Nine-year-old Kayla has turned her love of reading into a way of helping kids who don’t have access to books!
Over the school holidays, Kayla from Adelaide organised a group of nine friends to raise money by reading books and asking people to sponsor them. In total, the reading group raised over $1,000 – an incredible effort! With these funds, they have decided to donate a mobile library to children in Laos.
We shared some photos with Kayla of children in Laos enjoying their mobile library and she sent us this lovely response:
“Thank you for the photos. It was great to see the kids looking at those books. It looked like fun. I want to go there when I`m bigger and have my very own mobile library. I would like it to be like a big bus with a big library in it and seats for the kids to sit in. I would drive it around to schools and homes where they don`t have access to books and libraries.”
We’d like to say a special thanks to Kayla, Isabelle, William, Oliver, Miles, Tara, Stuart, Holly and Brodie for taking part in this great event. You should be very proud!
Water scarcity for drinking and washing is a significant issue for communities in northern Laos, and 90 per cent of families do not have sanitation facilities.
Currently, many villages rely on local natural springs. However, during the dry season these springs often dry up, and people have to walk further afield in search of water.
This is particularly a burden for children, who are often responsible for water collection. In the dry season, children may have a two-hour return journey in order to supply the family’s water. And as some springs are located in areas that have yet to be cleared of UXOs (unexploded bombs that remain from the war), the risks are deadly.
ChildFund Laos is launching an extensive water and sanitation project to provide villages with both latrines and reliable water sources. This will include the construction of latrines, installation of gravity-fed water systems, as well as training on how to use the new facilities, and hygiene education.
Part of this project will be funded by the Laos Water Cycle, a fundraising challenge for 20 Australians who will cycle from Laos to Cambodia in November 2012. There are only a few places left on this trip so download the information pack and register today!
