Cindy Malott, a volunteer and major donor, is an Ambassador and the Education Coordinator for the JungleVine Foundation. Her efforts have been to improve school facilities, including bringing water and electricity to schools, building toilet facilities and hand washing stations, and providing fans and lights for existing buildings. Malott also looks for sponsors for needy students at the schools she works with; currently sponsors are supporting about 24 students.

BAN FAY SECONDARY SCHOOL

The building program that Malott’s project funded at Ban Fay Secondary School included both a new school building and a new dormitory. The new 8-classroom school includes a library, computer room with 20 computers, and 10 new toilets. Ban Fay Secondary School is now a “model school” in Laos, and one of only a very few that has a computer program. The dormitory building project, which houses 60 students, included furnishings, study areas, and lockers. Thanks to her generous donations, the dormitory project also included the construction of four toilets, two bathing facilities, and a large covered cook house.

Termites were eating the interior walls of the original school. Termites were eating the wooden walls, and the cement block was crumbling. Malott provided fans and electric to improve conditions at the old school while the new one was under construction.

Original bamboo dormitory huts housed 4 children each and had a place for cooking in the corner. Every year, children in Laos died of fires in these dormitories.

New dormitory houses 60 students

The new dormitory building for 60 students, with four new bathrooms, hand washing stations, bathing facility, and a covered cook house.

A young American girl, 13-year-old Leighton Bell, came to deliver solar lanterns to all the kids. They take the lanterns home to their villages on the weekends so that they have lighting and are able to study. (Their homes do not have electricity.)

The first group of four sponsored students standing outside the old dormitory shacks. We now have about 24 total sponsored students. The cost is $30 a month and funds are distributed to students identified by the school.

Library at Ban Fay Secondary School

After the classroom building was finished, work began on a second building for the campus, a new computer room and a library. The library was decorated by a local artist with the help of some of the secondary school students.

Both elementary students and secondary students use the library. Malott is providing a trained librarian during school days until 7 p.m. so dormitory kids can use the facility for study. The library is also open on weekends for local kids from the village. It is one of very few secondary schools in Laos with a library.

NASAVANG SCHOOL

Generous donations have funded a number of projects for the Nasavang School in Laos, including bringing water from river to storage cisterns and then into the village. All supplies transported to this rural village travel an hour on the main road then 10 kilometers on a narrow dirt track that is so arduous and rutted that it takes 50 minutes.

In 2019, donors to the Nasavang School and Village contributed enough money to fund the construction of bathroom facilities.

Please consider making a donation for the Educational Facilities Improvements in Laos. Your donation will help our mission to reduce poverty in Northern Laos, one of the poorest countries in the world.

The JungleVine Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation registered with the Internal Revenue Service. Contributions, bequests, devices, transfers, and gifts are tax deductible and can be made online or by mail at 3319 3rd St, Suite 2, Des Moines IA 50313, USA. EIN 46-4237069

Laos Educational Support