Laotians Receive Sight, Food and Clean Water

Bounta's grandmother sat hopelessly beside the girl's hospital bed in Laos. Ten US dollars stood between the 14-year-old keeping or losing her sight. One of Bounta's eyes was infected and swollen way out of proportion. They had already borrowed five dollars for medicine, the infection hadn't been contained in time for it to work. Time was running out.

While Bounta and Sivanh were in the poorly equipped district hospital, one of our Living Waters teams was in the area scouting locations to dig wells. Hearing that this kind grandmother had taken her granddaughter in after the girl's parents died, the team asked how much it would cost for proper treatment.

They were amazed to discover that it was only $10 USD, a price they ! gladly paid. "Thank you very much," cried Sivanh. "Now there is hope for my granddaughter. We are very fortunate today." The price of one movie ticket and popcorn bought Bounta her sight!

Joy Comes for Grieving Family
Mrs. Vanh starts each day at 5 a.m. The widow and her seven children work long back breaking hours in their rice paddies. Hauling water is also a big part of their routine. Six times every day the mother and a couple of children spend three to four hours walking several miles to the nearest stream and gather what they need in buckets.

Being the sole provider and a single parent is still new to Mrs. Vanh. She remembers her husband coming from the field two years ago and feeling sick. In a desperate attempt to save him from malaria, she sold the family's only water buffalo. He died soon afterward, leaving a unplanted field and grief stricken family. His widow was forced to wait for the next harvest and in the mean time, borrow rice from her neighbors in order to feed the children.

Several months later, we heard about this family's plight. To her surprise, Mrs. Vanh was given enough rice to feed her family for an entire year! She also had enough to pay back her neighbors. The family was blessed again when our team received an invitation from the Laos government to return to the village and dig a new well! They no longer have to waste hours a day hauling water. This new well provides the entire village with enough fresh water to wash, drink and cook!

Help break the cycle of suffering!