Communiqué

The Humpty Dumpty Institute

Monthly Communiqué from Laos

October 2007

With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food for Education program, the Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI) is continuing to implement its UXO clearance and school feeding and rehabilitation project in Laos.

HDI's development partner in Laos, International Relief and Development (IRD), reported that a total of 79 schools out of the targeted 110 began feeding in September. The breakdown of the schools by district is as follows: 30 in Mahaxsay, 24 in Gnommalat, and 25 in Boulapha.

IRD continues to work on the mini grants component of the project, which will provide grants to 50 villages for use on school improvements. The improvements will be implemented in conjunction with the Education Development Committees (EDC), which have been established in all of the villages. The improvements include flooring, structural repairs, the construction of new schools when necessary, the construction of latrines and water supply improvements. IRD has developed tender documents for water drilling companies. Local communities have been donating local materials and labor.

IRD is also making progress on creating gardens out of cleared land. A list of locations that will receive garden training has been finalized. Seeds and garden tools are being procured. IRD has engaged the local agriculture department to provide some technical training to one teacher and an EDC member from each village. The initial two-day training will cover items such as land preparation, planting, and harvest and post-harvest matters.

The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) demining teams funded by the HDI program carried out clearance activities at 22 school sites (with 19 school sites fully completed), clearing a total of 121, 242 m2 and 58 UXO. Nine identified emergency UXO clearance tasks were completed with a total of 11 UXO being cleared or removed with 15 tasks remaining for the next period, making a total of 69 UXO being destroyed or removed during this reporting period. Since the project's start, the demining teams have cleared a total of 854,311 m2.

Mr. Thanvone Kambunthavevong, IRD's
field monitor in Mahaxsay district

Mr. Thanvone Kambunthavevong, IRD's field monitor in Mahaxsay district

This month's communiqué profiles Mr. Thanvone Kambunthavevong, a 41-year-old field monitor with IRD.

In 1992 Mr. Thavone completed his formal education at the Irrigation Institute in Russia where he studied for six years. He then spent three years with the NGO project known as Food for the Hungry. In 1996 he joined the Irrigation Institution at the Ministry of Agriculture where he spent three years. He then worked for a number of private companies before joining IRD as a field monitor in March 2007.

Mr. Thavone is responsible for the Mahaxsay district. He serves as a community liaison and also coordinates with local government staff, especially the district education office. Traveling by motorbike, he monitors warehouse and kitchen construction, commodities and non-food item deliveries to schools. He follows the school feeding program including the preparation of the mid-morning snacks, the distribution of commodities, and the take-home rations to students. He tries to solve problems at the village level immediately. If he cannot, he will discuss the issue with the monitoring manager and project manager. He also conducts trainings on school feeding management for the Village School Feeding Committee Members.

Mr. Thavone says he is happy to work with IRD because the work is challenging. Mr. Thavone's wife, Mrs. Mee, has a small business in Vientiane. They have three children.

For more information on HDI's work in Laos, please contact Dr. Robert Keeley, the HDI Laos Country Director, at Bob.Keeley@thehdi.org.