Uxo Laos

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MDGs in Lao PDR: Cluster munitions and UXO


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Uxo Laos

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UXO Lao Xieng Khouang Office November 2010-02


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uxo laos

Ngos Laos

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Gathering steam in Sapa, Vietnam

The age-old traditions of the Red Dao people, a hill tribe known for its medicinal culture and expert herbalists, infuse an all natural spa in the mountains.

After a long day of hiking the steep hills and terraced rice paddies of the mountains around Sapa, an all-natural herbal steam bath was just what my aching muscles needed.

At Red Dao Spa, I was led into a small bath full of fragrant steam wafting from the large wooden tub. First, I washed down with some herb-infused water, a dark reddish color, and then sat in the warm water for a 20 minute soak.

The Red Dao people in Sapa are known as the best herbalists in the area thanks to a vibrant medicinal culture centered on herbal remedies. Living near thick forests, Red Dao communities have taken advantage of the rich source of medicine to keep them healthy and full of energy. The Red Dao use herbs to treat everything from flu to skin diseases and muscle problems.

For generations, the Red Dao people have used traditional herbal spas to treat a variety of ailments. Their baths include ten different kinds of herbs collected fresh from the forest before each soak.

The leaves, some fresh but some dried, are boiled for 3-4 hours. Then they are mixed with fresh water at 30-37oC. The bathtub, put in a small room to keep the steam and fragrance of the herbs, is usually made from fir or another aromatic wood.

Therapy

Red Dao Spa is run by Sapa local Ly Lao Lo in Ta Chai Village, Ta Phin Commune, around 12 kilometers from the center of the town.

The spa is small and sparsely furnished, but welcoming and comfortable. I visited after a Sapa woman suggested the place.

Once I arrived, I was briefed about the history of the herbal therapies I would be given and the properties of each herb.

Then I had my soak. Sitting in the warm, red water, I felt all my senses tingle and my muscles eased and relaxed. A soothing feeling crept up and down my body. After 20 minutes, I was thoroughly relaxed.

Goldmine

The only problem with Sapa’s new Red Dao-style spas is that there are a lot of them and it’s not easy to tell which ones are authentic.

“The thing that worries me is if people sell the service when they don’t really understand it and do not use the herbs properly,” said Lo.

“It also saddens me to see villagers working very hard to collect the herbs when the spas don’t pay them very well.”

With help from doctors at the Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Lo has also established a small company producing soap with traditional Red Dao herbs and leaves. To make the product, which can be found in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Lo has hired some 40 families in his village to grow the herbs themselves.

Try the true Dao’s spa at:

Red Dao Spa: Ta Chai Village, Ta Phin Commune, Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province

Tel: (020) 871 756/098 897 5704

Tour to Sapa can be booked at:

ACTIVE TRAVEL VIETNAM

31 Alley 4, Dang Van Ngu St., Hanoi

367 Ngo Quyen St., Son Tra Dist., Da Nang

50 Bis Co Bac St., Dist. 1, HCMC

Support number (24/7 service): (04) 3 573 8569

www.activetravelvietnam.com

Source: VietNamNet/Thanh Nien

About the Author

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA (ATA) offers a wide selection of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar adventure tours, including hiking and trekking, biking, motorcycling, overland touring and family travel packages.

Fall Quarter Battle 2010: Judge Showcase (Seton Chiang, Brian Lao; Vince Ngo)


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Ngo In Laos

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Why U.S. should not rely on ASEAN for combating human trafficking

The ASEAN  members recently held a meeting to combat human trafficking. Earlier this month, ASEAN further celebrated its new establishment of Commission for human rights. Some people received this news with the hope for change in combating trafficking in the region.

 Both Thailand Burma are active members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in particular, when dealing with their anti-human trafficking. 

According to an NGO report released in Aug. 2009, the atrocity committed against Burmese human trafficking victims could have never been worse than what it currently is. Rather, the anti-human trafficking effort and the international cooperation among the ASEAN member nations only raise a skepticism that it is nothing but a political alliance among the member nations.

