Project Illuminate 24’ is the second trip to Phuanmit Friendship School in Laos by Hall 14’s Local/Overseas Community Engagement Project (L/OCEP) club, XIV ILLUM1N4TE. With a team of 20 passionate volunteers who barely knew each other but was united by a common desire to serve and experience Laos, this trip became a meaningful opportunity to learn about the Laotian way of life and make an impact to the children at Phuanmit Friendship School. The team’s primary goal was contributing through education because despite Laos having a net primary education enrollment of 98.7% (2017), only 81.9% (2017) of the enrolled children in Laos complete their education. Effective education is a major issue in Laos as there are many ethnic groups who do not speak the Lao language, teachers having limited training, and inadequate emphasis on education in general. The team’s goal was thus to bring in fun and engaging lessons to encourage education and hopefully inspire the students to persevere in staying in school.
The service learning project consisted of two main parts, service through construction and teaching in Phuanmit Friendship School in Oudomxay province, and learning through a myriad of visits to local businesses and social enterprises in Vientiane and Luang Prabang.
The team’s visit to Phuanmit Friendship School started warmly with gifts of handmade necklaces by the local students and this was the start of the team’s experience with the positive, easy-going and appreciative nature of the Laotians. Mornings started with a hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs and baguette as fuel for all the rock carrying and cement pouring under the blazing sun. Before any construction began, the volunteers and local helpers got together in a circle for a warmup ending in a shout of “NTU SUSU!” and “Phuanmit SUSU!”, roughly translating to “keep fighting!”, and instilling a can-do spirit. The goal of the construction work was to build a rock wall serving as the foundation of a future building near the elementary block of the school. This allowed the volunteers to contribute to the critical expansion of this rapidly growing school, while also experiencing first hand how construction work is like, unlike any work in Singapore’s highly sheltered environment.
After construction and lunch, the day’s focus shifted to education. As part of the team’s education service goals, detailed lesson plans were prepared after months of discussion, covering seven main topics; English, Math, Science, Music, Arts, Physical Education and Digital Literacy. Through daily subject rotation, the volunteers were able to allow students of every age group to experience a lesson from every subject, like learning about structural stability in Science, basic skills in using Powerpoint for Digital Literacy and how to play simple piano songs during music lessons. The students enthusiastically participated in the lessons and bonded strongly with the volunteers, regarding every volunteer as a teacher and friend, with every lesson ending with smiles and laughter. Afternoon after-lessons were filled with sports like volleyball, captain ball and table tennis with the students, and also spending quality time exploring the school and understanding the way of life in Laos. One of the major lessons learnt from the locals was “bo penh nyang”, or “no worries”. In Laos, it is almost like a national motto, people live contently with whatever they have and deal with each other compassionately. At the end of the stay in Phuanmit Friendship School, the volunteers left with their hearts full, enjoying a rich cultural exchange, getting a glimpse of life through the eyes of the Laotians and also forming unforgettable friendships.
Continuing the journey in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, the volunteers visited social enterprises like Xon Phao and Big Brother Mouse where the locals demonstrated creative ways to help their community and inspire change. In addition, there were also visits to learn about businesses and opportunities in Laos from a local business, and a business opened by a Singaporean in Laos. Through these visits, the volunteers gained a deeper perspective on Laos which changed the pre-conceived notion they had on the country.
This project was an invaluable experience to the volunteers. Through the activities and interactions, they forged lasting memories and many had expressed a desire to return next year. The project has also bonded the team so much that they had now become good friends in contrast to the beginning, and they now understood better that volunteering can be fun and more rewarding than they ever imagined when done together with a shared vision. Overall this had been an impactful journey which has helped to transform the volunteer’s perspectives on Laos, volunteering and even their approach in life.
Embarking on this journey gave me the opportunity to both lead and serve my peers and Phuanmit. I heard profound and moving stories from the various Laotian communities and even from my peers. By understanding their challenges and sharing our own, we learnt that there is common ground between us all despite cultural and traditional differences – we are all fundamentally human beings. It is through such service learning that we realise not just the uniqueness of others’ culture but the similarities that bind us all as people. Bernadas Jed Matthew Poblacion, Vice President
About Project Illuminate
Project Illuminate is organized by XIV ILLUM1N4TE, a student-led local/overseas engagement project (L/OCEP) club in Hall of Residence 14. We strive to provide a platform where like-minded residents can come to engage in meaningful volunteering work, and give those who are new, an impactful experience to encourage volunteerism in the hall. Project Illuminate aims to elevate our member’s perspectives on volunteerism and cross-cultural learning as we embark on a journey into a country which is unfamiliar for most of the volunteers.
