"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness."—Mark Twain
During a visit to a small Laos village, Cecile and I and our small tour group from Overseas Adventures Travels (OAT) got to experience “A Day in a Life of the Lao People”. We were greeted by the mayor, vice mayor (who is also the shaman) and their wives. The backdrop of the introductions left most of us puzzled. We kept hearing rapid fire gunshots and didn't know whether to duck or run for cover. We found out later that there was a military training camp nearby.
We were given a tour of the village community hall, housing, a small shack of a school and weaving wheels local women use to make scarves and other products. It is a very poor village but they give thanks to the Grand Circle Foundation (the charitable arm of OAT) for assisting them with helping to put in a water tank, and donating two weaving wheels. The school children were excited, cheerful and inquisitive about their visitors. They were also very affectionate. We saw a senior teacher lead a class, we sang American songs like, “Old McDonald’s Had a Farm…and did the "Hokey Pokey" to name a few—after the class was over. Having had been an elementary school teacher, Cecile was very touched by the experience, especially by the young girl who took her hand and showered her with affection.
Norseng, the vice-mayor who also doubles as a shaman for the village put on a show for us by dressing up in his native dress and played a flute called a “Khvang” while dancing like a whimsical pied-piper. He, is from the Mon people, one of the earliest settlers to reside in Southeast Asia that resides on the border of Thailand and Burma. He called for volunteers and I was one of them as seen here in the video clip. Norseng also demonstrated how to shoot a crossbow. I was more timid about shooting the crossbow than dancing while making an attempt to play the flute since several of the volunteer’s arrow hit near the center of the target. But, I gave it the “old Yankee try” and to my surprise, rather than hit center mass, I hit what would be considered a forehead shot.
When asked Siya how he became mayor? He told us he was chosen as a candidate for mayor by the Communist Party and won the election by the majority vote of the villagers. He was embarrassed to say how much he made. It was meager. Then again, there are municipalities in the states where city officials essentially are volunteer positions.
We then assisted our hosts in preparing a very fine Lao meal with some of the ingredients we bought earlier in the day at the street market. The mayor served us shots of whiskey that is made here in Laos and we all shared a meal on his dining room table. The back and side walls were walled with framed certificates of merit by the communist party for his service to the village. When his wife was asked what she liked about her husband being mayor, she responded with "all the people I get to meet."
When we said our goodbyes, Norseng, came on the bus to give us a blessing and thank us for our visit and support and hoped that someday we will visit again. It was a very humbling experience overall and any reservations that the villagers had about hosting us believing they could never satisfy our standards were set aside as we all came together as one.
To view the short audio-video clip of Dennis playing the Shaman's flute while dancing in the village in Laos click on the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/dennis.augustine.18/videos/vb.519921667/10156036910086668/?type=2&theater¬if_t=video_processed¬if_id=1518366868066252
