Modern representations, Laos 2010: Deconstructualism II)

I don’t know why, but I always find striking examples of modern art in Savannakhet. Of course, every place is special, but I especially like Savannakhet. She hasn’t sold her soul to tourism and without any pretty attractions like waterfalls, caves or ancient temples, she has to be sincere to be liked. I think people are nice.

I was reading about the Edinburgh Festival. Maybe creativity is at its best when it is uninvited. The fringe can only happen when the center doesn’t rule all. In Luang Prabang, tourism reigns and any fringe effect would only look staged. Vientiane prides itself on being the capital and I could imagine anything fringy being dismissed as weird. Laos needs a creative center. There’s no sign of it in Savannakhet, but I wonder why I’m so sure it can happen here.

There’s a crumbly French colonial section with lots of empty buildings. There are a couple 60s modernism buildings, one a movie theatre and another unknown in original intent, but spectacular. There are some holes where buildings have been torn down, but for the moment, two spotlights on the chipped wall, a cello or a khaen and you’ve got an outdoor concert. Traffic is not yet the primary soundscape in Savannakhet.

This section of town is only quiet and theatrical because it is neglected. I don’t know how long it will last. If the city gave free residence to 50 artists, Laos would have its creative heart to beat. Imagine performance art on a grand scale. Imagine a city where everyone used sign language. I get startled sometimes when I see people unconsciously using recognizable signs as they speak and gesture. The beggar woman was signing “eat”. When I approached the check-in counter at the airport, the woman signed, “Good day”. How could this be? She said I had taught her the day before in a classroom visit.

When we talk about learning, it is startling when something is observed, shared, remembered and recreated. This is what language learning is really supposed to be about. I’ll be back in Savannakhet to try to make this happen.

Reading out loud (with your hands)

The deaf school in Savannakhet is the only school I’ve had the chance to distribute the signing books directly to each student. I was looking forward to this treat. My bicycle bags were packed and I dropped in unannounced.

The director made sure all 24 students had gathered and instructed them to take care of the books. “Don’t rip the pages. Use it so you can learn to sign well.” In this interaction, I could learn a new sign for “Take care of” It was fun to hand the books out one-by-one.

I gave books for them to take home to their parents too. I figured that everyone would already know all 600 signs in the book, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Without any instruction, students moved into little study groups to look through the book. Through the years of teaching, I’ve spent a lot of energy trying to get hearing students to sit down and use a book. There’s so much chatter. There are mobile phones and endless exchanges. I’ve seen carefully cultivated concentration shattered to bits at the smallest distraction.

I sat with a small group of older boys to sign as I still need as much practice as I can get. I didn’t know the sign for “foreigner” so I made it up by signing “country” + “outside” and the boy gave me an astonished look, “What ARE you saying?” The director is a pleasant, competent and helpful woman and she showed me the proper sign which is “different” + “country”. I’m sure that the boy was saying, “You’re signing is really hopeless” and then repaired his slip of hands with a not completely insincere comment of, “You’re doing OK.” For me, comprehension through signing is like a holographic flash of understanding. I catch myself and think, “Did I really understand that?” It’s so clear, it’s beyond doubt. There’s a particular certainty when we use our right brain.

The girl-group was sitting quietly (well, of course) under a tree and all were intently going through the book. In the way that speaking people would read out loud, they were going through each sign with their hands in motion. It was an very beautiful moment. When I was leaving, the director wanted to tell me. “You know, all the other students are in their rooms reading the book.”

When I bicycle by the deaf school, kids recognize me and wave. I wave back and try not to sign and drive. I don’t dare use two hands to say something.

Happy New Year Lucky 2010

I have to admit that I read the newspaper horoscope sometimes. It usually says something, like, “Now’s the chance. Strike while the iron is hot. Be confident with your mission.” I easily imagine that it is speaking directly to me as an Aries. “Yes, that is me.”

The other day, I read the horoscope for all the other signs and realized that they were all pretty much the same. See how easy it is to create the illusion of a personal oracle? There’s nothing really tricky about this magic. We believe what we want to hear and I’ve been waiting for good news.

It’s the divining rod that waits for water. I’d gotten depressed thinking about the impossibility of selling books in Laos. Then, a friend was honest with me. “It’s only been a year. What do you expect?”

My year’s horoscope says that things well get increasingly better after a few months of a slow start. Be patient. Ease off on the pressure. Yes, I figure I can do that, but now just in mid-January, the divining rod begins to move like a big body of water is flowing underfoot.

2010 is make or break.

Three cups of ….?

“The book remained a number one New York Times bestseller for three years after its release. The book is also a popular university freshman or campus read on about three dozen campuses, and has been chosen for One City One Book community reads in over 300 cities, and published in over 39 countries internationally, and used on over 100 University and college campuses as a Freshman Experience, Honor's program or campus-wide read book” ("Three Cups of Tea" From Wiki)

It mystifies me why this book is so popular. To me it’s unnerving, not inspirational. Not the story itself, but the phenomenon that’s been created. What popular nerve does it touch? To me it’s a fantasy of Disney dimensions. I know. With all the altitude sickness and such, you may think it’s a story of incredible hardships to fund and build schools in Pakistan, but I can’t help think he had it easy. People cooperated? People didn’t steal every nail? He found qualified teachers and “culturally appropriate books?” ! ! ! ?

