What do kids eat in the Khong-district?

The menu is pretty boring, sticky rice with fish sauce three times a day. Usually there’s not enough fish to give everyone a piece. That’s why a sauce is made out of it, so that every person can taste a little fish. Sometimes the kids are in luck and a few fish will be served. But these fish are tiny, as big as a finger. Kids in Laos are good at eating fish with bones. They think of this as a treat! 

When there is not enough fish, frogs are also eaten. People from Laos almost never eat vegetables. Sometimes they’ll eat edible leaves that they find in the forest. This limited menu means that a lot of kids don’t get enough protein in their system. 

When there’s a party a chicken might be slaughtered. These chickens are much smaller than the ones in Holland and the chicken will be shared with the entire family. 

Staying over

Kids take rice to school in a basket and also take a bottle of water, because there is no water at many of the schools. The kids with richer parents get a piece of fish or dried meat with their lunch too. 

Do they eat in front of the TV with the plate in their lap?

The family sits together on a mat during dinner and there’s a basket of rice in the middle. Each kid takes a hand full of rice, rolls it into a ball and dips it in the sauce. When someone is finished eating, they get up, drink a big glass of water and wash their hands in a bucket.

Bathtime!

The people don’t have tap water in the house; they have to go get it from the river or the pump. They also don’t have a bathroom. In the evening people take a bath in the river. Everyone takes a bath at the same time, just before dinner. The people put on a special bathing robe and throw a pan of water over themselves. Once they are clean, they put a dry robe on over the wet one and put their clothes back on under the dry robe. 

Worms

Most lakes and rivers aren’t clean; many animals walk or swim in the water too. Bilharzia is a worm disease that is typical in Laos. The larva’s live in water and can enter the skin. Almost everyone there has this disease. Inside the body the larva’s develop into worms that can get into the veins of the bladder or bowels and intestines and live there. They can also affect the liver, which is very dangerous.

Sickness

People get sick a lot in Laos and 7,5% of the kids doesn’t get older than 4 years (in Holland this is only 0,5%). Because of the bad hygiene people die about 20 years earlier than people in Holland. The hygiene isn’t optimal in Laos. People don’t always wash their hands before dinner and a lot of schools don’t have toilets. Sometimes dogs walk over the mat that people sit on to eat. Some kids are malnourished and not everyone is vaccinated, this is why so many kids die in Laos. 

No doctors

There are no consultation agencies or midwives, and those that are there have only had basic training. Many people learn about health issues from older people. Those people have never had training for it. All births take place at home and if there are problems, mother and child can never go to a hospital. It’s too far away and too expensive. 

In the Khong-district there are no doctors, just health staff who know a little about diarrhoea and malaria, but don’t know much about recognizing diseases and treating them. They don’t have a practice, but visit people on their bikes or mopeds. Medicines have to be bought by the people themselves.