phieng pong elementary school

song ma – SON LA – Vietnam

The Lotus School Foundation is elated to kickstart the new year with the sponsorship of our 11th school project. The new school will benefit 80 underprivileged ethnic Hmong children living in the poor, rural mountainous area of Son La, Vietnam.

Son La is the third poorest province in Vietnam with 80% of the population is made up of ethnic minority groups (Thai, Hmong, Muong, Tay, Xa Dao, and Kho-Mu). The poverty rate among ethnic minorities in the region is 73% and the extreme poverty rate is at 44.5%. Ethnic minorities in the region is terribly disadvantaged due to the lack of access to education, infrastructure, transportation, and healthcare. Many children in small villages have to walk a long distance of 3-5 miles each day to a different village to go to school. When there are schools available, the infrastructure is severely rundown making it an unsafe environment to learn.

Our Project Supervisor, Mr. Kenny Dam has worked with the Board of Education in Son La to identify Phieng Pong Elementary School as one of the schools that are in dire need of rebuilding due to its deteriorating conditions. Phieng Pong School is located deep in the mountain with a distance of 85km away from town. Mr. Dam visited and inspected the school on October 19, 2019. Through the inspection, we found that the school infrastructure is in poor condition as shown in the pictures below. A new school will provide safer classrooms for children to learn and help increase learning outcomes

The new school building will accommodate 80 students and is estimated to cost $10,600. The cost covers 3 classrooms, 2 restrooms, concrete surface playground, and a commercial stainless steel water tank for the school to store clean water. All of the classrooms will be furnished with new furniture at an additional estimated cost of $1,444. Our local partner, QXTVC will be sponsoring the cost of the classroom furniture. The new school is projected to complete by May of 2020.

It is only with your help that our work is possible. Your ACTION will help many disadvantaged children’s dream to attend school become a reality!

PROJECT IS TEMPORARILY ON HOLD UNTIL NOVEMEBER 2020

Song Ma, Son La lies along the border of Laos. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic along with some illegal activities that occurred in the area earlier this year, the local government has not permitted any group to come in and initiate new projects in the village until further notice. LSF will make a final decision in November to redirect the funds and support another school project, if we still cannot proceed with the building of a new school in this area by then.

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