Ban Xai to Cairns.

We have been home three weeks now and suffering a bit of reverse culture shock.  Noise,traffic and all the  unnecessary trappings that go with our lifestyle.

Oh !!  for the tinkling of cow bells ,wonderful sun sets and dawns , happy considerate people and our friends at Ban Xai not to mention a bit of physical hard work, we miss it all.

We had a couple of days in Vientiane the capital on our way home,a lovely city on the banks of the Mekong , many temples , restaurants some shopping and our final tastings of Beer Lao.

Our experience has certainly left its mark and we feel that we have achieved something for the community of Ban Xai . Connecting  the water supply at the village and school was a high light as well as increasing the garden beds and planting trees and veges.

I had a taste of the health system with my visit to the Phoukoud Hospital  there is definitely a need there.

We bought volley balls and soccer balls for the school and the farm.When we left there was a well measured volley ball court at the farm which hosted a few games , a great thing bringing the community into the Mivac complex as well as the children after school.

We donated pens ,pencils , school equipment and books to the school and for the school at HP and those donations will continue.

We never assumed ownership and constantly deferred to and learnt from the community.

So Ban Xai has water, David and I have wonderful memories, new friends and a less concerned outlook on life and maybe Mivac has also changed  from our experience too.