We began our very last day in Laos, with the well-awaited “Great Race”. We were given an hour and a half, to complete the tasks set for us on the day. We were put into groups of 5 and each given a role for the day, such as; photographer, in charge of taking photos for evidence from the tasks given to us, time keeper, to make sure we weren’t taking too long at certain places, banker, in charge of the money given to us at the start of the race and keeping track of what we needed to purchase throughout the day, recorder, to write down the answers to some of the questions and last but not least, navigator, to show us the way around the streets, making sure we didn’t get lost. Some of the tasks we had to complete throughout the day included visiting the “Phousy Market” and finding various items such as rice, pig feet, and river reed. We were also climbed a mountain, took photos at a temple, and purchased a postcard each, with stamps, to write to our families. We finished the race with a well-deserved lunch, followed by a visit to another market.
Later in the day we were given the chance to visit a local high school. A portion of the money raised from the walkathon was put towards funding resources for the school such as textbooks, stationery and sports equipment. It was amazing to see how a school from another culture differed to ours; how their classes were taught differently to ours, and the fact that they had only twelve classrooms to house the same number of students as St Leonard’s! The director of the school was very grateful for the donations that we had brought, as the Laos government is not able to provide enough textbooks and resources for the large number of students in these overcrowded schools. There were 70 students in each class, with 3-4 sitting together at one desk. Some of us helped to teach grammar to a Year 7 class, while others were put on the spot to sing or talk at the front of the room. It was satisfying to know that we had been able to make such a difference in this community both through our donations and our visit.
Our last night ended with a dinner, and a traditional ceremony, performed by some of the local people of Laos. We all took our shoes off and sat on the floor whilst the elders from the local temple gave us a blessing for good health, energy and safe travels. After this, the elders came to give us individual blessings, tying white string bracelets around our wrist. Then, we were privileged to a performance by five girls from a local music school, who performed three dances for us. One dance included three parts representing the three groups of Lao people. When they were done, they gave us all a flower (a frangipani) as a sign of thanks and respect.
We all are very thankful for our Big Experience. It has been a massive eye opener to see the things we were very lucky to see on this trip. We have learnt about the lives of people living in Cambodia and Laos. We have learnt about their religions, their food, their history, politics and so much more. We have been building up to this experience, and imagining what it will be like for such a long time, and we just can’t believe that it’s already nearly over. We will all remember this experience for the rest of our lives, and we now realize how lucky we are to live the lives that we all lead.
By Rachel Heath, Amy Galston, Lucas Riddell and Sam Pogrund
