28th and 29th November Peter Maroney, who has been the driving force behind the design of the biodigester, departed site yesterday (28th) and stayed the night in Phonsovan. Thanks for all your work and input Peter. The weather yesterday was terrible, raining heavily all day, so no work was possible.
Project News
Lao Culture- A Divorce Celebration.
Lao Culture- A Divorce Celebration. We, the volunteers at Ban Xai were invited to Yang’s sisters divorce celebration not knowing what to expect. The men and women are separated as the women prepare the meal and the men gather as the celebrant waves a handful of cotton threads over the
Hmong New Year at Ban Xai
The weekend of 15/16th December is the Hmong New year. No work is done in the Hmong Community from Thursday evening to Monday morning. They celebrate! Hugh, our site Supervisor, says “it was great to witness the Hmong community celebrating, with the girls of all ages wearing their colourful and
Tasks for Group Volunteers
Tasks for Group Volunteers Since MiVAC has been at Ban Xai several humanitarian tasks have been identified that are not in the MiVAC MOU and therefore not in MiVAC’s Project Budget. The tasks still need being done to assist the people. To facilitate this MiVAC can identify tasks and give
The Lions Club of Terranora Lakes
The Lions Club of Terranora Lakes PRESS RELEASE Lion Peter Maroney from the Lions Club of Terranora Lakes is currently in Lao PDR assisting the MiVAC Trust in their efforts to improve the lives of the impoverished Hmong people of the village of Ban Xai, approximately 30 Klm
The Dormitory at Ban Xai for Hinmou Peung Children
The Dormitory at Ban Xai for Hinmou Peung Children One of the main reasons that we have done the school at Hinmou Peung (HMP) is because some children who are aged 8, 9 and 10 years old attend the school at Ban Xai and live in a dormitory near
German “TAFE” College in Phonsavan
German “TAFE” College in Phonsavan John Salter introduced me to this College – the “Integrated Vocational Education and Training School of Xieng Khouang” which is funded by a German NGO and it is headed by a lady called Ingrid. The College teaches the following trades: Cooking, Carpentry, Electrical, Mechanical, Animal
Briefing on Progress at Ban Xai
Briefing on Progress at Ban Xai Peder Pedersen from The Charitable Fund suggested that we start now in briefing the Villagers on what we are doing at the Model Farm at Ban Xai. On Thursday 8th November Michael and Yang briefed a group of Local Villagers, Foreign Affairs and Phoukood District
MOU Signing by Phoukood District
MOU Signing by Phoukood District The saga of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) commenced back in April 2012. MiVAC thought that when the MOU was signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in the Vientiane Government, that it was all finalised. But … oh no ! This was when
Donation of Educational Supplies
We (Sandy McGregor, Peter Maroney, Yang and I) arrived at the Ban Xai School (which can be easily seen from the Mivac site as it is “next door”) at 8am, only to be told by Yang that 8 am could really be 8.30am! The School Director, Boar Hon arrived and