ENVIRONMENT

Unexploded ordinance; deforestation, soil erosion. 65% of the population does not have access to potable water.

HUMAN RIGHTS

There are continuing Human Rights issues with the Hmong population. These indigenous people supported the US during its war in Vietnam and were severely punished later. Many fled to the US and recently, 8000 of them living in Thailand were forcibly repatriated to Laos where they will be abused again. Laos also traffics young girls in the sex trade.

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POWER IT FORWARD

Do a favor, give someone a break, offer help before it's asked for. Move the world around you and it will continue to move. Paying it forward is good work, personal work. Pass it on. Tell others to do the same.

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PRESS FREEDOM

Silence and the lack of information are the main indicators of the lack of press freedom in Laos, officially the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. This one-party state continues to control all media in the landlocked country, which has repeatedly been described as having one of the lowest levels of press freedom in the world. The ruling communists maintain strict editorial control over the press, and the media continue to restrict themselves to news that is favorable to the regime.

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WATER

The villages and highland regions discriminated against in Laos and rarely have access to good drinking water. The populations of these villages use surface water which is heavily polluted. Children drink water in which animals drink and bathe as well. The absence of drinking water engenders the distribution of infectious infant diseases and diseases such as the cholera, the dengue fever, etc. During the dry season, given the even more severe lack of water, it is impossible to farm as well.

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