Healthier, more productive lives from clean water in Laos

 

	Water filters, endorsed by global authorities, made in Laos   The United Nations, UNESCO and the World Health Organization all endorse the low cost water filter technology and surveys have shown these filters to be effective at increasing he overall health in people throughout the third world.   One water filter produces enough water for a family of eight. Made in the Champassak province of Laos, each filter  consists of a reservoir tank upended when full to pass water to a tap through a gravity-fed water purification filter. The water passes through pores in the ceramic filter infused with antibacterial silver to remove bacteria, protozoa, parasitic worms, turbidity and other suspended solids. These impurities can keep children away from school for long periods, adults from their daily duties and family life, and can contribute to major health issues such as liver and kidney failure.   Shipping the water filters to the villages includes truck transport over rough roads, then, in some cases, transfer by boat and, for a mountain village, a final transfer by 4-wheel drive tractor pulling a small trailer.    Rotary has stepped in, through Adopt-A-Village, because many of the Non-Government Organizations (N.G.O.’s) have pulled out of Laos and are now working in Nepal. The villagers in the remote northern provinces of Laos receive little support from their own government.   It is hoped that government support will improve as the economy of Laos grows, as expected, in the next decade with the construction of the numerous power dams on many of the rivers in Laos. The aim of Laos is to become known as the battery of Asia. The Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai governments are investing in these dams, but some of the wealth that will be generated could flow to the people of Laos who need this support.
	Rotary Club of Ladner’s Diana Cabott wrote this poem during her working visit to Laos in February 2019 for the Adopt-A-Village distribution of water filters to remote villages in the north, along with a team from her club and Rotary clubs in other communities of Canada.   Mekong Mists and Dreams 2019   Caught again in the lure of Luang Prabang The sun has risen and set once more, On these travelers that dare to step thru Laos door. Foreigners indeed from Denmark Italy and Canadian soil Friends now, friends now forever loyal   We are but novices here in these ancients parts. Laos smiled to itself knowing it would steal our hearts.   We have worked hard together, laughed and made the work play, Bringing clean water and a desire for others to have a better day.   What Laos has given us can never be repaid. The memories of ebony and crimson jackets of the Khmu The smiles of the elders, the sparkling brown eyes of the child. The towering mountains, the brown Mekong rushing wild. Imagine having lived your entire life and never having seen these jungle mists rise As you waken to the temple drums ...oh so very wise.   We must turn again to the West..our homes and families are calling, But we have family here now as well, but this family is as a Dream And we will live in this dream forever.   Diana Cabott 2019

Most villagers in northern Laos are subsistence farmers and live on very limited incomes. With life span in the 50’s for men and low 60’s for women, access to clean water will have a significant, positive impact on quality and length of life for these largely overlooked people.

  

Each family receiving a water filter pays a minor sum for the right of the entire village to receive one water filter per family. The investment means that each family will take ownership of their filter. Before each family receives their water filter, however, at least one family member takes part in the hygiene course where they learn how to use and maintain the filter properly. Tooth brushes and toothpaste are included with each filter along with instruction on the importance of proper hand washing.

 

The first stop on this year’s Adopt-A-Village water filter distribution project was Ban Xiengda village of 2,000 people. Last year, Rotary Club of Ladner led a project, with the support of other clubs in Rotary District 5040 and The Rotary Foundation, to fund and help build two small dams, 6.5 kms of pipe, a large concrete water tank and 15 tap stations spread throughout the village. This year, Rotarians returned to the village to distribute 240 more water filters, one per family, so that the running water to which they now have access will be filtered to produce clean drinking water. 

 

The second stop was the village of Mok Kok where the team distributed 74 water filters along with tooth brushes and toothpaste after the hygiene seminar was completed. Rotarian Roland Drake of Ontario sponsored school supplies for well over 100 school kids in honour of his dad who recently passed away.  

 

Then it was on to Ban Houay Phoung by Tuk Tuk, a vehicle with an open back and benches for sitting. The team distributed school supplies to the students of the village school followed by the hygiene course and distribution of 81 water filters.

 

Finally, on the fifth and final day of the visits, the team distributed education supplies and 95 water filters in the village of Ban Thong Lom.

In each village, after the distribution of equipment and supplies, an elder performed a “Baci” ceremony when prayers were conducted, and other elders tied cotton strings to the wrists of the visiting team members while chanting a Buddhist mantra.  The white cotton threads are symbolic of “peace, harmony, good fortune, good health and human warmth and community.” After each Baci ceremony the villagers also served a meal of local foods including sticky rice, chicken, goat and various local vegetables. In one village groups of children aged 5 years to 16 years old, dressed in traditional Laos costume, representing the different tribes, performed several dances. 

 

Each member of the Rotary team spends $3,000 to $4,000 to make this trip. They also invest countless hours fundraising for water filters through out the year. The visits to the villages can be tough going with transportation over very rough roads and temperatures in the 30’s plus high humidity and basic living conditions

 

Ladner Rotarian Mike Storey, who has just completed his fifth Adopt-A-Village tour with wife, Kathy, says the reason he continues to make the personal investment of money and time to make the annual visit to Laos is: “I want to make this world a better place. I want to help those people who have very limited options and who were born into the difficult situation they find themselves in.” 

 

When he and Kathy make this trip, he said, they get to really meet the people in these villages, and connect with them even though they don’t speak English and the two of them don’t speak Lao. 

 

“We see first hand that what we do has tremendous meaning to them, and we can see the appreciation in their faces. They share a very touching intimate ceremony known as the Baci with us. We share food and drink, we dance together and we become friends when we visit these remote villages in Laos.

 

“I have found that most trips abroad give me a new appreciation for Canada and for the opportunity and freedoms that we have here. I enjoy travelling, meeting new people, helping when there is an opportunity and I also enjoy returning home to Canada to my family & friends.” 

 

Joining Mike and Kathy from Rotary Club of Ladner were Diana Cabott Nimsick, Beau Brennen and Dawn Rutledge-Brennan, sister of the Adopt-A-Village Laos founder, Steve Rutledge, who have made tours in the past three or four years. Joining the Ladner team were Past District 5040 Governors Chris Offer and Penny Offer. They made the long journey from Vancouver to Laos by way of Taiwan and Bangkok. Also on the team were friends from previous years, four Italians, a Dane, and two Canadians, one from Saskatchewan and the other from Toronto.

 

Mike adds, "This Rotary project is truly multi-District with financial support coming not only District 5040, but neighboring District 5050 which was very generous with their funding assistance.  Rotarian Patricia Sibley of the Passport Club in District 5050 knitted most of the toques that were distributed to the babies & infants in the villages in northern Laos as seen in the photos."

 

The visit was not all work. The team visited a 500-acre elephant conservation area, where they prepared food and fed the elephants and walked them partway back into their jungle night time enclosure. On another day the team spent the day with a master carver learning new skills, surprising themselves with the quality of their elephant carvings and boat carvings and ended the day with an evening of welcoming meal, children’s dances representing each of the tribes or ethnic traditions of Laos.