Phonsavan Say (Lao)

Phonsavan Say Village

The image of Phonsavan Say Village, through hearsay from friends, and through some pictures I got reminded me of the remote tiny villages of Minh Hoa District, Quang Binh Province, along the Laotian border, where Venerable Nhu Minh, my friends, and I once stopped to visit and distribute gifts to the poor while carrying on an eye-operation campaign tour sometime in 2002, However, I have never seen a place as poor as this Phonsavan Say.

The Phonsavan Say Village is located right next to Phonsavan City of Xiengkhoang Province, where lies the famous and mysterious Plain of Jars. However it sounds as if the Laotian has forgotten this tiny village, because nobody seems to know where it is , and its name is not marked on any map.

There are about 40 families living there. Most of them are H’Mong descendents ( a tribe of Meo montagnard from China ). There is only one Vietnamese family live in this village. They came and settled there in 1943, and when asked, they could not recall whether they came from Lao Cai or Yen Bai Provinces. Recently, a H’Mong man, Mr Mua No Chua, 41 years old, from Ky Son District, Nghe An Province came back home to get married. As a matter of fact, even though they know the village is poor , they still long for going back to their land of birth.

A humble shelter of a family

There is no electricity, no water systems, no phone, no school, no medical stations. There is nothing in this village except the ragged torn thatched “ houses” not big enough to keep them from sun and rain.

The villagers lived on farming, and their food found sold in the village market are frogs as small as thumb size, cooked with bamboo shoots. They also eat green moss. It is gross to see them eat such terrible stuff like frog, moss, dor beetles, crickets, young frogs caught from springs, dried cowhide, buffalo skin, rotten fish, and even fresh waste remained inside the testines of the killed cattle.

The houses in this village are not even as good as the structures we build for ducks, and much less than the ones we build for pigs in Vietnam. Best houses in the village are worth the most between 10 to 30 dollars. Some are just a piece of cloth, enough to shelter from heat and wet

An old lady in front of her shelter

There is no beds, no tables, no chairs. They spread a torn bamboo mat on the floor for beds, for dinning sitting, and for almost every daily family activities. It’s really cold there even in summer. Warm clothes are needed, the air feels as chilly as the weather in Dalat City of VN. Sometimes, it snows. Villagers have not enough blankets, nor warm clothes, and in Winter, many die of cold . Their clothes are ragged surplus, and kids in thin torn clothes running playing  around the village under  the chilly air.

There are two restaurants selling noodles. They just put noodle into a bowl, add boiling water, water spinach and a little red chili powder to it, that’s all.

There are many Vietnamese living in Laos and doing business there . Majority of those who come to Laos for a visit really like Laotian people for their truthfulness. The Laotian never cheat .  Miss Thieu Hoa, a French of VN origin, has travelled through Asian countries. After visiting Laos, she told me that she felt more comfortable and secure among the Laotian than among Vietnamese, even though she is in fact a Vietnamese, can understand and speak a little her native language.

The image of the Phonsavan Say people living in such a terrible condition, in extreme poverty, and under such freezing whether reminds me the days I left my country by boat. It’s the torture of hunger and thirst that I had experienced help me understand thoroughly the lives of Phonsavan Say people

A meal in poor family

With facts taken from my own experiences, from observing and talking to the villagers of Phonsavan Say village, I, Dieu Lien, write this article sending to you benefactors, hoping your support to the Eye Of Compassion program will help improving their lives

We are lucky to have members as well as knowing some acquaintances who once in a while have travelled to Laos. They have agreed to help carrying on some programs there. The length for those programs to complete is two months, before the monsoon season begins.