On our farm, we run a free English programme for local students. They can come here Tuesday to Friday to study English with our native English speaking teacher. We wanted all our team and their children to have the opportunity to learn English, and now we have 50 students coming to the farm every day to study.
In Laos, learning English can be an avenue to a better future. It can lift children out of their village experience and into higher-paying jobs in the city. However, for students outside of the big cities it can be almost impossible to study English because village schools can only offer 4 hours of English study per week. The classes are often taught by teachers who themselves have a low level of English skills. The free classes at our farm allow students to study and expand their English levels.
Two of our students made us especially proud recently, as they taught their first class! So how did they go from being students to teachers? We recently started a brand new lesson for students from the local villages who can speak no English. The idea was to create a clean slate post-Covid lockdown and restart the curriculum to give more opportunities for learning than ever before. This beginner’s class quickly grew from 2 to 20 children in a matter of days as word spread.
On the third day of teaching the class, Tom, our on-site English teacher, invited one of our more advanced students, Phoukham, to help teach the lesson. From the off, he thrived as a teacher being eloquent, patient and showing his excellent grasp of English. So, we had an idea. Let him teach!
Partnership
To help build teaching skills, we partnered him with another of our students. Together we taught them how to plan lessons and how best to teach in front of a class. They learnt quickly, and after a few days they were ready to go.
Seeing them stand in front of the class was a real pleasure. Tom has taught those two students for two years, since they were 14 years old, and watched them grow not only in their grasp of the English language but also as young men. These new teaching responsibilities would have been too much for them two years ago, but they have now matured into thoughtful adults who can help younger students in their villages.
It is fantastic!
It is fantastic to have them teaching for numerous reasons, but none more so than the brilliant role models they have now become for the other kids in their village! For them to stand at the front of the class speaking English, to such a high level, gives all those young students aspirations to do the same. It shows everyone that even a non-native speaker of English can attain a high level of English skills.
For the students to see people from their village work hard and achieve their goals and learn English is incredibly motivating and feeds the desire to learn. Some students may even be inspired to go on to become teachers.
Well done to all of our students on the farm. And a big Thank You! to Phoukham and John for their dedication and motivation as both students and teachers.
Mekong Experience Showcase 2020
In case you missed our post on Tuesday, we’re thrilled to announce that Laos Buffalo Dairy is the winner of the Experience Mekong Showcases 2020 for Laos - we are incredibly proud of our fantastic team! It was already a wonderful achievement for us to have been nominated, alongside the other amazing finalists as a responsible travel business that creates a significant social impact and provides authentically local experiences. To win is - WOW! Thank you to all our supporters and friends who voted for us. We are so happy to know how much you care!
TOURISM IN NEED
COVID-19 has badly affected tourism and visits to the farm. In order to mitigate some of the effects of the loss of income this has meant for the dairy, we have teamed up with the Tourism in Need initiative that supports responsible tourism organizations affected by the pandemic. Through this initiative, travelers can support the dairy through the Give Today, Go Tomorrow fundraising scheme. Click here to find out more and to make a contribution to help us to pay farmers and team members, and continue to train farmers and work on our nutrition program.
