Stories

EU-UXO Project: Changing Lives through Gender Action Learning System (GALS)

Meet Phone (right) and Thone (left). Phone and Thone are GALS champions living in Kohing and Huasing villages, respectively, in Houaphan province. During a gender participatory review with local GALS champions that took place from 26-30 August 2019, in Huaphan province, both women shared with us...

A group of young women from Thasommor Village

Small Enterprise for Big Dreams: A Pilot Initiative to Turn Passion into Economic Progress for Young Women in Laos

By Muksin Straker Cook | July 2019 In Laos, women face disadvantages in accessing economic opportunities, as poverty and wellbeing are highly gendered and associated with ethnicity, cultural norms and geography. Women generally occupy the lower rungs of the labour market and are more often excluded...

Garment Workers and Union Activism

A story from 2016 about how Oxfam helped garment factory workers in Vientiane, Laos. As manufacturing production has continued to expand in Laos, so has its need for trade union activism. The well-being of workers, especially women during reproductive periods, is often jeopardized due to the lack...

Ms. Chanpeng Sengmany, 38, of Ban Somsavath in Bokeo Province.

In her own words

Ms. Chanpeng - A story of change in her own words: “We’ve faced difficult times here. There were hardly any roads to our village, no health center and the village primary school only covered grades 1, 2 and 3. I used to take care of our children and walk many kilometers to get water from the river...

Sanamxay Flood Update: Support from Oxfam Continues

Article Date: November 19, 2018 On 9-12 August, 2018 Oxfam in Laos organized a distribution of hygiene kits at Pindong and Tamoryot evacuation centers to those who had been affected by the dam collapse in Sanamxay. It included 320 kits. Each kit consisted of detergent, shampoo, soap, toothbrush,...

Relying on One Another: Saving Groups by Informal Workers, for Informal Workers

Packing and weighing garbage, Vientiane, Laos Healthcare can be a challenge for those living in Laos, particularly for the poor. Public healthcare is only available to approximately 11 percent of the population and private alternatives charge prohibitively steep fees. Added to that, many labourers...

River Mapping workshop for students. Photo by: Thome, Oxfam in Laos

River Mapping - A way to appreciate what the river gives to the community

rivermappingworkshop_sep2018b.jpg On September 7, 2018, the Oxfam team had a great time facilitating a training session on river mapping to students. The workshop was held at the training center of PADETC, Ban Nahoy, Sangthong District, Vientiane. rivermappingworkshop_sep2018c.jpg Several...

Basket weaving with talipot - Photo by: Thome, Oxfam in Laos

Talipot (Ton Lan): From food to Handicraft

Villagers at Pak Poun villages group traditionally cut down the Talipot to obtain the top for food but they now preserve Talipot forests for producing handicraft. This change is contributing to towards a sustainable livelihood for those involved. talipot1_sign.jpg This change was captured during...

Woman carrying fish - Photo by: Thome Xaisongkham, Oxfam in Laos

With less fish, Khong residents change their livelihood

Khong district used to be an area rich in fish but now the situation has changed. When villagers cannot catch fish as they used to, what are they doing now? According to the Mekong River Commission, people in the lower Mekong region rely on fish for their food security, which accounts for 60% of...