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Lao Educational Opportunities Trust
Registered Charity Number: 1115944
Copyright Lao Educational Opportunities Trust. All rights reserved.
January 2012
It has been a quiet month in terms of the students - with nothing to report other than Chansamai and Boun Nieo going on field trips. Work on the school continues apace and its great to see the building take shape.
December 2011
Another hectic month! Planning permission for the school was granted and site preparation work started. On Christmas Day, there was a big ceremony where the monks blessed the spirit column (the central pillar for the building). Partying after the blessing continued well into the night! It’s planned to take 6 months before the building is completed. In the UK, the Banwell’s held a party where carols were sung and the festive season celebrated in traditional style. The event helped to raise funds for the school. LEOT has also been the beneficiary of the December collection at the Friends House which was wonderful.
November 2011
Coming fast on the heels of the news about the building contract, LEOT has now received formal confirmation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has been granted an operational permit as a International Non-Governmental Organisation.
October 2011
All change back! With Peter and Clare Banwell visiting Laos, it has now been agreed that the building of the school will be carried out by LEOT after all. Peter is a benefactor and a building contract has now been signed. With the land clearance now completed, its just a case of the planning permission being received before building can commence. This is fantastic news and we are all very pleased.
We have also taken on one more new student, who is being sponsored for one year by a US donor.
September 2011
We are delighted to announce that we have been able to offer scholarships to eight new students. Their details will be posted here shortly. Three of our students Phonesiva, Anousone and Saythong have completed their courses. For the new academic year we will be supporting 21 students!
We are also very pleased that the summer BBQ took place in good weather and raised £2,500 this year for the school project.
LEOT is changing! In order to advance the school building project without impacting on the scholarship programme, a new sister organisation, ACE, is being set up to deal with the building. This will provide a separate funding stream and cost centre and make it clearer to donors where their money will go. Peter is stepping down from LEOT to head up ACE, and Claire will sit on both boards in a co-ordinating role. There will be no obvious changes to LEOT policy or procedures as far as the scholarship programme is concerned.
August 2011
A number of applicants for support have been received for the new academic year and Alan and Teng have been busy interviewing them all - how many we take on will depend on how much Chris, our Treasurer, says we can afford! It will also be a case of the students passing their entry exams.
July 2011
Plans for the new school progress. The MoU has now been approved by the Ministry of Education and awaits the final approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
We are delighted to announce that Claire Spencer has joined us as a trustee.
June 2011
Two LEOT students went on field trips. Chansamai as part of her environmental studies went to learn about the effect of the building of the Nam Ngum 2 Hydroelectric Power project, and about the life style of people who have moved from Nam Ngum 2 to Phonsavath village. Boun Nieo as part of his economics course went to Vientiane to learn about socio-economic development and to visit various educational facilities there.
May 2011
May saw us take two major strides forward. Firstly, the Memorandum of Understanding between ourselves and the Lao authorities has been approved at Provincial level and has been submitted to The Ministry of Education in Vientiane. Secondly we have secured a 30 year lease on land to build our school and outline building plans have been drawn up. It is hoped that work on clearing and levelling the land will begin shortly, with a view to building work starting at the end of the rainy season (September).
A short video, featuring our student Kheak is in the editing stage and will be accessible on here later in the summer.
April 2011 (New Year)
LEOT students were out on the streets during the festivities, handing out leaflets about our work to tourists. Peter and some members of his family visited the country and, despite being victims of the water-throwers, had a chance to meet students in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Progress on getting formal recognition as a NGO by the Lao Government continues to be made and our plans to set up an English school in Luang Prabang have also moved ahead. A suitable piece of land on which to erect a school building has been identified and hopefully we will have major news to report in May!
March 2011
Amongst the many matters that the trustees were able to report at their recent meeting (which for the first time included Teng in Vientiane), were the latest reports on students progress (all encouraging) and the donation of 5 laptop computers by Peter, which will prove invaluable to the students.
February 2011
Homeland Director, Teng is currently in USA on a World Bank funded visit. While there he will be meeting a prospective donor in New York. Alan has had further discussions with the Department of Education and we are optimistic about signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department in the new few weeks Alan has also had meetings with Lydia Dean from 'Go Philanthropic'. who met up with several of our students, including Sisaveth who gave village children an informal dance class.
January 2011
May, who is in the third year of his dentistry course is on a placement at a child clinic and, by all accounts, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to practice his skills. We hope that the children are also enjoying it ! Touy sadly, did not make it to the final selection for the US Scholarship, but typically, he is taking the overall experience as a positive one, rather than seeing it as a setback.
Alan is working with several potential sponsors for novice monks, establishing the candidates' credentials, and discussing their future plans.
News...
Building works
(January 2012)
Blessing the Spirit Column
(December 2011)
INGO Permit
(November 2011)
Claire and Alan - Building Contract
(October 2011)
Phonesiva and Saythong - Graduation
(September 2011)
BBQ
(September 2011)
Chansamai on a field trip
(May 2011)
Land for the School
(May 2011)
Pii Mai
(April 2011)
Trustee Meeting
(March 2011)
Teng in Washington
(February 2011)
Sisavath
(February 2011)
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