ASEAN's anti-human trafficking efforts: the hypocrosy of Thailand and Burma revealed

The new report regarding ASEAN meetings amplify the significant roles of Thailand and Burma in its leadership to combat human trafficking in the Southasian region. In 2002, Thailand was chosen by the 'Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to 'host a joint meeting between the European Union and ASEAN. In Dec. 2004, Thailand further linked with ASEAN to stamp out human trafficking. By then, Thailand already signed an anti-human trafficking agreement with its neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and China. In June 2009, the 9th ASEAN senior officials meeting was held in Burma. The meeting was intended to discuss transnational crime, including human trafficking.

Thailand' unwarranted ASEAN leadership- atrocity unveiled

 According to no where else to go , an NGO research paper released in Aug. 2009, countless Burmese human trafficking victims testify against the atrocities of Thai nationals. Some of the offenders involved corrupted Thai law enforcement individuals. 

1. Testimonies involving forced marriage

 

[My 18-year-old friend was sold] to a retired Thai policeman as a wife. Daw Than was paid 20,000 baht and gold weighing 45.5 g by the Thai policeman for selling him Ma Cho...He rented a house for her to live in with him and later she gave birth to a daughter. After the birth of their daughter, he abandoned Ma Cho and the child because he had wanted a son. With no money or other possessions she had to work outside to earn a living; she had to work as a hard laborer to pay rent for the house and for enough food to survive.

The wife couldn’t have a baby and after I had worked there for five months, I asked her when my debt would be paid, and she said that if I wanted to pay it all off I could have a baby for them. I didn't’t agree to do this, but the woman got her husband to rape me. I got pregnant and when I was due to have my baby they wouldn’t take me to hospital; instead they took me to a small clinic so the birth would be more secret. I gave birth to twin baby boys on February 19th, but the boss and his wife only allowed my babies to stay with me for 10 days. After 10 days, the two babies were taken from me and I wasn’t allowed to see them anymore. 

2. The testimonies involving police corruption 

On March 10th, 2008, Maharchai police raided that factory. The polices didn’t want to raid the factory even though they knew the employer abused and took advantage of the workers, because the employer had connections with corrupt members of the police force, however the NGOs put pressure on them and they had to follow up on the husband’s tip.

After being arrested for two weeks, they called me out with another two girls and promised that they would free us from jail and also provide us with jobs cleaning dishes at a restaurant. They sent us to a houseboat hotel and three policemen came and picked up us by motorbike. We didn’t understand Thai and we didn’t know what they said to us...

One policeman forced me to have sex with him although I refused; he was so strong and I couldn’t do anything to keep him off of me. He forced me to have sex in different ways and I was in a lot of pain. I was afraid and cried.

Burma's unwarranted credibility as a host of ASEAN meeting

According to the researhc, "No Whereelse to Go", Burmese military regime is not only the root cause behind the sex trafficking of Burmese women and children but also the sources of the exacerbation.According to no where else to go,  the military regime's economic mismanagement and high tax are two driving factors for the Burmese victims to flee the country. The research also states that the victims are hesitant to report cases against police corruption involving human trafficking because  the close connection between the military regime and the many NGO representatives would only bring the victims themselves under the accusation of taking part in the human trafficking ring. Therefore, many victims' reports remain unreported.  The Burmese military regime, according to the report, is in charge of a large percentage of aids and social welfare programs, which will only worsen the current situations of trafficking victims. 

Reliance on ASEAN cooperation on combating human trafficking is foolish

Nor should anyone trust Burmese or Thai governments to rectify the situation for human trafficking victims. Certainly, Foreign aid therefore is not a solution, either. Rather, the ultimate solutions lie on the drastic changes on many policy mechanisms in both countries. For Burma,  the military regime must address the root causes of the rampant human trafficking in the country by improving education system and job opportunities for women, lowering unreasonably high tax rates on rural population, etc. In Thailand, corruption among the law enforcement individuals must be dealt with dire consequences. Also, its immigration policy should protect the fundamental rights of migrant workers in the country as much as Thailand's economy benefited tremendously from the cheap labors of migrant workers.  

