May 21. Jump around.

We have found a beautiful place. We stay under the mosquito net long this morning, before enjoying an extended breakfast, as far as the reconstruction goes. The house is really quite, despite the main road that crosses the fertile valley and should connect to China and Thailand. The local market in Luang Namtha does offer products from those countries because the cargo drivers aren't allowed to enter each other's countries, we are told. Our bedroom is next to the community room, where the children come after school, almost every day, to receive additional training (computer, English) and hang out. It means a lot to them, and we love how the project is organized by Bryan and Leila. Yeon has a call to order the shelves and does so most impressively.
Children are already waiting at the little porch in front of the house, and when we come out they almost jump on us. What have we got?

From earier occassions we remember a few games and activities we decide we can do here too. To our initial surprise, it all goes very well: the kids are concentrated and like the yoga exercises, aerobic jumping and head-and-tail snake game that we improvise. We have done some shopping earlier and give them a soccer- and a volleyball. In the course of the session we learn a lot from the children we can take with us on our travels and apply in other places.
At night, we see a Californian high school's performance of the musical Les misérables on DVD, an astonishing achievement I think, (and a great way to introduce adolescents to art, I can't help myself thinking). My mind drifts off to what we are planning for the future: a mobile (puppet)theater traveling to remote villages in the poorest part of the world, performing for marginalized kids while introducing basic services to their communities. But that's another story. I sleep well that night, happy about being in Laos where finding a charitable cause is a lot easier than in China.