Committed to expanding students’ horizons while making a positive difference in the lives of the underprivileged, a trip to Laos was successfully organised by R.E.A.L International School, Shah Alam Campus earlier this year. The tour included a visit to the Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise Centre (COPE), a local non-profit organisation that is entrusted with designing and making customised prosthetic limbs for landmine victims.

The group also visited the Mulberries Silk farm, which is owned and managed by Kommaly Chantavong, recipient of the 2015 Ramon Magsaysay Award for her contribution towards community outreach programmes in Laos. There, the students were able to feed silk worms; harvest cocoons; spin, weave, and dye silk; and even taste fried silk worms, a popular local delicacy.

The R.E.A.L students then paid a visit to Ngoy Primary School in Xieng Khouang where they made a donation to help equip poor students there with much-needed educational materials. Another interesting stopover was the ‘Plain of Jars’ (pic), where 127 bombs have been unearthed and safely detonated. An estimated 270 million bombs were dropped in Laos, out of which 80 million ‘live’ bombs still remain undetonated.

This article was originally published in The Expat magazine (January 2017) which is available online or in print via a free subscription.