Picture, if you will, trying to wrangle together seventeen freshly awoken teenagers and their caffeine-deprived teachers for a 7 AM yoga session. For most, that seems like a challenge in and of itself. To do so the morning after an exceptionally busy and demanding day – well, that just sounds impossible. However, that’s exactly how we began our morning as we prepared for our first full day of labour at the worksite. And for as difficult as it may have been to take those first few steps into the brisk Laotian morning (you could see your breath!), there was no better way to start our day. Well… maybe yoga with a coffee…

Upon returning to our home stays for breakfast, the TIS team promptly made their way to the school to continue working on shaping mud-bricks, preparing them for placement by further shaving them into shape, and subsequently placing them onto the structure. One of the more enticing jobs we had to start the day was preparing the mud pits for mud extraction. And what better way to do so than removing our sandals and hopping right into the mud pits to churn the mock cement mix. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, this made for a more cavalier attitude for the students (and teachers…) who quickly embraced getting dirty. This ultimately came to a breaking point when a couple of mud wars broke out. We’re not entirely sure if it was started by the teachers or the students. What we are sure about is the process of getting clean again was not a pleasant,
quick, or easy one (lack of warm, running water), and will most likely prevent such battles from happening again tomorrow. Most likely…

To wrap up our time at the worksite, the students were able to play games and hang out with the local children, who certainly helped to burn off more energy than we probably had remaining. Between the soccer, badminton, and swing pushing, it was very awesome to see the positive impact our group of kids were having on these young children, made evident by the ear-to-ear smiles and consistent laughter. The Laotian kids similarly left a wonderful impact on our kids as, in having no reservations about showing their adoration to the older kids, endearingly gave us flowers, pictures, and unwavering attention. I’m getting the impression that our departure at the end of the week may be a little harder than we think.

After dinner, the team was treated to a bonfire reflection where we were joined not only by our friendly Laotian buddies, but also by a village elder who told us all about Laotian and the village’s culture. While we may have been exhausted, the fire proved to be such an enlightening experience, made all that more special through the very clear night sky full of stars and a beautiful, red-tinged crescent moon.

Tomorrow looks to be another very full, very busy day. But if it’s anything like today, we have nothing but great things to look forward to. Even if that means having to remove further clumps of mud from our hair…