About the Author

Cells "Ngo Por Huk" Lao Band


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Laos Ngo

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What paid work opportunities are there in Laos?

Preferably Vientiane. I am an experienced TEFL teacher but would prefer work with a development agency/NGO. Anyone any ideas?

Among the travellers, teaching job is popular. I hope some NGO,etc from Laos responds to your question. You might enjoy these resources which I have collected for you. In most cases, you might need to contact them instead of waiting for them to contact you. Just send them emails asking for jobs. Were you also looking for volunteer oppertunities, then the doors of the none profit companies will be more open for you!


Laos Society and Culture
http://www.google.com/Top/Regional/Asia/Laos/Society_and_Culture/

Volunteer Oppertunities
http://www.idealist.org/if/idealist/en/SiteIndex/Search/search?assetTypes=VolunteerOpportunity&keywords=laos&sid=74958643-6-EovuK

Jobs
http://www.idealist.org/if/idealist/en/SiteIndex/Search/search?assetTypes=Job&keywords=laos&sid=74958643-6-EovuK
http://www.teachabroad.com/Laos.cfm

Hope that much helps you for now.
Have a great day!

Laos - where Village Focus International works


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Laos Poverty

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Why is Africa still the worst place?

Why is Africa, the birth of civilization, continuously to this date the worst place on the planet? Poverty, war, starvation, diseases, no man’s law, etc. Many South American and Asian countries were harshly plundered and colonized by the westerners but they show improvements. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia were literally torn apart to pieces in the 70s and 80s now has, though not perfect, has stable “democratic” governments. North Korea is still very bad but at least there’s a sovereign government and no war.

Serious and educative reply only please.

To answer your question before I get to the "serious and educative" part - Africa is not the worst place on this planet.

Poverty exists in the United States of America - is this reason enough to call it "the worst place in the world?" While China's poverty level of 10% may seem low - in reality 10% of 1.3 billion is 130 million.
The people of Afghanistan (and more than a few foreign "observers or advisors") have been fighting one war or another steadily for the last 30 years in Afghanistan. Does this make it better or worse than all African countries?
Starvation has occurred in Russia in the 1930s and China in the 1950s. What makes starvation in Africa worse than starvation in those two countries?
Diseases flourish all over the world, and while some countries in Africa suffer severely from high levels of AIDS, other countries still suffer from Malaria and Dengue Fever.
European countries (Germany & the Soviet Union) plundered other European countries, and Japan plundered many Asian countries before, during, and after the Second World War - this by no means is limited to Western nations.
Cambodia's government has only stabilised in the last few years, as have some African countries. Laos and Vietnam have one-party Communist governments - while some African countries have shown improvements with multi-party democracies. While South Africa has many problems with crime and its economy - it too has a sovereign, democratically-elected government, no war, and is certainly a lot better than North Korea.

A Day in the Life of Kaisong - Experience Poverty in Laos


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Ngo Laos

ngo laos="ngo laos"

