In the previous post I mentioned a little free book.
Its title is “The Story of Big Brother Mouse”.
The subtitle of the book shows what the work of the publishing organization is about: Education is not filling of a bucket but lighting a fire.
The Big Brother Mouse
I started reading the book the next day at breakfast and couldn’t put it down. It tells a story that began in 1983.
The story began with a boy monk, who said that people in Laos don’t really read books. A couple of committed young people wanted to change this situation.
It’s worth knowing that 50% of Lao children can only read and understand simple texts (2019).
The goal of their dedicated work is to change this situation. For example, by not only teaching children to read, but also making them love reading.
The result of their persistent work has brought huge results over the years. Not only did they go through the complicated bureaucratic process of book publishing, but they also published hundreds of books. They wrote and illustrated them themselves. They translated well-known youth books.
Then they taught computer skills. They built schools. More. A lot. They have put supporters behind the cause. They can support the children’s school trips with bicycles.
They have performed a thousand miracles in the past decades.
That little book captured my heart, this beautiful mission was so beautifully outlined.
So, when at the end of the book, it became clear how you could participate in this mission, I immediately decided to go to the bookstore.
There are many different ways to help children. One way is to go to a small village for a day. Yes, this will cost you 200,000 LAK (3,200 HUF, 9 USD), so they will take you there and give you lunch.
During the day spent with the children, you deal with them in the way you can. You talk to them in English, tell them stories, play the guitar or teach them something.
The office quickly became a mess. Due to the petrol situation, this type of assistance has been suspended for an indefinite period. I was disappointed because I will be leaving the city this week. But if I come here again, I want to participate in this program.
So all I could do now was leave the 200,000 LAK in the office. The young man, with whom I had spoken a little earlier, thanked me gratefully.
And all I could instinctively say was: I hope that one day you will not need this money…
Life wanted something different from me
Maybe there really are no coincidences!
I was at the store on Monday. On the way there, I noticed a poster. On Tuesday, there would be a blood donation at a children’s hospital, for children. As soon as I saw the poster, I knew immediately that I would be there the next day. At that time, I was happy with the thought that I could serve children in two ways.
It doesn’t matter that only one came true. This is life.
I left Hungary as a twenty-five-time blood donor. I could have done more, but that’s all I got. It was enough for an award.
Here, however, it became a reality that I could help with my blood again.
I knew what would await me in Europe, but Asia was new territory. I asked the AI and prepared myself for the warning signs that I would experience and turn away from the door.
Fortunately, there were no such signs. And I was very grateful that I was not the only Westerner. I met two others in the small town.
The formalities were similar. I had to fill out a form in English, with questions similar to those I was already familiar with. They took a blood sample from one of my fingers. They also measured my blood pressure. (The good news is that months after I threw all my high blood pressure medication in the trash on Koh Samui, the meter showed almost perfect readings.) I hadn’t measured my blood pressure in about 10 months.
Then all that was left was the needle and, as usual, the amount prescribed by the doctor quickly flowed out of me.
To my immense surprise, I received a large pile of gifts, just like everyone else. A t-shirt (I was very happy about this, because it was the kind of sports t-shirt I wear every day), two chocolates, a yogurt drink, a slice of cake, a glass of ice cream, a coffee voucher at a fancy café and a 100,000 LAK shopping voucher.
I asked if there was a small child nearby to whom I could give the food I received, but they said there were no children nearby.
So I ate the cookies and the ice cream. And in the evening I proudly wore my new t-shirt during the bowling party and then at the disco.
I could be wrong
In the book I was listening to, I read about the Pomodoro method. It’s a concentration technique that can be done in many ways.
I wanted to start using the technique now, where I use a countdown timer to work for 25 minutes, then rest for 5 minutes. I repeat this 4 times, and then reward myself with a longer break.
I have the software for this. But now I thought that four little things could help make virtual counting a reality. Probably because I was walking around the market and saw a lot of small things around me.
Since I don’t want to keep anything with me, I first thought that four small pebbles would definitely be good.
But I was so excited about donating blood that I walked through a long line twice, watching for something that would appeal to me.
Of course, there was such an object.
I really liked a 3-centimeter aluminum spoon. I immediately imagined four of these on a small key ring. I put one away after each Pomodoro round.
I asked her how much a small spoon costs. 35,000 LAK (560 HUF, 1.6 USD). For some reason, I thought that was a lot multiplied by four. Yet we are only talking about 140,000 LAK. I made a mistake here. I don’t usually haggle, but for some reason I asked if I could get the 4 pieces for 100,000. The lady said 110,000. So I haggled for 30,000 LAK.
480 HUF, 1.8 USD…
I immediately thought that this was stupid, so I ended up giving her 120,000, making the haggling completely pointless.
320 HUF, 0.9 USD…
That’s how much I cut that woman off.
I didn’t feel good afterwards.
She pressed a piece of paper into my hand, which unfortunately I only read at home.
The PeaceBOMB Project
1964-1973 Laos.
USA drops 250-260 million bombs.
18-52 plane load of bomb every 8 minutes.
24 hours a day for 9 years.
Horrible numbers!
Since 1975, locals have been collecting metal and jewelry found everywhere from bombs, and making small items from it.
For example, small spoons.
Buy back the bombs, they sell them with a password.
And I got into this because of a sudden stupid idea. I felt ashamed while reading the little paper.
The next day I looked for the lady in the market to give her 200,000 LAK.
I couldn’t find her. I have to admit that the next day I saw several women selling such things and I couldn’t recall the face of my seller.
Hello Banana
If you walk around the market in Luang Prabang at night, you can see many little children, especially little girls, sitting by the side of the road.
Yes, I know, and I don’t like the idea of using children as a sales channel either. I’ve seen this a lot, for example, in Bali.
But I don’t want to judge anyone, because they probably don’t send children out to the street to sell something or beg for money out of joy. You have to feel that this is necessary here. I simply thought many times, seeing these little people, that they should be playing with their probably unaffordably expensive Barbie dolls at home and not making money on the street.
They’ve been in my heart since day one.
It’s inimitable how these little girls say “Hello Banana”. Which would mean “Hi! Do you want to buy a banana?” But their English is these two words, which together mean that they greet me as a banana.
I tell you, the charm of how they say these two words and their eyes beg us to buy a fucking banana is inimitable.
After yesterday’s bombshell failure, today I squatted down next to the first beauty. I asked her how much she would sell the banana for, hoping she could say the amount.
She knew. She asked for 30,000 LAK and I gave her 100,000 with incredible joy. Then it turned out that she could also say the phrase Thank You. But there was no need for it. Her eyes, sparkling with disbelief, said it better that she was grateful.
I wish…
The night before the banana night – before dinner – I took a sunset cruise for the second time. Simply because I had good company and it was a good experience the second time around.
The second time, I left not only the “what I want to let go of from my life” banana leaf blank, but also the “what I wish” part.
If I had a wish banana leaf right now, this is what I would write on it.
I wish that there would never be metal again to make PeaceBombs jewelry. And that little girls would have a Barbie doll to whom they could say: Hello Banana.Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
Buy a coffee for Steve
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