The politics of Aid

Laos is by most standards a poor country. Ridding through many of the smaller villages as i have been doing for the last few days this has been more than apparent. Even in some of the more touristy towns the realities daily life for many Lao are never more than a block away.
It is also one of the most incredibly friendly countries i have been to thus far on my trip. Rather than an expensive SLR camera jammed in your face on a sometimes hourly basis ( as occurred all too often in China) i instead have a stream of children running after laughing and screaming and trying to push me up the hill. Their parents and grandparents while not as active never the less show there encouragement with a genuine smile and a wave. Money in seems bears only a token relationship to happiness....

And so here is my dilemma i have been having the last few days. Almost all of the villages have aid projects of one kind or another. AusAid and World vision Australia work hard on water and sanitation projects but other governments, Italy, Germany, Japan to name a few also run a range of projects that in the villages from Eco- tourism to food relief and sustainability initiatives.

AusAid Funded water fountain in village

Several of the other countries i have been through have similar levels of poverty ( albeit more localised) None (that was as clearly sign posted at least) however have the degree of foreign aid that poors into Laos.

Why is that?

Having only been here for two weeks i am not entirely sure but i suspect some of it has to do with the aforementioned hospitality of the Laos people. In short Laos is an easy country to apply aid money too. And smiling, happy children make great photo shots. This is not to deny the fact that there is a clear need in many areas. It does however make me wonder about countries who have a similar or greater need but socially ( and politically) get put in the too hard basket. The generally relaxed nature of Laos society means that foreigners coming to the country to implement aid projects, with some basic cultural understanding, can get by pretty well. In other countries the range of social conventions ( behavior, social structure etc) that must be understood can make this much more difficult.


The other reason may also have to do with Laos' strategic position. While "western" countries are pumping money into aid, China is busy building Laos' roads but that is really a story for another day...

A brief update

I am now in Vieng Vang. I feel slightly old among the pubesect 18-20 year mobs of Brits and Aussies getting smashed while floating on tubes down the river. There is even an Australian bar here ???? Come to another country to talk to people from home and drink beer that is more expensive than you would find at home? Funnily enough i went for beer Lao and noodles for dinner instead. I will have a day here tomorrow ( the town may be horrid but the surrounds are quite nice) and then head to Vientiane ( the capital). I will spend a day or so getting my Thai visa and then head across Thailand. Looking forward to my first swim on the beach in almost a year!

Swim Time!