Niki Cheong

Laos Day 6: Parting ways

Jun 25, 2008 Trips

This will be my last post on my working trip to Laos with World Vision Malaysia. I know I promised a 10-part series, but even I am suffering from Laos fatigue on my blog (I will however blog once more on Laos later, about the rest of my trip where I did the touristy stuff). Besides, it ends nicely as my feature article on the trip is published today in Youth2 (cover story of Star2), as well as a video (thanks to Mee Yook who painstakingly rushed it so it would be out on time!).

My article focuses more on the situation in Laos, mainly children living in poverty, and how external organisation like World Vision is helping ensure that they have a better future. In the video, I tell the stories of three families I met - the hardships they encounter and their positive outlook in life.

As such, it is the perfect opportunity for me to reflect back on the journey in today’s post. Much of what I have to say was already published in The Star last Saturday in my The Bangsar Boy column. In the article, I mention that I don’t know if it’s a life changing experience - it would be too naive I think to presume long term impact - but the sights I saw, and the stories I’ve heard, definitely make an impact in the way I view thing.

After all, images like bloated tummy’s from lack of food, a near-skeletal diabetes patient and a 10-year-old child lugging 20kgs of water to take care of her family do not disappear so easily from one’s mind. Truth be told, I still think about those people I visited everyday.

Join the 30-Hour Famine campaign if you want to help. Hinboune, one of the districts I visited, is among the many beneficiaries from this year’s campaign. Link on image above.

The last day of our trip started early as well - and with my kind of luck, history repeated itself. In my post about Michael Wong (Part 3), I mention that Lucent and I were late for dinner on the first night and how bad I felt for making everyone wait. Well, it happened again on the last day - we were a few minutes late for breakfast, as we couldn’t find our room keys.

Breakfast was nevertheless a jovial affair - some of us got Michael’s autograph (hey, I’m still a fan!) - and we were still reeling from the laughter and jokes shared the night before. It was an early breakfast as Michael had interviews with members of Laos’ media at 9am. I myself would have to head to the airport at 10.30am.

At breakfast, we had a final debriefing and a few of us shared our thoughts and experiences. It was obvious that everyone was touched by what they saw, although I was equally as moved by the humanity of those people on the trip - I think it reflects on everyone as an individual how well we got along for six days with each other 24/7, how everyone reacted and dealt with unfamiliar territories.

The whole crew (minus Yee Lee who had returned to KL) in our last shot together as a group.

With a hearty goodbye, I saw them all off on a tuk-tuk. They were heading to do some last minute shopping and sightseeing, while Soukanya had so kindly offered me a ride to the airport.

It was the end of our trip, but what a trip it was. I don’t wish that we could do it again - it wouldn’t be the same - but I sure hope that the bonds were created would bring us all together again many times over.

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Update: There are six parts to this travelogue.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

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9.58am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Tags: guang liang, laos, michael wong, Star 2, StarMetro, The Bangsar Boy, The Star, world vision, Youth2