Elephants – and one Ambassador – Deliver Books to Rural Villages

Ambassador Huso meets village leaders and schoolchildren in Houy Sa Ngaem village.

Ambassador Huso hands out books and school supplies to students

In February 2009, U.S. Ambassador Ravic Huso and his wife Barbara joined Lao publishing house Big Brother Mouse and conservation group Elefant Asia on a trek to northern Laos to deliver books to rural villages. During the visit on February 16, children, teachers, librarians and parents in Houy Sa Ngaem village of Sayaboury Province lined up to see the elephants arriving, and to participate in the games and stories that promoted a love of reading.

Through a small grant from the U.S. Embassy, Big Brother Mouse and Elefant Asia teamed up in October 2008 to collaborate on a project  that used elephants to deliver books to off-road and off-river schools. This project covered two 6-day treks donating 2880 books to 16 villages. At each village, the grantees hosted 3-hour book parties to get kids excited about reading books. The local school received a starter set of books for the library and each child in the village chose one book for themselves, in most cases, the first book they’ve ever owned.