Mobility

Six months are neither long nor short. For most people, life is ordinary, with nothing too exciting. Study, work, rest… it’s the same everyday. Time passes by like this. However, for the sixth group of 13 volunteers who went to Laos from Shanghai, the six months from October 2006 to April 2007 were a unique and unforgettable experience, during which curiosity, joy, difficulty, homesickness, exchange and conflicts were interwoven into their medical and health service and in their teaching of English and Chinese. Reporter Wen Junhua paid a visit to Laos in October 2006 and got a full picture of the sweetness and bitterness of the life of the volunteers. 

SAVANNAKHET, Lao PDR — Lod is all of 18 years of age, but bears the scars of having been beaten up and tortured by her employer over in Thailand. Like many young women who end up in similar situations, she had been drawn across the border by visions of bringing home more money, new appliances, and sending her siblings to school.

By Lam Vu Thach*

VAN NAM, China - From Lao Cai in Vietnam’s border with China, all you  need is only a short walk cross Kieu bridge, or about 10 minutes on a  boat, to go abroad. Ha Khau, a town in Van Nam in China, is a crowded  and busy market with all kinds of merchandises, most of which are  cheap consumer goods such as clothes, shoes, blankets, candies and  cookies, and other necessities.

By Myat Soe*

PHUKET, Thailand - Naing Naing, a 20-year-old Burmese migrant worker,  is tired of hearing the government of Thailand's repeated promises of  catering to the needs of the disaster victims.