Library of Nong Het Meeting
September, 2006.

The flooded rice fields slowly gave way to patchwork hillside farming as we made our way higher and higher through the mountain passes towards Nong Het. Coniferous trees gradually replacing hardwood as the warm late summer air turns cooler. Growing up in the Rocky Mountains I am no stranger to majestic mountain peaks and tall pine trees. But never did I imagine that such a spectacular view and abundance of pine existed so near the equatorial line. I fumbled between my digital camera and video recorder trying to capture each view as it unfolded around each bend.

Halfway to Nong Het, we arrived at the base of Phou Due Mountain, the traditional village of my family. We took the opportunity to stop and visit a rectangular shaped schoolhouse sitting on a slight hill. As we approached closer, we were greeted by the local school superintendent who led us into a classroom; no one noticed the stark bare walls that stared back at us. Bright eyed students sat on double row benches focused on their teacher at the head of the room using his tiny chalkboard to teach a lesson. And even though each room had 40 students to a teacher, the school still had to operate in two full sessions. One class in the morning and one in the afternoon to accommodate all its students. I asked to see the library and was led to a room housing a few well-read textbooks stacked on rickety racks. Their covers long gone and rounded from many a page turned. I saw no other literature, not a single novel in sight. I told them I would be back.

We entered Nong Het under the watchful gaze of some little sentinels. Their curiosity reminded me of myself some 35 years ago. We proceeded to the Government office and met with the Mayor of Nong Het and his staff. The officials displayed a real deep appreciation for our visit and expressed genuine concern that we may have forgotten about them. We reassured them that they have not been forgotten and that we are committed to building this library. Their gratitude was unmistakable in their smiles as we shared the progress of the project.

We showed them a picture of the completed library in Pakse as it represented the same model as the building that is going to be built in Nong Het. Their reply was simply that Nong Het has never had such a beautiful building. To date, about $20,000 of the $35,000 needed has been raised. Dr. Langworthy and I each pledged $1,000 on the spot. We need another $15,000 to make this dream for the children of Nong Het to come true. Chuck will return in December of 2006 to finalize the paperwork.

After the meeting, we shared a ceremonial meal where we sealed “the deal” in the traditional Hmong custom with each person drinking two shots of rice whisky signifying two groups working towards a common goal. Identical to the ceremony performed at Padong in 1961 between Vang Pao, Bill Lair, and the Hmong clan leaders. The difference this time was that the weapons of choice are that of books and computers and promises that is made to be kept.

I asked to visit the Middle and High school. We arrived at the school only to see that it was closed. The superintendent informed us that classes had been dismissed because the MAG team was conducting a mine sweep in a corner of the school playground. I later caught up with the MAG team leader in Phonsavan over dinner and was informed that unexploded ordinance where still everywhere. It will take many lifetimes to remove them all. In the school yard alone, they averaged 20 mines per three-square meters searched.

I interviewed a young lady who had just completed high school. Her ambition is to attend the University in Vientiane to study medicine but doubted that the Government had room for her. Each year only a handful of the students are selected to continue their study. If not accepted, the tuition would cost $100 per year or one third of their annual income, a price tag that not too many can afford. I am contemplating a scholarship program where Hmong in the US can sponsor an individual student to attend the University in Vientiane. A thought that I will file away for future examination.

In this isolated part of the world where few opportunities exist some individuals still shine. The superintendent shared that a Hmong boy from the area had one of the highest test score in all of Laos and won the coveted full-ride scholarship to study in Japan. The Japanese delegation personally showed up in Nong Het to escort him to Japan assuring his place on the roster.

We visited the preschool where fifty happy little tykes surrounded me as I passed out candy, crayons, and paper. One cunning little girl snuggled up to me as she charmed me into filling all her pockets full of candy. My eyes welled-up with tears thinking about her bleak future. Only through education can her odds change.

We left Nong Het as the sun started to sink slowly behind the mountains, stopping outside of town to snap a parting picture. Just then, an explosion rocked the still air. I glanced around but no one else seemed affected by the thunderous boom. “What in world was that?” I asked. A voice calmly replied, “That’s just another bomb being blown up.” “Oh is that all it was,” I replied, wiping my brows and checking my short.

Later that week, back in Vientiane, Madam Nattavong informed me that the results of our meeting in Nong Het have been shared with Madam Pany Yathotu, Vice President of the Laos National Assembly, and received the cabinets’ full approval. Madam Yathotu, will also personally brief the Prime Minister of Laos on the Nong Het library project.

My journey to Nong Het has strengthened my desire to have the library built. The library is more than a building filled with inanimate books. The library is a key to opening the doors, the doors of knowledge towards a better tomorrow. I am asking you to change the tomorrows of these children. Let not what they know today be the only way. Please help. www.libraryoflaos.org

Chong

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