We were joined by Steve Rutledge, a member of the Whitby Sunrise club to discuss the Adopt a Village in Laos program. Steve is pictured here with members Chris Toal and Doug Edwards.Laos is a communist country in southeast Asia next to Cambodia and Vietnam that is landlocked and 70% mountainous. Most Laotians live in rural areas, with around 80% working in agriculture mostly growing rice. This was the most heavily bombed country in the world during the conflict of the 1960’s and 70’s with the impact of killing almost 1/3rd of the population with thousands more being killed subsequent to the end of this “Secret War” by unexploded ordinance (bombs) that remain (to this day) on and in the ground. It is estimated that over a 9 year period, a bomb was dropped on Laos every eight minutes, 24 hours a day and that 30% of the 260 million bombs dropped never exploded.
As a result of it’s politics, geography and history, Laos is one of the poorest Asian countries where foreigners rarely visit. One of the most significant issues facing the mainly rural and widely dispersed population of Laos is poor access to clean water. Most Laotians struggle with diarrhea or other water related aliments that can lead to major health issues such as liver or kidney failure. The country struggles with an infant mortality rate of almost 5% and startlingly most people do not necessarily even realize that bad water is a major contributor to their health issues.
The Adopt a Village in Laos Program addresses this problem by assisting in construction of water infrastructure projects, education of water cleanliness and providing inexpensive water filtration. Over the many years that Steve has participated with Adopt a Village he has assisted in building dams, pipelines and other water distribution projects to many villages and schools. The mountainous terrain and unexploded ordinance makes the technical issues of these projects quite complex (hmm…perhaps some civil engineers could help!) and Steve showed some pictures of pipelines spanning ravines on poles and cables and of concrete dams and watercourses. Once the water is available to a village, the program provides, an inexpensive and light (only 12lbs) filter system constructed from a plastic jug using a clay pot infused with silver nitrate as an effective filter along with the training of how to use it and keep it working effectively. The goal for the current year is to equip 7 villages this year with water filters.
This project has been supported by several other Rotary clubs and we have decided to support it as well. Doug Edwards presented Steve with a cheque for $5000 from the International Committee in support of this project!
For further information on this project, refer to their website https://adoptavillageinlaos.wordpress.com/.
