Site visit to the Counseling and Protection Center for Women and Children in Vientiane, Laos – Friday the 21st of September, 2007

Project leaders: Chris and Liza Green

We visited the Shelter to learn more about its activities, day-to-day running and specific needs ahead of handing over the funding for their multi-purpose room. It was a very successful visit that included a sit-down meeting with the Director and two other staff members as well as a tour of the four buildings that make up the Shelter.

Location:

The Shelter is located approximately 30 kilometers, 30 minutes, from the center of Vientiane.
There is a main road that takes one most of the way; however, the Shelter itself is located approximately 2 kilometers down an unpaved, bumpy and somewhat eroded road that is lined with small village homes. This stretch of road has areas that are impoverished, while in other instances we saw some fairly nice homes.

The Shelter itself has approximately 1.5 acres of land, all of which is walled by a solid fence of about 8 feet. The front gate is steel and high, but during the day it was not particularly secure, as we could get out of the car and simply wheel it open.

Running of the Shelter:

The Shelter provides two primary functions: (i) counseling for drop-in and phone-in victims, and (ii) accommodation to women and children who are victims of domestic abuse or sexual exploitation/trafficking. It is the first and only shelter of its kind in Laos and women come from all over the country to utilize its services (particularly those staying at the shelter). It is run by the Lao Women’s Union, an organization that has a network of centres and members across the country.

Victims learn about the Shelter through print and radio announcements or are referred through the Lao Women’s Union network. This network seems to be active, as we even saw a rather “Mao-esque” sign for the Lao Women’s Union in the center of Vientiane.

Those residing at the shelter include women, women with their children, and in some cases children who themselves have been abused and removed from their homes. Length of stay at the Shelter varies from case to case – whereas some women leave within a week, others may be there for over six months.

The compound currently consists of 4 buildings: one dormitory for victims of domestic abuse, one dormitory for victims of sexual exploitation/trafficking, one training/activity building and one ‘main’ building where the staff work, train and counsel. A fifth building is being planned in the compound which will become a vocational training center for women and children from poor communities who are at-risk of exploitation and trafficking. Victims and staff take part equally in all cooking, cleaning and childcare activities.

The Shelter has a staff of 7 who provide legal, psychological and health counseling. Medical care is arranged by the Shelter with attendant doctors at a local hospital when needed. The cost of this is often carried by the Shelter and, like everything else, needs to be funded through donations. Each night 3 staff remain at the Shelter on a rotating basis to look after the victims who are housed there. There is a clear ‘family’ structure in place for the victims, especially the children, with Mme Thoummaly being referred to as ‘Mother’.

The Shelter is entirely reliant on donor aid. Their main donors to date have included are The Asia Foundation, the Japanese Embassy and Unicef.

The Shelter’s operational budget is minimal and it is run with very little in the way of furnishings, office equipment and even basic daily necessities like soap, shampoo, etc. Clothes donated to the Shelter, for example, are altered using donated sewing machines to be able to fit the victims. Much of the vegetable produce that feeds the victims is grown in the compound. We became very aware that the basic day-to-day needs of the Shelter in terms of toiletries, food, clothing cannot be taken for granted. The annual staff salary bill is US$ 13,500.00 and it has been paid by an Asia Foundation grant for the past year. Per our discussions with Asia Foundation, it is expected that the Asia Foundation will provide funding for the salaries for the coming year. This is an area of concern, as the Shelter will constantly need to lobby for donor aid to pay salaries – and the quality of the personnel are what drive the Shelter’s success.
It was a real pleasure to spend time with the Shelter staff. Mme Thoummaly, Soudalack and Lek are especially gracious and thoughtful and their care and concern for this project is evident. Their English is good and they were able to provide very detailed answers to each query that we raised. They are fully invested in the Shelter, even with the challenges of learning on the job (none have worked in this specific environment before as it is a ‘first-of-its-kind’ project in Laos). Each member of staff sees counseling and caring for the victims as their primary job and they are devoted to this activity. Although, she is the Shelter Director and an active member of the Lao Women’s Union, Mme Thoummaly is equally involved in this day-to-day care even with the onerous task of constant fund-raising. It is clear that no human resource is wasted.

The land has been provided by the Lao government and appears to be decent, capable of cultivation, growing vegetables etc… Approx. 2/3 of the land has been cleared and accommodates the buildings on site and grass areas between the buildings. Attempts at beautifying the property are underway, including planting of some flowers, some vegetables and maintenance of the grass areas. Large tiles provide walkways between the buildings – the tiles themselves have been decorated by women / children who have stayed at the shelter.

There is clearly a sense that this is a well-cared for project – even with the minimal resources available to run it.

Activities of the Shelter:

Shelter staff counsel around 8-10 women a day on a drop-in basis. In addition to this, they provide counseling over the telephone. Shelter staff have received training in various areas of expertise, be it psychological counseling or legal counseling (two are qualified lawyers).

Some vocational training is provided, but it would seem that this could be improved. Victims are trained in sewing (the Shelter has three sewing machines for training), organic farming, cooking, domestic work and weaving. At least two women who have received training in cooking have taken up jobs in local hotels / restaurants. They are encouraged to produce items that can be sold at local markets and fresh produce for their own consumption. At this point these activities are not income-generating – a real challenge with the shelter turnover and the care of children who go to the local school every day.

The Shelter is a meeting point for staff, the local police, community leaders, prosecutors and all persons involved in providing assistance to women and children in need. All training, meetings, fundraising and administration takes place in the main building of the Shelter. These activities are currently conducted in an extremely haphazard way as the multi-purpose room is bare and meetings often take place sitting on the floor and in extreme heat.

At the time of the visit there were 9 victims housed at the Shelter, including twin nine-year-old girls who had been raped by their stepfather and whose mother was unable to care for them due to mental illness. Their stay at the Shelter is indefinite as they have nowhere else to go. They attend school during the day and are cared for at night by staff on site.

We were informed that in the first year of operations, the Shelter has housed over 45 women. Capacity is higher, but the costs of maintaining victims are also high (approx. USD3 per day), and the Shelter is still in the process of being outfitted with appropriate bedding, etc… We believe the amount of women sheltered to date is impressive given the resources available.

Use of the multi-purpose room / Needs of the Shelter:

This is a large room in the main building. It is entirely bare and currently unusable due to the heat and the glare from the lack of curtains. The only set of tables and chairs in the main building is an old wooden table with six chairs currently in the directors office. This is the only meeting and training place they have and very inadequate.

In order to help more women and children at the Shelter and improve on the help they are currently providing, Mme Thoummaly made it very clear that they need a room that is equipped to train staff. They also need a meeting room for staff to meet with outside parties and a training room to be used for the victims. It was clear to us that this multi-purpose room would be used extensively once it has been fitted with all the furnishings and equipment to be funded by New Day.

In the evenings, i.e., when not being used during the day for formal matters of training etc…, we believe it will represent a more accommodating room for residents of the shelter to gather, socialize and perhaps even watch a DVD.

The Shelter gives the impression of being a carefully run and solid operation with a very committed staff. The ongoing challenge is to raise enough money to keep it functional. In addition to this the staff will clearly appreciate and benefit from any targeted training that can be provided. Should New Day be able to provide specific skills as identified by Mme Thoummaly to her staff, this would be very helpful. They would probably be concentrated in the areas of vocational training, fund-raising and business administration.