“What is your name?”
“Do you have family?”
“Where are you from?”
“What is the meaning of hodgepodge?”
I was tutoring English students in Luang Prebang as part of the Big Brother Mouse Literacy Program.
The printed word is rare in Laos. Many children are lucky to have textbooks in school. Very few have ever read a book for fun.
Big Brother Mouse began publishing books in 2006 as a way to change that. The not-for-profit organization makes cheap, accessible books and distributes them all over the country. They host book parties, encourage children to read and demonstrate how reading can improve lives.
But that’s not all. Big Brother Mouse also hosts an open classroom for English practice at their Luang Prabang office. Travelers are encouraged to devote a couple hours each day in helping young students practice their conversational skills. And that’s exactly what I did.
I mostly worked with a 14-year-old named Bousou. Every chance he gets, Bousou rides his bike for over an hour to reach Luang Prabang, hoping that native English speakers will be there for mentoring. Sometimes they are, but often there are no volunteers. Still he continues to pedal to the city, desperate for the opportunity to learn.
When I was first introduced to Bousou, he spoke halting, nervous English. As the hours passed, the words warmed like butter and flowed easily.
“How do you say this words?” We leaned over a workbook with English stories. He pointed to a sentence about a dining room.
“These words,” I corrected. “That’s dining room.” We sounded it out. I explained what it meant. He mastered it.
He had more difficulty with the word “lizard.” I don’t know why we were talking about lizards.
Our conversation whipped back and forth, covering school, siblings, families, hopes, dreams. Bousou likes animals, but he has no pets. He doesn’t know if he can afford to go to school much longer. When he grows up, he wants to be a policeman. Someday he would like to visit Vietnam, the most exotic place he can imagine.
He asked me what is the best thing about Laos.
“You,” I said.
Learn more about Big Brother Mouse here. http://www.bigbrothermouse.com/