When Sandy MacGregor went to Melbourne to talk about MiVAC at the Annual Reunion of the Australian Army Band Corps and at a public talk at the Prahran RSL Club the next day he was fortunate to have two Australian/Lao guys at his talk. One was Mal Vue (Malcolm Nyiaj
MiVAC NEWS
MiVAC NEWS
Site Supervisor / Volunteers
Anyone interested in being a Site Supervisor or to be a Volunteer at Ban Xai know that we can offer some wonderful amenities, friendly neighbours and fantastic local support from our local MiVAC managers Yang and Moua. The latest amenities are what has turned BanXai into a home away from
Construction of Biodigester underway.
The biodigester is well under way with the hole being dug by the people from the village. Timber, bags of cement and reinforcing material were purchased in Phonsovanh and delivered to site. The slab was formed up and poured on the 27th October with the help of Michael, Yang and
Tank Stand and Shower Block
Tank Stand and Shower Block Michael Weibler reports; I selected the site for the header tank stand near the toilet where the water pipe is located. I will use the tank stand to install a shower underneath and enclose it with a rendered block wall as per the toilets.
The Villagers at Phong Hor are Now Using Toilets
Phong Hor is the Hmong “sub village” at the Eastern end of Ban Xai. There are no toilets there until MiVAC supplied the material to build them. The idea was that that the villagers would install the toilets themselves. This has now been done by the villagers without supervision (it
The Bush Fence Didn’t Keep the Cattle Out
The best laid plans of “mice and men” go astray sometimes. When Steve Carroll left Ban Xai in June 2012 he had planted a magnificent garden – much of the garden was in Cassava so that MiVAC would have a really good crop ready to feed the pigs when we
The Pump For the Main Water Supply for the MiVAC Site
There is a pond which is 500 metres from the MiVAC block at Ban Xai which is being developed into a Model Farm. The water is there all-year-round but the site is 20 metres lower than where we want the water. The MiVAC Project Officer, Steve Carroll, bought a Chinese
Australian Site Supervisors for the Ban Xai Project
The following appeal was sent out far and wide in the middle of July. “MiVAC needs Volunteer Project Managers for 2 months at a time in Laos. Steve Carroll and his wife Dorene have finished their stint and have got MiVACs Humanitarian Project off to a great start. Right now
John Salter and John Tick Visited Ban Xai
John Tick is MiVAC’s representative in Western Australia. However he is much more, a Vietnam Veteran, a Tunnel Rat, a Civil Engineer and has a life-long friend in John Salter. John Salter is a Vietnam Veteran having won the Military Cross at the battle Coral/Balmoral, he has considerable expertise in
The Cattle Shed at Ban Xai and MiVAC’s Sign
Any visitors to Phonsovan will see the MiVAC sign in the main street opposite the Nice Hotel. The sign invites people to make inquiries within where they will be met by a relation of Yang’s (our Lao Manager) who runs a tourist company for Yang. Visitors will be told about