GOAL: To enable poor and otherwise marginalized peoples in southern Laos to build the capacity and skills that create a foundation for improved health care, education, food security and cultural survival.

CONTEXT: The literacy rate among the adult population in ethnic minority villages is often less than 10%. Most male villagers in ethnic minority settlements have only very limited knowledge of Lao language, while hardly any women understand Lao at all. In order to break their isolation, their mistrust of all outsiders and to open ways of improving their livelihood, Lao language abilities are essential. 

One of the strategies to promote education and more general community development is through an integrated approach of village services – including health, village agriculture, and capacity building. VFI works in a ‘modular’ way, beginning with trust building and leadership team building, with emphasis on the participation of women and with close cooperation with district government staff (who are often from the district as well). The general idea is that village people must have the skills and motivation to lead their own development initiatives, or be forever at the mercy of large development projects, exploitative projects from the outside (Vietnamese traders, loggers, government-initiated mega projects, etc

TARGET GROUPS: Four districts in the uplands of Salavan Province of southern Laos, all with high percentages of ethnic groups, including Taoi, Katang, Pacoh, and Katoh peoples.