A History of the Vietnam War

In January 1950, the People’s Republic of China recognised the Vietminh’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam as the government of Vietnam. At the same time the non-Communist nations of the world recognised the France supported State of Vietnam led by former Emperor Bao Dai. The Battle of Dien Bein Phu of 1954 marked the end of French involvement in Indo-China and the independence was granted to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia by the Geneva Accords. The Accords also resulted in the partition of Vietnam along the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh’s communist Vietminh in control of the north and the French-backed State of Vietnam in control of the south. Elections were to be held throughout the country, according to the Geneva Accords, but they were blocked by the South Vietnamese president, who feared a communist victory. Following a powerful propaganda campaign marshalled by the Americans, over one million people fled the North, mainly Catholics who feared communist persecution. In the North, the Vietminh who had come under the control of the Lao Dung Party consolidated their power under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, collectivised agriculture and began planning about how to gain control of the South. In Saigon, Bao Dai was deposed in a referendum by the US backed Ngo Dinh Diem in late 1955, he immediately launched an anti-communist sweep of the south. The Vietminh cadres, dismissively dubbed the Vietcong by Diem found their backs to the wall and appealed to the North for support. A low key insurgency developed in the South, it was originally aimed at local government officials but it soon broadened to include other symbols of the status quo including teachers, health workers and agricultural officials.

In May 1959, the Lao Dung Party sanctioned an armed revolution against Saigon, thousands of insurgents began to stream down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to help form Vietcong units, this was the beginnings of the National Liberation Front. By the early 1960s, the NLF’s campaign had burgeoned and was scoring defeats on the Army, Republic of Vietman (ARVN). Diem and his mafia-like family were incapable of dealing with the growing crisis, the US administration began to seek ways of removing them from the reigns of power. The US diplomatic regime in Saigon approved if not planned a coup d’etat in May 1963 which resulted in the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Diem Nhu. Chaos followed the coup, one military government toppled another in quick succession while the North Vietnamese government took advantage of the instability by pouring support into it’s guerrilla movement. A controversial incident that occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964, would have a profound impact on the war. The US destroyer, Maddox was fired upon by North Vietnamese torpedo boats, it was later reported that their crews were inexperienced and were simply responding to sonar and radar anomalies. However, the Johnson administration, used the incident to gain congressional support for increased military action in South-East Asia. The war began to escalate from 1965, in retaliation to Vietcong attacks on the US airbase at Pleiku, the US air force began bombing North Vietnam. In the summer of that year, General Westmoreland, Commander of the US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), ordered the first US ground offensive ground operation. US troops began pouring into the country, and Washington encouraged its SEATO allies to send troops and Austrailia, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines all sent troops, although America’s NATO allies, most notably Canada and the United Kingdom refused to contribute troops.

Westmoreland launched a series of large-scale ‘Search and Destroy’ operations, targeting Vietcong operating bases. Vietcong units often managed to evade US incursions by retreating to sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos, though the attacks did take their toll on Vietcong forward-supply bases. The political situation in South Vietnam began to stabilise with the coming to power of Vice-President Nguyen Cao Ky and President Nguyen Van Thieu in 1967. The Johnson administration employed a ‘policy of minimum candour’ when dealing with the media, this policy damaged the trust of the American public in the administration and large scale public protests began in the States as the ’credibility gap’ widened. By mid-1967, US forces were gaining the upper hand until Hanoi launched the Tet Offensive in January 1968 with the intention of launching a military and civilian uprising in the South, that failed to materialise, however the offensive proved to be a political triumph for Hanoi because the American military and by extension the American public had believed the war to be almost over, they were shocked by the scope and intensity of the attack. It caused Lyndon B. Johnson’s job, home support for the effort began to seriously stumble and US policy-makers became increasingly determined to devise an exit strategy that would not simply abandon South Vietnam to PAVN; they began negotiations with North Vietnam in Paris, though little progress was made. The Nixon administration began a policy of Vietnamization, where ARVN forces were bolstered as American troops began to withdraw. In March 1969, US forces launched a massive bombing campaign of Cambodia with the goal of destroying PAVN sanctuaries, this violated a long succession of pronouncements from Washington supporting Cambodian neutrality.

