Charity Sunday: Education Means Hope – #CharitySunday #Laos #Literacy

Welcome to another Charity Sunday, one day a month when you can increase the amount of good in the world simply by browsing the web.

These days, the news leaves me emotionally exhausted. War, famine, natural disasters, human rights trampled underfoot, selfishness and greed running rampant... Charity is needed more than ever, but it’s almost impossible to know where to begin.

Today, I’m turning away from the bad news to tell you about a very local effort which gives me hope.

Big Brother Mouse is a grass-roots primary education program in the Southeast Asian country of Laos. The organization is driven by the passion of a few people, but one candle can kindle many others. They’ve grown tremendously since I started supporting them few years ago. They now have over 2700 students. And they’re starting work on a new school, Little Deer. 

 

https://www.bigbrothermouse.com/education/school_network.html

As I’ve explained in previous posts, Laos has many problems. Never very developed, with rugged and difficult terrain and a small population, Laos also has the distinction of being the most heavily bombed country in the world.

Education is one key to progress. Big Brother Mouse is working to create curious, capable, compassionate young people – one student at a time. Their educational philosophy focuses on active learning, critical thinking and fun.

You might want to sign up for their monthly newsletter (just scroll down to the middle of their home page). It’s really lively and interesting—as well as not being afraid to express strong opinions.

Maybe you’re thinking that a small country, so far away, isn’t relevant to you, your life or your issues. My belief is that we are all connected. Educating strong young people in one country can benefit the world as a whole.

Anyway, because I really need hope these days—and I suspect you do too—I will donate five dollars toward the fund-raising for Little Deer school for every comment I receive.

Don’t miss this chance to make a difference.

For my excerpt, I’ve got a short snippet from Vows, part of my Asian Adventures series. This is a somewhat controversial story, dealing as it does with a Western man’s erotic attraction to a Lao Buddhist monk. I mean no disrespect. The story explores the ways that the physical and the spiritual are intimately entwined.

Excerpt

The vegetation thickened around us as we left the city center behind. We passed rough wooden houses on stilts, chickens scrabbling in the shade underneath, laundry swaying in the gentle breeze. Occasionally, we heard the muted babble of a television or radio, but we saw no one. It felt as though the whole of the city-village was dozing in the afternoon. I took a deep breath, and then another, trying to release the awful tension that gripped me, but it was no use. I was consumed by desire and dread.

Finally we reached the arched gateway to Wat Xieng Thong. Souvannaphone’s home. Gilded nagas, the serpent-dragons that sheltered the Buddha while he meditated, guarded the entry, their scales a riot of multi-colored mirrors. As we stepped over the sill and into the sacred compound, I felt something shift inside me. The choice was made, the effects would follow. Let karma do its worst.

At first, the place seemed deserted. Directly in front of us was the magnificent sim, or ordination chapel, with its five-layered, flame-tipped roof swept into dramatic earthward curves. Smaller but equally ornate buildings were scattered around it. Blue tile and gold leaf were everywhere.

An enormous, fantastically-twisted tree shaded the entire courtyard. At the same moment —I could tell from the way her hand tightened in mine—Dani and I noticed the figure seated, full lotus, on the turf at the foot of its main trunk.

It was, of course, Souvannaphone. His eyes were closed; his chest was bare. The golden, hairless flesh fascinated me. His nipples, more bronze than gold, drew my eyes and made my balls contract and ache.

It was his expression, though, that once again brought up my tears. It gave me a glimpse of total peace. Bliss. Perfect stillness and unearthly beauty. My craving to know his exquisite body faded and transformed into intense longing to know what he knew, to experience this state of completion.

And Dani? Had she abandoned her perverse plans for this man, this saint, as he seemed to me at that moment? I ventured a glance in her direction and saw that she too was transfixed by the vision of him. Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was ragged. Her eyes were fever-bright. Her mind was closed to me.

A huge sigh shuddered through my chest. At that sound, or perhaps just from the sense of our presence, Souvannaphone opened his eyes. He smiled at us, a smile at once simple and wise.

Please, please—don’t click away before leaving a comment. Add your little bit of hope.

---