And now for more meaningful stuff.

I am based in Vientiane (Laos) to work for a project of a NGO that works on helping communities to access clean water. How is this done? The org developed a water filter technology that uses sustainable and easily accessible raw materials in rural places (eg. clay) and we train local people to make them, install them and to some extent, make money out of selling them. In a bigger sense, we are empowering communities not only by letting them access and utilize clean water but also through positive ripple effects such as: preventing cholera and other water borne diseases, enhancing their self-reliance given that this is not a "dole out/donation" kind of assistance and also enhancing their entrepreneurial and leadership capacity through the microbusiness training programs we also provide.

So now, a NGO based in Nepal partnered with us to help train community women with claypot water filter technology and with relevant business skills that can be helpful in starting small social enterprises. Why women? because in some rural villages, women are responsible in providi
ng water for their families. Why Nepal? we all know that Nepal was struck by a devastating earthquake last April and recovery disasters takes years if not decades.

We are now reaching out to the waning light in the darkest corners of your black soul to help us make this training happen. We need to fly our Lao trainers to Nepal to not only train the community women but to also share their stories of overcoming hardships. It is an opportunity to build bonds and to make women feel that their burdens are shared and that they are not alone.

We are launching the crowdfunding campaign soon and if you want to keep updated about this, please (and by please I mean I beg you) to like our Facebook page and attend our online campaign launch.

KHAWP JAI