Not by any means to undervalue what he has done, but about the overvaluation of the marketing world of this book …

From a book review: “It’s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world."
(ahem, ahem, he did get a million dollars to help )

The Economist, December 19th 2009 – January 1st 2010

Trap or Treat
"Into a crowded field of books about the problems with development aid comes, ‘The Aid Trap’ By Glenn Hubbard and William Duggan. Columbia University Press.

The two academics are disappointed by the failure of the existing system of aid to foster economic development in poor countries. But rather than advocating getting rid of the system altogether, they propose reorienting it to concentrate on promoting private businesses in countries. This, they argue, has been the key to economic development in countries that have grown fast, but it is only rarely the principal focus of development aid.

This is all sensible stuff. But as the authors well recognize, the political economy of a well-entrenched aid business will not welcome the sort of shake-up they have in mind.

It should interest those who are convinced by the conclusions of the critics of aid, but remain disappointed by the poverty of their prescriptions."
Excerpts from Pg. 146

Lao Sign Language

Why a book on Lao Sign Language?
Laos is not a rich country. There is a severe lack of learning resources. Getting an education is especially difficult for the deaf as they are unable to effectively express their needs and be understood.

Though there are more than 22,000 deaf in the Lao PDR according to a 2005 report (1), only three small schools are operating, serving less than 150 students total. There are no programs for early intervention and language development. Because of the lack of resources, most students are unable to read and write well enough to find good jobs and either go back to their villages or make money through heavy labor.

The majority of rural children is isolated and never develops a communal language. Even in semi-urban areas, communication is limited to small pockets of signers. Without stronger social support, access to the Internet and video capable mobile phones, Lao Sign Language cannot develop quickly.

I am hoping that “Thumbs Up” will help. Many students object to using Thai books and there has been no reference book in their hands until now. “Thumbs Up” appears to delight students since most could not imagine that such a book could exist.

What kind of education is available in Laos for the deaf?
In the capital city of Vientiane, there is one publicly run school. Hearing teachers at the school have been trained in Thailand. It is run by the Ministry of Health rather than the Ministry of Education and I have observed a disappointing lack of enthusiasm and resourcefulness among the teachers.

I have never seen a book or even a notebook in the school and there is little communicative interaction initiated by the teachers. I saw one teacher berate a student and tell him he was stupid. On another occasion, a teacher said outright that the students are unable to learn. I am convinced that this is not true.

For several weeks, I experimented with Xeroxed worksheets for simple English lessons. Many are interested in learning English. I included pictures, signs and exercises in writing and thinking. Older students would assess the level of the worksheets and distribute them to the younger children. Most students completed the worksheet. They would come individually to have me check them and show satisfaction when they could understand something new. I have never experienced this in hearing schools.

There are two other small schools, one in Luang Prabang and the other in Savannakhet. They will be financed by the Vatican through the Nuncio in Bangok for the first few years (2). Here, I see more nurturing and care from the teachers and classes that are run well. On a recent visit, I could see that all the students had copies of “Thumbs Up” and had lovingly covered them in recycled paper for protection. One teacher is adamant in defending the students’ ability to learn saying that they are inquisitive and don’t hesitate to ask questions. Their persistence is not dismissed. The teachers are able to articulate what they need in the way of learning resources and @My Library, a community library run by Carol Kresge, has responded by providing Lao children’s books, tools for drawing and painting and even a deaf-friendly bingo game.

What comes next?
3,000 copies of “Thumbs Up” were printed. 400 copies have been distributed to all the schools. I will try to sell the rest to get a return on my investment so that I can start new projects. The books are not just for the deaf, but for hearing students and teachers of English as well. I have found that using gestures and sign language is effective when teaching English to Lao students, especially with oversized classes of mixed levels and students with minimal experience in reading and writing. Most Lao students respond extremely well to kinesthetic learning and their concentration and retention is noticeably improved. I will focus my efforts on teacher training to promote the use of Lao Sign Language as a method (Action English) for teaching English. Response so far has been very encouraging.

For the future, digitally animated signing will be the best way to develop a more comprehensive dictionary. Digital data can be used to produce hardcopy books, videos and most appropriately for Laos, transmitted through mobile phones.

Closing notes
Finally, someone has written a book about the problems of development aid in Laos (3). One 2006 report claims that foreign loans and aid equal to about 80 per cent of the state budget (4). This money is not necessarily translated into human development. In my personal observation, dependence on foreign aid stunts initiative and resourcefulness. In the worst of cases, projects are stonewalled until money is paid into certain pockets.

1. Clark, R. Service for deaf children in Cambodia and Laos. 2005
www. Idcs.info

2. http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=24123&lan=eng

3. Probe International
http://www.probeinternational.org/export-credit/lao-banks-aid-donors-losing-patience

4. Phraxayavong, V. History of Aid to Laos: Motivations and Impacts, Mekong Press 2009