Meet the Superkids of Laos

Chandavone and her daughter Namkhing

Chandavone (25) Homchanh (20) and Chanhom (28) have one thing in common. They are the mothers of three buoyant 13 month-old children from the small village of Ban Namahee in the south east of Laos. Lively and healthy, the children wrestle in their mother’s arms, mouthing eager pre-speech noises and taking any opportunity they can get to try out legs which only months ago seemed unimportant to their world. In a country where child under-nutrition is a silent emergency – the latest data indicates almost 2 million Lao citizens, mainly women and children, suffer some form of under-nutrition – these three bouncing, healthy children, are in stark relief to the figures. Why? All three have been taking the nutrition supplement Superkid as part of their diets.

Turning Despair to Dreams: Meeting Malnutrition Challenges in Lao PDR

Thien (2012) in Adone Village with her 2 year-old son, Thear © 2015 UNICEF Lao PDR / S. Noorani

By Shane Powell, UNICEF C4D Specialist.

Adone village, Saravane province, Lao PDR – Thien was just 16 years old the night she felt her first labour pains radiate up through her belly and around her lower back. Three days later, Thien’s newborn first child died...

Then and Now: The Children of Saravane Province - meet Bak

Tahuak village, Ta Oi district, Saravane province.
In 2012, Bak was identified as severely undernourished (indicated by the arm band measurement in the ‘red’). He was treated with supplementary foods and his mother counseled on good feeding practices for young children as part of a Government programme supported by UNICEF with funding from the European Union.  Examined again earlier this year by Mr. Keomany, a Tahuak Health Centre staff member (also pictured here) he proudly proclaims Bak as “in the green”, or no longer undernourished.

Then and Now: The Children of Saravane Province - meet Set

Tahuak village, Ta Oi district, Saravane province. 

In 2012, Set was just 1 year old and severely undernourished. This year, Set turns 4 and the nutrition screenings show her “in the green” – or adequately nourished for her age. Her mother credits the supplementary foods provided to her and a better diet following counseling by the local health workers under a Government programme supported by UNICEF with funding from the European Union. “We don’t have money to go buy different foods for our children at the market. But after I learned Set was malnourished I started making a plan to feed her better,” Set’s mother explains. “Pumpkins, mangoes, cucumbers … whatever we can pick locally or grow in our garden. I also feed her eggs now.”

Read story number 2 and meet Bak...

Breastfeeding: a winning goal for life

It’s now World Breastfeeding Week and UNICEF Laos and the Lao Government continue to promote the life-saving benefits of breastfeeding.

Claire's Accessories visit Lao PDR

Popular retail company Claire's Accessories visited us in late March to take a look at some of our education work in Lao PDR. Through UNICEF UK, Claire's are supporting the Schools for Asia programme.

The focus will be particularly on those who, because of their gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic location or poverty are less likely to get a quality education.

Schools for Asia countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. Read more about the launch of this initiative here.

A video and more information will follow shortly, but in the meantime take a look at some photos from their visit. Click the icon in the bottom right to make the slideshow full screen.

 

UNICEF & Mrs Bik: Working together to promote breastfeeding

UNICEF went to Sekong Province, southern Lao PDR, to take a look at how UNICEF and the Lao Government work with people like the amazing Mrs Bik to promote breastfeeding. Click on the Mrs Bik's photo to follow her story (when Flickr opens, click 'show info' at the top to read the story).
 



Mrs Bik promoted breastfeeding in her village



Government launches social survey report: The first of its kind in Lao PDR

© UNICEF Lao PDR/2013/Verweij

Vientiane, Lao PDR, July 4^th – Lao Statistics Bureau, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Health with support from the Ministry of Education and Sports and international development partners launched on July 4^th a comprehensive report with the findings of the Lao Social Indicator Survey (LSIS).