Our Work With FREE THE BEARS

Last year in November, Free The Bears rescued their very first serow. They are a rare species of goat antelope found in South East Asia. These beautiful animals can grow to be 6 feet long and 3 feet high but are unfortunately listed as ‘nearly threatened’ on the IUCN red list.

Free The Bears have been leading the fight against animal cruelty here in Laos since 2003, when they first opened their bear rescue centre in Luang Prabang. This centre now also incorporates a multi species wildlife sanctuary, which the baby serow now calls home. Since their inception in Luang Prabang in 2003, FTB have rescued over 950 animals.

The rescued serow arrived at their sanctuary malnourished and weak, he was only a few months old and still needed milk to survive, as he should still have been nursing from his mother. We have been working with FTB on previous projects and have a strong relationship with them. FTB needed milk and our dairy has some of the most nutritious buffalo milk in all of Laos.  It was a match made in heaven! We have been donating milk to FTB to take care of their baby serow in the hope that he will grow to be strong and healthy.

Both our farm and FTB are committed to the wellbeing and safety of animals. Latest reports from the fantastic team at FTB show that the serow is gaining strength and confidence with every day that passes.

These are difficult times and now more than ever its fantastic that organisations such as our farm and Free the Bears work together to show solidarity and support in our collective mission to make a positive impact here in Laos. When you are next able to travel make sure you visit the FTB Rescue Centre next to Kuang Si waterfall in Luang Prabang and on your way back stop off for a delicious buffalo ice cream at our farm.

Donate & Support the Local Community

We're still here!

We’re still here!

Taking care and reaching out.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Laos Buffalo Dairy newsletter. We never imagined at the start of the year that we would need to pause and re-imagine our social enterprise in the way we have had to over the last few months. This newsletter is a round up of where we are at and how we are still taking care of and reaching out to our communities.   Laos Buffalo Dairy has been nominated as one of the best social enterprises in Southeast Asia and we would love your support. Please vote for us! We are proud to have been shortlisted by the Mekong Co-op as one of the social enterprises showcasing sustainable and inclusive travel in the Greater Mekong Subregion. “Social enterprises have the potential to drive sustainable tourism and promote the Mekong Region as an experiential and responsible travel destination. We aim to tell their stories to inspire travellers to experience these “stars of the Mekong,” said Mr. Jens Thraenhart Executive Director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office.

Voting ends 30 June!

Here is the link to vote: https://www.mekongtourism.org/experience-mekong-showcases-2020/?contest=video-detail&video_id=23969

A Guide to Voting…

Step 1 -  Select Lao PDR from the list of countries available.    

Step 2 -  Click VOTE HERE.  You may then think it has taken you back to the original page but you can move onto step 3.
Step 3 -  Scroll down to the video about our farm on this page and you will find “click here to vote".

We are still doing what we do best.

The Coronavirus has badly affected tourism and visits to the farm. However, for now, we have re-imagined how we can reach out and continue to take care of local communities here in Laos.

Prior to lock down, it was fair to say that we were delivering on our core aims and had many exciting projects and opportunities in the pipeline. We had grown our nutrition programme to support more local farmers and their families with the aim to demonstrate the benefits of buffalo milk as a contribution to combatting the 44% malnutrition rate amongst children here in Laos. We had more buffalo than ever before on our farm and this meant more vaccinations, more healthy buffalo and more money going out to the local community. Our vision was in place.

As part of our response to COVID 19 we are proud that our farm built and donated a ventilator to the provincial hospital here in Luang Prabang, with whom we have a good working relationship. Two German volunteers on our farm found plans to build a ventilator and decided to put Steven’s workshop to the test. It took a mountain of effort, but they built a working ventilator made from local materials, which we truly hope will never need to be used. But, if the circumstance does arise, the hospital now has a ventilator that could save someone’s life.

The road ahead is challenging in these uncertain times. However, our founders came here to make a difference in the local communities. Opening the only dairy of its kind in the entire world, in a country that didn’t know it was possible to milk a buffalo has been a huge achievement. So rest assured we won’t be giving up anytime soon….So watch this space for further updates!!

Our staff ensure our buffalo receive the best care in all of Laos.  They work tirelessly to keep a farmers most valuable asset healthy and strong.

We have a plethora of ice cream flavours.  Lemongrass, Oolong Tea, Coconut - the list is extensive and appetizing.

We're still making delicious buffalo cheese! Feta, Mozzarella, Ricotta, Blue cheese and Burrata.

WE RESUMED OUR ENGLISH CLASSES...
After our free education programme was on hold for two months due to COVID 19, we were pleased to reopen to students again in June. Having been stuck inside for two months with no opportunity to study, the students returned with a keenness and enthusiasm that was inspiring!

Opportunities for students who don’t live in the city to study English were already low but, now with Corona, almost all free classes have been suspended indefinitely. On the farm we brought on a full time English teacher to ensure these ambitious students can study and have all the tools to achieve their dreams.

Donate & Support the Local Community

Creating a local library on the farm

In January we were joined by Vientiane International School. They spent a day understanding the work we do here on the farm. They took part in english classes, our nutrition programme and did a mornings work with our buffalo. 

Our farm runs an education program where upwards of 50 students receive free English classes everyday. We recently decided to expand the program and create a library so students can come and practice independent study after school. We bought books, provide educational resources and give them access to some brand new tablets very kindly donated to our farm! 

We made the plan that we wanted to create this new space for the students but during our busiest season of the year it was difficult to find the time. Luckily, these fantastic students were highly motivated. With more hands on deck we were able to build a brilliant space for study in just one afternoon. They painted the walls, cleaned the space, categorised resources and got creative drawing a beautiful mural, which is the perfect way to welcome the students to english class. 

The next morning, when the students came to study, the sense of excitement and pride they had in their new library was palpable. It’s also important to say a big thank you to the Talwar family who kindly donated some of the initial costs to help get the library up and running.

Meet Chief Somlith

Meet Chief Somlith from Thin Keo village in Luang Prabang. He was the first person in his community to rent a buffalo to the Laos Buffalo Dairy and it changed his life.

Luang Prabang News comes to Laos Buffalo Dairy!

We made the news again.

Not long ago Luang Prabang news came to visit our dairy and we got 13 minutes of news report on the local TV. If you would like to see it, here it is.

We are making burrara. Wait, what is burrata?

So... Rachel started making burrata and when she proudly told us we had no clue what that was.

But do not upset the chef, seems like she knows what she is doing. After a short google search we all were: aaaa, burata, sounds absolutely delicios! Now we can talk about it. Yes please, make some more.

What is burrata

You might still be asking. Basicaly mozzarella, but creamy and runny when you cut into it. The recipe goes something like this:

• you take some of the curd before you stretch it
• chop it up
• mix it with cream
• and make a pancake of more curd
• put the chopped curd inside like a purse.

Everyone had to taste the delicious burrata and we all were really pleased with it. It's great for breakfast, in salads and milion other combinations. 

We drooled on this recipes and hope that our dear Rachel will test them all! 

And also, if you are in Luang Prabang on the 15th of July, we plan to participate in the market in the gardens at Sofitel. We will be selling what we have that night.

Have you ever try burrata before?