ORPHANAGE IN LUANG PRABANG 

The state-run orphanage in Luang Prabang currently houses approximately 400 children between the ages of 11 and 17. The older children help care for the younger ones, and all attend the orphanage school. Fields are cultivated behind the residential buildings. The vegetables grown there are used in the orphanage kitchen.

Nursery

In 2018, Andrew initiated a childcare project at the Luang Prabang orphanage. Initially, there were just four children in the kindergarten. Today, 11 children between the ages of four months and six years live there. They come from remote villages, have lost their parents, or were seriously ill. TASNA has supported this project since its inception.

VILLAGES IN THE PROVINCE OF LUANG PRABANG 

When we were in Laos in 2018, Andrew Brown from the organization ‘supportlaochildren’ took us to a remote village lacking infrastructure.

After crossing the Mekong River and driving for about two hours on a newly constructed gravel road, we reached a village that until recently was virtually inaccessible. The lack of infrastructure is a major issue in Laos, and during the rainy season, countless places are completely cut off.

We learned that approximately 200 children live here alongside 400 adults, lacking food and medicine, and that the public primary school can only be reached by walking for hours. An organized school bus would significantly improve the prospects for these bright children. Therefore, we are planning a new project here in collaboration with Andrew Brown to provide these children with a school education, better nutrition, and adequate medical care.

This year, thanks to a generous donation, we are able to support a total of five of these remote villages.

Schools were built, water pipes were laid, and the children receive eggs and milk for a balanced diet.

SCHOLARSHIPS 

In Laos, TASNA has been working closely with Franzisca Gartenmann’s organization “Lotus for Laos” since 2017. Lotus for Laos has been supporting a scholarship program for orphans in the Luang Prabang area since 2014. This year, we integrated Lotus for Laos’s work into TASNA and are now working directly with our project manager, Andrew, on-site.

The cost of a scholarship is CHF 670 per year.

Two and a half hours north of Luang Prabang lies the ethnic school in Nambak, which houses 520 children and teenagers. Here, we witnessed our project manager, Andrew Brown, speaking to the graduating students about the possibility of a university scholarship. The classroom was hushed, and during the break, everyone wanted to apply immediately. A few of the students spoke English and translated our many questions.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM

In 2022, our project manager, Andrew, launched a Middle School Program. It all started with 16 children from the village of Ban Hoi Kan, which we already support with the nutrition program. These children now make the 1.5-hour journey to school every day to further their education and avoid having to work in the rice fields after finishing primary school. We were delighted to meet the young people again at school in October 2024. Today, 61 children are participating in this program.

ETHICAL SCHOOL IN NAMBAK

Due to the high inflation in the country, the money this school receives from the government for meals is no longer sufficient to provide a more balanced diet for the 520 children and young people living there. TASNA now finances two hot meals a week to combat malnutrition here as well.

AQUAPONIC FARM (completed project)

In 2018, together with friends from Myanmar and our project manager Andrew, we built an aquaponics farm directly on the grounds of the orphanage in Luang Prabang. The young people now manage this farm independently. They learn not only how to grow vegetables year-round, but also how to raise fish, which they sell to the orphanage kitchen.