Alumni Update: Addressing Poverty in Laos
Khampheng Masyxonxay, Laos, SUNY – Plattsburgh, Global UGRAD 2013 – 2014
I will never forget the time spent in the U.S since it gave me such a great experience, exposing me to a diverse culture which enabled me to learn, deepen my vision, and think about how I can apply the lessons learned when I returned home.
Since I came back home last year, I have been successful in many things: doing my Internship Program and completing my Bachelor’s at my university. Most importantly, I was able to find my dream job – being a development worker. For a year and a half, I have been working as a Learning for Transformation Trainer ( LFT) at World Vision, an international NGO that aims to improve child well-being and support sustainable development.
My role at World Vision is to deliver training for development facilitators working on 25 programs across Laos, thus transforming them and the ways they work with communities so that transformational development occurs in the areas of the country that will eventually sustain our development impacts. In the photo above, I had the opportunity to visit a local village in the northern part of Laos. It was amazing to learn how to speak the ethnic language with local children, learn from them, eat with them and listen to their stories. I was stunned when a boy to my right (in blue sweater) said he wanted to be a businessman when he grows up.
I’m now applying for scholarships to pursue a Master’s degree in Social and Civil Society Development abroad. Hopefully I can make a trip to the U.S again by 2020.