However, in May 1970, the US began ground incursions into Cambodia; this action sparked nationwide protests on the home front culminating in the tragedy at Kent State University when four students were shot and killed by soldiers of the Ohio National Guard. The public were outraged, but the Nixon administration appeared indifferent, launching ARVN incursions into neutral Laos in early 1971 with the intention of cutting the Ho Chi Minh supply line. These incursions proved disastrous with the ARVN forces who were easily routed, retreating pell-mell, abandoning vehicles and equipment and requiring a bail-out by American airpower; the chaos clearly emphasised the failure of the policy of Vietnamization. Morale amongst US troops was at its lowest ebb - Australia and New Zealand pulled out their troops, many soldiers developed drug habits, there were problems with race relations and insubordination and cases of courts-martial soared. Vietnamization was again tested by the Easter Offensive of 1972, the VPA and NLF overran the northern provinces and other forces attacked from Cambodia, threatening to cut the country in half but US airpower again came to the rescue. It was now clear that South Vietnam could not survive without the support of American airpower, though the remaining American ground troops were withdrawn in August. After peace negotiations had broken down, Nixon ordered a massive bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong to pressurize North Vietnam back to the negotiating table. It worked, at huge cost, although the Paris Peace Accords were signed in January 1973, the offensive had destroyed much of the remaining industrial and economic capacity of North Vietnam. The Peace Accords enforced a cease-fire, it was stated that US POW’s would be released, national elections would be called for in the North and the South and a sixty day period was instigated for the complete withdrawal of American forces. However, the fighting in South Vietnam continued, the POW issue runs to this day and elections were never held. Many South Vietnamese fled to the United States in one of the largest war refugees migrations in history. There was no peace movement to protest the renewed bloodshed nor was there much media coverage. Early in 1975, the North Vietnamese launched their final offensive, South Vietnam rapidly collapsed. North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon, only hours after the US completed an emergency airlift of embassy personnel and thousands of South Vietnamese who feared for their lives under the communists. Hanoi gained control of South Vietnam, and its allies won in Cambodia, where the government surrendered to insurgent forces on 17 April 1975, and Laos, where the Communists gradually assumed control.

About the Author

Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source Russell Shortt, http://www.exploringireland.net http://www.visitscotlandtours.com

「ラオス・タイの旅 」 ＮＧＯアジア Travel of Laos Thailand ♪


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Ngos In Laos

ngos in laos="ngos in laos"
Whats the cost of living in southeast Asia?

I'm American and I'm thinking of spending a gap year there. I would like to volunteer with NGOs in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, or Burma. I'm wondering how much it will cost for me to live in any of these countries while I try to find some sort of job.
All advice is helpful and welcome.
Thanks.

Cost of life in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is very low compared to the US. You can live easily with 600-700 bucks/month , there (with no frills, though).
Thailand is a quite more expensive place to live in , and there the Government has drastically reduced the operating licenses to many NGOs in the past few years. They feel as they do not need help.
Burma? forget it. The military junta does not like NGOs, and the few of them operating in the country are UN-related Funds. You won't last a single day there as a loner.
Laos and Vietnam also are difficult place to volunteer.
Cambodia is where International donors and NGOs are covering 85 percent of the national budget, and no hassle exists for the volunteers.
I have been volunteering in Cambodia for one year and a half already.
The biggest NGOs may ( and often they do)offer full boarding (only, no salaries nor pocket money, health insurance) to foreign volunteers. A very limited number of NGOs might even grant the use of a vehicle ( usually a 125 cc. motorbike) to their volunteers (while the management travels in brand-new, tax-free Lexus and Land Cruiser cars).
Contact them before you head for Cambodia to volunteer, don't go there and ask around because they don't like "walk-in"volunteers with no previous screening, they prefer people ( mainly tourists) who go there to visit their projects, shot some pics to the poor orphans/disadvantaged kids, make a donation and leave.
Expect to be asked an Interpol clearance if the NGO you 're working in is dealing with minors.
You can contact me at webdeveloping@rocketmail.com if you need names of the big NGOs in the country , or you can find many of them on the following website: http://www.ngoforum.org.kh/eng/core/

NGO Lao Hamutuk.mp4


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