One of the delights of staying in a guest house is that breakfast is usually a rather social affair. Here at the Bellevue Bungalows in Luang Prabang (go to their website to see more), we eat outside and often meet new sojourners and hear their travel tips. That was the case with Julie and Alan, travelers from Wales, who told us about a drop-in center in LP where they had been teaching English to eager young learners. Apparently many students here study English but rarely have an opportunity to practice. An American man has hit upon the brilliant idea of using that pent-up tourist desire to "connect" in a useful way, even though the tourists are here for only a short time. Julie and Alan had spoken with such enthusiasm about their experience that I was intrigued. However, I was still too curious about the sights of the city to commit myself to a schedule. That was the first week.
By the second week, after visiting too many temples to count, I was ready to turn my attention elsewhere. I decided to give "Big Brother Mouse" a try. Despite its rather silly name, the center is a "hoppin'" place each evening from 5pm - 7pm. While Bruce rested and read during the hot part of the afternoon on Monday, I found out where the center was located and was there by 4:30pm, ready for whatever was going to happen! What happened was that almost immediately, Lee, a 14 year old student, arrived and sat down with me at a long table. Lee had a small notepad filled with random English words that he had written down, along with the Lao/Hmong translation. He began by politely asking my name and where I was from. After a few more conversational niceties, he went to the sparsely filled bookshelf and picked out a book to read aloud.
Lee and another student outside Big Brother Mouse.
Meanwhile, several other young men trickled in and joined us. They were all teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 19. Most were high school students who attended school during the day and then filled out their day with this 2 hour session of conversational practice! Many lived with an uncle or other family member in LP, so that they could attend high school. Their parents and siblings were back in their village several hours away. I invited them all to take turns reading the book that Lee had selected. As they read, I would help them with pronunciation; they would jot down words that they didn't know; in between, they would ask me questions about myself.
Eager students and English-speaking tourists crowd into the Big Brother Mouse classroom space each evening.
The book that Lee chose that first evening was a children's picture book about a cow named Cushie Butterfield who played sick on school days so that she wouldn't have to go to school. What an ironic story for this uber-motivated young man to select! I wasn't sure that he could even understand why anyone would want to do that, given the great lengths that he and his buddies went to for their schooling. There also were expressions like "fit as a fiddle" and "under the weather" that I'm sure these kids will never have occasion to use. But there were also some useful concepts like days of the week and colors. The collection of students varied widely, not only in age but also in their English skill level. What was consistent was their gracious politeness and their incredible hunger to learn English, mostly as a way to better their lives through the tourism industry. They were, without exception, delightful!
Big Brother Mouse storefront and classroom
At the end of that first evening, I learned that Lee was going "my" way on his way to catch a bus for his 40 minute ride home. We chatted as we walked together in the warm evening. On our way past the crepe stand, Bruce, crepe in hand, spotted me. We invited Lee to join us for a bowl of noodle soup. Bruce was immediately smitten, as I had been. It wasn't difficult to convince him to come with me the next evening.
So that is how we have been spending our evenings this week. We're not sure that we are helping all that much, but it has been a gift to us in opening up the real lives of real kids here in Laos. The experience has evolved. At the end of our second evening, Yeng asked us to come with him to meet Carol, an amazing American woman who has developed a library and resource center, called My Library (you can google that, too), where young folks gather to use the computers, read books, play games, make puzzles. Though the place was full, it was quiet as could be with intent energy spent on absorbing and figuring out stuff.
Bruce drops in at "My Library", which is filled with kids on this Saturday morning.
Then Yeng took us directly across the street to a temple compound, where his American friend, Michael, teaches English every evening to young monks in a big open building. Michael, as it turns out, is a Bates College grad. He was eager to see us and invited us to return one evening to work with HIS students. We did that last evening, instead of going to Big Brother Mouse. Michael, who has named his small project SMILE, is a one-man English teaching school. He attracts about a dozen teenage monks on any given evening, and they work on learning the language that everyone seems to want to speak. On the evening that we visited, we held conversations with the boys, which gave us a little glimpse into the life of a novice and how a young man would happen to join the religious life. We felt privileged to have this opportunity. Bruce did a great job of creating engaging and fun vocabulary games.
