access

Projects / community library

The following projects were supported by these organizations ;

V.V.O.F — Vang Vieng Organic Farm is a sustainable agro forestry farm that has become involved with the village and demonstrates advanced organic farming methods;

S.I.F. — Singapore International Foundation, is a "youth expedition" organisation, that aims to empower its youth by sending them in teams to assist with development projects throughout South east Asia; and

access — is an organisation that uses creativity and environmentally productive and friendly solutions to empower communities.

Lao

The Lao PDR is characterised by a unique natural and human environment. The very high levels of cultural diversity and bio diversity with tropical forests, wetlands and endangered mammals makes the Lao PDR a unique place in the world.

Phoudindeang (red earth hill village) is one of many allocated resettlement villages that has emerged since the return and reintegration of refugees from Thailand. Alongside this a government initiative is forcing the native ethnic minorities down from the mountains to the lowlands as the government fears insurgence from guerrilla movements. The combination of these processes has lead to clashes between different ethnic groups, especially those who are now forced to live side by side. The village of Phoudindeang is one such village.

The Hmong have a history of supporting the CIA during the Vietnam war, and have spent ten of the last twenty years in refugee camps in Thailand;
The Khamu are the indigenous minority burnt out of their village in the highlands, and the
Lao Lum, traditionally low land dwellers, are the ethnic group in power.

In Phoudindeang there is a community hall that is controversial because it isn't situated in the centre of the village. With fresh funds donated by S.I.F it was decided that another resource centre could be placed in a more central location and this would encourage a more diverse participation from the ethnic groups of the village. V.V.O.F had the idea to build a library that would provide a gateway to literacy, and reinforce understanding adobe building as an affordable alternative to the cement block. This is appropriate as only five miles away the Lao cement company is destroying the local environment for the development of the town.

The aim was to run a workshop that involved the three different ethnic groups and a youth group from Singapore and teach them a realistic alternative and appropriate technology to modern building methods while providing an adobe library that would act as an education facility and a resource centre for the village.

Facilitating projects in Lao is tricky as the government is very wary of outsiders. The following pages show the progress of the education project and the Building Workshop that built the library, their successes and challenges and how both the Education Project and The Building Workshop, if refined, could merge to create a clearer vision for access's future development programs.

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Community library

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Community involvement.

Challenges — Lao is a country full of survivors. Time for development activities from locals is sparse. There was an unavoidable clash with the 10 day visit from the SIF and the annual rice harvest. The initiative to build the library came from V.V.O.F, and though there was a level of cooperation from the villagers in its implementation, their involvement could have been more substantial. The farm receives the benefit of passing foreign volunteers, there was a heavy involvement on their part. This was double edged, their involvement assisted in the running of the workshop and structure and this sparked interest and encouraged involvement from the locals. However it could also have been seen as intrusive by some village members. One of the differences between the ethnic groups in this village was that one was extremely passive and the others keen, so encouraging equal participation with this in mind was a challenge.

Success — access worked a lot with the children aged 4 - 24 from the three different ethnic groups. Though their attitudes varied hugely, access's encouragement bought them together in the same space, a space that was to be for the community and this was very positive. The farm was able to employ members of the village, from each of the ethnic groups. They worked throughout the entire project, from landscaping through to the roofing of the building. This allowed the individuals concerned to gain a solid understanding of the technology, this could then be shared/used/implemented throughout the village. Employment was one of the only realistic options to involve the community long term as the whole process took two months. Having explained the basics of the building process to the locals, access then placed them as leaders of groups and encouraged them to manage not only children from other ethnic groups, but also to organise the involvement of the Singaporean volunteers too.

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Planning

Challenges — the local politics and distance of the S.I.F at this stage made planning extremely difficult, so access worked very closely with V.V.O.F. to develop the structure of the workshop and the logistics of the building process. If time would have permitted, as far as possible the community would have been involved in this. However the undertaking of such a fundamental project takes a serious commitment. That commitment due to the previously mentioned reasons and the timeframe set out by the SIF was unavailable.

Success — as access planned the building of the library it ensured that every step was planned and instructions were made clear and simple. This way the process could be understood by all those who were partaking. This also ensured that at any point that it was built again there would be something to refer to. access is in the process of refining that documentation. A daily English class was running simultaneously, which allowed access to involve the children in the process of the design and to discuss with them what the best options were, both in terms of layout and in terms of what they wanted to gain from the workshop.

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Building

Challenges — Working with another culture is always going to be tricky. The farm had its own development to manage and little time for consultation. However, though there were some awkward and difficult moments in terms of getting hold of resources, the determination and understanding of access enabled the process to continue. There were continuing variables throughout the building process. the dynamics of the team evolved and changed.

Success — The preparation had ensured this part of the building project took as smooth a path as possible. The way that the workshop was run, was inclusive as well as instructive. Opinions were asked and individuals were included in the development process. The building did not require any expert knowledge, simplicity enabled everyone to have a part in its building. This makes the building a very special place, as hundreds of people have been involved and could quite rightly claim that their input was as important as the next person.

Remarkably the library and its main roof frame was built within the 10 day target set by S.I.F. This was due to the outstanding commitment of many individuals from Singapore, Lao and overseas.

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Sustainability

Challenges — Implementing a system for the community to use for the running of the library that is simple and appropriate is the next challenge for the farm and access. access feels that it is appropriate to discuss the importance of community and education rather than imposing a rigid structure for the running of the resource centre. Though this discourse may take longer, there is arguably little point in implementing a system if the initiative to sustain it has not come from the community.

Success — From experience access has developed strategies for handing over initiative. The timetable and strategy used to complete the building evolved to become more and more inclusive in its process. The fundamental part of the project was the last ten days. It was at this point when human resources were at their peak. access took this opportunity to divide the management of the building and hand it over to community members. This put them in the position where they had to take the initiative and answer questions from volunteers. To see the locals rise to this challenge was impressive.

If people have some possession in the progress of projects, their pride will lead them to watch and assist in its maintenance and development. access managed to involve a healthy cross section of the community. It is this interest that they have gained that will in the long term ensure that it is the locals who are the ones sustaining the library.

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