Clothes for the Kids!
We received knitted hats and sweaters donations from Lori Gilbert, who is on her fourth trip to Laos with Give Children A Choice. We purchased clothes from Tenneessee’s Many Eng’s donation. She earmarked her donation for Mr. Yae Lee’s children and the other children in his neighborhood. As well, we received clothing donations, resulting from our Facebook appeal. We had over one hundred pounds of children clothes, which our Debbie Davis packed and checked in (at her expense) for the 10,000 mile trip from North Carolina to Yodt Phair Village, Xieng Khouang Province in Laos.
The weather in Xieng Khouang is cool. Temperatures during the winter months can go down to the 30s Fahrenheit and single-digits Centigrade. During our visit in February, there were people (who can afford them) wearing medium weight winter coats. If they can’t afford, they just bear the cold.
Background
In August 2008, Mr. Yae Lee lost his feet and fingers from a UXO accident. He and his family struggle to survive. The good news is that he has received funds from Give Children A Choice supporters to put and keep his children in school this year. With no economic assistance otherwise, he relies on his wife to grow enough food for his family. But, the important thing now is that he has a healthy mind, while he figures out how to support his family short- and long-term.
Clothes for Everybody
Debbie, Jen and Joe Lardner, Lori and Thongchanh visited Mr. Yae Lee on February 17. Debbie had two large army duffel bags of children’s clothes. Joe carried one; Thongchanh carried the second to Mr. Yae Lee’s home. Lori brought hats that she knitted and sweaters that her New Zealand friend knitted. Debbie also had clothes that we purchased with funds from Many Eng.
En route to Luang Prabang from Phonsavan, the group took a long detour to Mr. Yae Lee’s home in Yodt Phaer Village, Phougood District, Xieng Khouang Province, Lao PDR. They had enough time to distribute 50 pounds and the knitted hats and sweaters. Mrs. Yae Lee took responsibility for distributing the rest of the clothes to their neighbors.
We appreciate your thoughfulness, effort and generosity.
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