Looking through the gate to Wat Non at the brick building in the compound, without glass in the windows, where Michael holds his nightly classes.
What we have taken away from our quite extraordinary and serendipitous experience is an awareness of not only the impressive drive among the students but also the astonishing commitment of ordinary individuals who have chosen to leave their first world homes to devote their time and resources to improving the lives of these adolescents. It’s been humbling.
By the second week, after visiting too many temples to count, I was ready to turn my attention elsewhere. I decided to give "Big Brother Mouse" a try. Despite its rather silly name, the center is a "hoppin'" place each evening from 5pm - 7pm. While Bruce rested and read during the hot part of the afternoon on Monday, I found out where the center was located and was there by 4:30pm, ready for whatever was going to happen! What happened was that almost immediately, Lee, a 14 year old student, arrived and sat down with me at a long table. Lee had a small notepad filled with random English words that he had written down, along with the Lao/Hmong translation. He began by politely asking my name and where I was from. After a few more conversational niceties, he went to the sparsely filled bookshelf and picked out a book to read aloud.
Lee and another student outside Big Brother Mouse.
Meanwhile, several other young men trickled in and joined us. They were all teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 19. Most were high school students who attended school during the day and then filled out their day with this 2 hour session of conversational practice! Many lived with an uncle or other family member in LP, so that they could attend high school. Their parents and siblings were back in their village several hours away. I invited them all to take turns reading the book that Lee had selected. As they read, I would help them with pronunciation; they would jot down words that they didn't know; in between, they would ask me questions about myself.
Eager students and English-speaking tourists crowd into the Big Brother Mouse classroom space each evening.
The book that Lee chose that first evening was a children's picture book about a cow named Cushie Butterfield who played sick on school days so that she wouldn't have to go to school. What an ironic story for this uber-motivated young man to select! I wasn't sure that he could even understand why anyone would want to do that, given the great lengths that he and his buddies went to for their schooling. There also were expressions like "fit as a fiddle" and "under the weather" that I'm sure these kids will never have occasion to use. But there were also some useful concepts like days of the week and colors. The collection of students varied widely, not only in age but also in their English skill level. What was consistent was their gracious politeness and their incredible hunger to learn English, mostly as a way to better their lives through the tourism industry. They were, without exception, delightful!
Big Brother Mouse storefront and classroom
At the end of that first evening, I learned that Lee was going "my" way on his way to catch a bus for his 40 minute ride home. We chatted as we walked together in the warm evening. On our way past the crepe stand, Bruce, crepe in hand, spotted me. We invited Lee to join us for a bowl of noodle soup. Bruce was immediately smitten, as I had been. It wasn't difficult to convince him to come with me the next evening.
So that is how we have been spending our evenings this week. We're not sure that we are helping all that much, but it has been a gift to us in opening up the real lives of real kids here in Laos. The experience has evolved. At the end of our second evening, Yeng asked us to come with him to meet Carol, an amazing American woman who has developed a library and resource center, called My Library (you can google that, too), where young folks gather to use the computers, read books, play games, make puzzles. Though the place was full, it was quiet as could be with intent energy spent on absorbing and figuring out stuff.
Bruce drops in at "My Library", which is filled with kids on this Saturday morning.
Then Yeng took us directly across the street to a temple compound, where his American friend, Michael, teaches English every evening to young monks in a big open building. Michael, as it turns out, is a Bates College grad. He was eager to see us and invited us to return one evening to work with HIS students. We did that last evening, instead of going to Big Brother Mouse. Michael, who has named his small project SMILE, is a one-man English teaching school. He attracts about a dozen teenage monks on any given evening, and they work on learning the language that everyone seems to want to speak. On the evening that we visited, we held conversations with the boys, which gave us a little glimpse into the life of a novice and how a young man would happen to join the religious life. We felt privileged to have this opportunity. Bruce did a great job of creating engaging and fun vocabulary games.
Looking through the gate to Wat Non at the brick building in the compound, without glass in the windows, where Michael holds his nightly classes.
What we have taken away from our quite extraordinary and serendipitous experience is an awareness of not only the impressive drive among the students but also the astonishing commitment of ordinary individuals who have chosen to leave their first world homes to devote their time and resources to improving the lives of these adolescents. It’s been humbling.
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