The chief of Ponkam village in Laos discusses all the ways IRD has helped them rebuild their school and their community. Watch the video on Ponkam, one 150 villages IRD has helped in Laos.

A girl receives her take-home rations of food as part of the Safe Educational Opportunities program. Watch the video on the program.

Joshua Archibald, Economic and Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy to Laos, prepares to hand over a USDA shipment facilitated by IRD to the Laotian government.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is one of the least developed countries in Southeast Asia. Although there has been a significant decline in poverty in the last decade, socio-economic conditions remain poor. Laos is a low-income food-deficit country with per capita gross national income of $340; thirty-nine percent of the population lives in poverty. The country is ranked 135th out of the 175 poorest countries on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. In particular, more than 20 percent of children below the age of five are stunted while 40 percent are underweight, and less than 50% of students complete primary school. The government of Laos has placed a high priority on improving education and child nutrition but funding for these sectors, including primary education, is less than two percent of GDP.

In October 2006, IRD received a $1 million grant to implement a USDA program in Laos aimed at improving educational opportunities of primary school children. The award is a sub-contract of the Humpty Dumpty Institute.  In March 2007 the government of Laos signed a Memorandum of Understanding which allowed IRD to begin working on the program.

Program activities include:
- Expanding opportunities to learn for children, especially girls, by serving nutritious mid-morning snacks and providing take-home rations for the families of girls
- Improving learning resources through the provision of education supplies and equipment, development of school gardens, and improvement to school facilities; and
- Clearing plots of land that can be used for food production, forage plots, school vegetable gardens and hygiene and sanitation systems.

• - Safe Educational Opportunities
• - Community-Based Solar Disinfection System
• - Better Vision for Better Life Program
  
  Videos

• - One Village - The Story of Ponkam
• - Making Education Possible
• - Better Vision for a Better Life - Kee's Story

Stories

• - Miracles, Better Vision, and a Better Life
• - First Aid in Pah Panang (Voices Blog)
• - Not a Job, But a Way of Life (Voices Blog)
• - Better Vision - It Starts with a Screening (Voices Blog)
• - Arrival in Khammoune (Voices Blog)
• - Happier, Healthier, and Staying in School
• - Giving a Gift of Wheelchairs Worldwide

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