Noe Lor* is a 11 years old girl. She is a big fan of the book bank and the extra Lao language classes provided by ChildFund through the BEQUAL project. “When I have free time, for example when I don’t have class, I regularly go to the read the books in the library. I have improved a lot in Lao language; before my test scores were not good; but now I get higher marks and I enjoy reading books with my friends. When we learn together, we go faster than when we learn alone. I often share with my friends what I learn. I also can explain some lessons if they don’t understand clearly”.
Nia Ya* is a 12 years old girl studying in Grade 5; she lives in a family of five people; her father left when she was three years old and her mum got re-married. “My house is far away, and I have to walk one hour every day to go to school. I still want to study because I want to help and support my family in the future. If I keep learning until I graduate, I can make my dream come true. I want to be a doctor in the future, so that I can help my family when they get sick. I also want to help the people from my village. So, for now, what I can do is always try harder to be a good student and have more friends at school”.
Du Jee* is also living in a very remote village far away from school and has to walk one and half hour every day; but she can see the positive side of things “On the way to school, I have my very close friends with me; we can talk about everything and share thoughts together while walking. I would like to be a teacher when I grow up. I think children in very remote areas still lack education, so I want to teach them the same way my teacher in my school has taught me. I will organize extra classes for poor performing students.”
Noe Lor, Nia Ya and Du Jee* are studying in Grade 5 primary schools in remote villages from Xiangkhouang Province. Their schools received a grant from the BEQUAL Education Innovation Fund, with support from the Australian Government and the European Union. The project is implemented by ChildFund Laos, in collaboration the Xiangkhouang Provincial Education and Sports Services (PESS) and the Khoun District Education and Sports Bureau (DESB). It targeted ethnic girls and offered several learning activities to increase their capacity and confidence in Lao Language – hopefully their aspiration to transition to secondary education and complete their dreams.
* In respect of DFAT’s Child Protection guidelines, names of children have been changed to protect their identity