By 101 Holidays newsdesk
Tourists in Laos are being encouraged to spend part of their holiday teaching local children to read.
Travel Indochina is planning a 12-night tour of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos that includes voluntary work at a choice of locations including Big Brother Mouse in Laos, a country with one of the world’s lowest literacy rates.
The locally-run organisation provides reading materials and runs book parties, introducing rural children to literature and – through literature, songs and games – to topics such as health care and education. Each child is given a book at the end of each party and a ‘swap box’ of 50 books is left with the village teacher to form the basis of a library.
Other voluntary projects available include the Childsafe Centre for street children in Phnom Penh, the Angkor Hospital for Children and the Gecko Environment Centre on Lake Tonle Sap.
The group tour, accompanied by a western tour leader and local English-speaking guides, departs in October 2009 and includes visits to Saigon, Siem Reap (for the temples of Angkor) and Luang Prabang. Accommodation is in 3 star centrally-located properties. For every traveller who books this tour, Travel Indochina will donate US$100 to their chosen charities in the region.
More about the Indochina Footprints tour and Travel Indochina’s responsible travel policy.
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Tags: Travel Indochina