselves from being abused and used by adults and the system. In Laos, as in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia there is problem with human trafficking. Women, and children (mostly) are being sold into slavery and transported all around the world and forced to work for little to no wages. The workshop that these 4th and 5th graders participated in is trying to teach the kids how to protect themselves from traffickers.

The kids had to make posters and give presentations about what they learned. I did not understand what the kids were saying but was impressed by both their drawing ability and that they were able to come up with poems and entire presentations within one morning.

After listening to presentations Hoa, and I got to learn how to make Tammakhung, the traditional Lao dish. It is called green papaya salad in English and consists of green papaya, chilies, lemon juice, tomatoes, and a little bit of fish paste. The kids were in a competition to see who could make the best Tammakhung and Hoa, Madame Xuyen, and I were three of the judges. The salad was very spicy for me, but very good. While we did go around grading each dish, the competition did not really matter, the kids did not care who won or lost, they just had fun making the salad!

Me trying and failing to hulu hoop in front of the
Nahay Center

The children eating a traditional Lao
lunch at the Nahay Center.

Kids doing a presentation on Child's rights.

The kids working on their posters for Child's rights presentations.

More kids working on posters.

Hoa with kids working on their posters.

The sign about the workshop and who founded the
workshop. 

Me on the stage in the Nahay School library.

Kids doing a presentation on Child Rights.

Another group of kids doing presentation.

 

Me and Hoa in front of the sign welcoming us to Nahay Center.

The kids sitting in front of the stage listening to the presentations.

Girls showing off their hula hooping skills.

Boy hula hooping

In the afternoon we did a few activities and I taught the kids to play the Hokey Pokey. I have sung in front of a crowd more times in Laos then I have ever done in the US. My first contribution to Laos children was the Hokey Pokey. Hopefully it won't be my last!