Simple but effective: Water taps in remote areas

Ms Bou and her grandson © UNICEF/Laos/2014/S.Nazer

A simple water tap can bring huge benefits to many people, especially for women and children in rural areas who are often burdened with the responsibility of collecting and carrying water each day. In Yang village, in the northern province of Luang Prabang, villagers spoke of how new water taps have helped change their everyday lives for the better.

Ms Bou, a grandmother of one who thinks she is around 50, sat with us in a dusty wooden village meeting hall to talk about how things have changed since she was young. As a young girl and later a mother, she recalls how tiring it was collecting water with children.

Innovating for water in schools

Carlos Vasquez reports on an innovative initiative bringing water to schools:

Providing water in schools for hand washing is as crucial in Lao PDR as many other initiatives to improve the lives of students. There are many far-reaching benefits linked to hand washing: fewer infectious diseases, fruitful results of existing school meal plans and healthier lives. This is why German development organisation GIZ and UNICEF have joined forces to test a new design to get clean water flowing into schools.

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.

 

Japanese pop star Ai Kawashima visits UNICEF/AEON supported village

Popular Japanese singer-songwriter visited Longlao village and its primary school to take a look at a community water supply scheme and water and sanitation facilities, supported by Japanese company AEON through UNICEF.

To view the full photo captions, expand the gallery and click 'show info' in the top right corner.

Community preschools: Reaching out to the most vulnerable

Saphieu, 5 ©UNICEF/2013/S. Nazer

Five year-old Saphieu, in a remote Akha-speaking village in far Northern Lao PDR, beams at her teacher when she is congratulated for the tower she has built with brightly coloured building blocks. The teacher has to make sure Saphieu is looking directly at her as she is deaf, and never speaks.

"I have to pay extra attention to her," explains the community teacher, 17 year-old Pheomeo. "I have to make sure she sees everything, and often I write things down for her. But she is very smart and picks everything up very quickly. Often, when I demonstrate something on the board for the children to repeat, I turn around and she's already completed it."

Global Hand Washing day 2012