Postcard from Laos
Final Postcard - 28 October 2006
Tess Vitesnik, Bachelor of Animal Science Student
‘Neung, song, saam, sii, haa…’, such cries are heard all up the Mekong as paddlers count their strokes and power their boats through the water. The Lao-International Women’s Boat Racing Team is no exception, with training upped to three times a week and constantly aching arms as a result! In a little over two weeks people will line the banks of the Mekong, with much cheering and drinking of Beer Lao, for the Boat Racing Festival.
Also drawing closer is my imminent departure from Laos. Research is coming to a close- in two weeks all blood samples will have been collected and all surveys completed. One final field trip will be carried out next week to take the piglets that arrived at the Animal Health Centre all those months ago, out to Ban Hadpho and Ban Naoh to be used as breeding boars- my babies are all grown up!
The last field trip, conducted two weeks ago, held probably my most bizarre Lao experience yet. Travel to a ‘slaughter point’ where one to three pigs are slaughtered for the local early morning market where Lao women come to sell and buy fresh produce. To ensure fresh meat for the morning market, the pigs are slaughtered around 3am. So, at 3.30am in the pitch black, we traipsed through mud in the pouring rain to reach the secluded, small roofed concrete platform and squatted amongst the organs of a freshly slaughtered pig to interview the pig trader/slaughter man about his pigs and his knowledge of disease! Bizarre indeed!
The last six months have certainly been an experience to remember. I have learnt so much, made some good friends and would recommend the AYAD program to anyone wishing to learn more about international development. Over the next two months I shall be finishing up- completing my thesis, helping to organize a series of workshops on pig health and production to be held in November, and presenting my research at the ACIAR project completion workshop (as the only female to present I feel quite a responsibility!). Many thanks to all the people who have made this experience possible (Prof. Colin Wilks, Dr. Laurie Gleeson and Dr. Syseng Kounsey to name but a few).
30 June 2006
After three months here, Laos is really starting to feel like home. My project is rolling along slowly but surely and there is always something going on around Vientiane (morning aerobics by the Mekong, motorbike road trips out of town, a budding live music scene, the international women’s touch rugby team, a work trip to the beautiful Luang Prabang).
I was lucky enough to have seven indigenous breed (Moo Daeng) piglets delivered to the National Animal Health Centre from the southernmost province of Champasak for a vaccine trial as part of my project. And was unlucky enough for them to be infected with Classical Swine Fever! This saga ended with four of the seven piglets dying from the disease- three were euthanased, one went downhill far more rapidly and died naturally. As heartbreaking as it was (I had become quite attached to my little piglets and knew them all by name), it is a rare experience for an Australian vet student, or even a vet, to see CSF, especially at such close quarters.
Last month I managed to spend some time in two villages (Hadpho and Numoh) in Bolikamsay province conducting a survey. We (myself, my two Lao counterparts, a district and a provincial officer) talked to forty villagers about their attitudes to pigs, disease and Classical Swine Fever. The villages were beautiful and the villagers even more so- we were welcomed into peoples homes and offered food and many smiles. Early next month we return to the villages to vaccinate and take blood samples from the pigs.
Also next month- I begin training for the International Dragon Boating Festival!!
Vet Science student working on a Community Development Project in Laos
March 2006
Tess Vitesnik, a student in the Bachelor of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne has realised that Veterinary Science offers a wide range of career options including working on international community development projects.
During a lecture in 2005, Tess jumped at the chance to spend 6 months in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) to contribute to important research and work with the local community. She said “the opportunity to live and work in another country was far too exiting to pass up.”
Now after months of planning she is off to Laos to work as a Training Officer for pig health and production within the National Animal Health Centre in Vientiane. She will contribute to the important CSIRO project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research that is aimed at managing Classical Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease at the village level.
The trip provides the opportunity to positively contribute to another country and share her knowledge and skills while learning many new skills.
Tess will be working both in a laboratory and with the local village women in order to improve village management of pigs and their protection from Classical Swine Fever by producing some basic training materials and working with the current swine fever vaccine.
“I am looking forward to discovering a whole new culture, learning a new language and experiencing working in a research lab in a developing country” said Tess.
Tess will be travelling as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development (AYAD) that is funded by AusAid. The Program provides support to cover the costs with volunteering overseas, including pre-departure medicals, insurance, travel, in-country allowance, and the support of a dedicated In-country Manager.
Tess is also the recipient of the William and Ethel Walter Scholarship from the Faculty that will assist with her travels.
Bachelor of Veterinary Science students are encouraged to take a year out of their studies to research an area of interest by completing the Bachelor of Animal Science. Recent projects have been completed by students undertaking research in Austria, Canada, France, Thailand, Kenya and Peru. Students are required to prepare a thesis under the supervision of an academic. Tess is being supervised by Professor Colin Wilks, Dr Laurence Gleeson and Dr Ross Cutler.
April Update
What are the highlights so far?
There have been so many highlights!! Exploring Vientiane, finding and moving into a gorgeous house, sampling Lao food, beginning work and getting into my project, Pi Mai (Lao New Year) adventures in Vang Vieng and meeting so many great people just to name a few.
Have you had any surprises?
Ordering food in restaurants usually poses many surprises- what you think you have ordered and what gets placed in front of you are usually two very different things!!
Are the labs different to what you are used to in Australia?
For sure…for starters you don’t have to wear shoes in the labs over here! In fact you take your shoes off at the door and put on thongs to enter.
The lab for the project that I am working as part of is quite well equipped (better than I expected) thanks to Australian input over the last eight years (the project is termed the Lao-Australian Animal Health Research Project and is funded by Aciar).
What work have you done so far with the local community?
I have spent most of my time up until now at the Animal Health Centre in Vientiane however I took my first trip out the provinces last week. This was an introductory trip to introduce me to key village people and also to show me the ropes in organising the appropriate provincial and district people to accompany me into the field. Now this has happened, I can travel into Hadpho and Numoh (the two villages I shall be working in) with only my counterpart!
How are your language studies going?
I was provided with 15 hours of language training during my in-country orientation. This gave me the basics and has allowed me to get around town quite easily. Most people in Vientiane have some (very basic) English and are used to dealing with foreigners, unlike out in the village where no one knows any English. This means when I travel out of Vientiane to work I will need to rely on my counterpart to translate everything for me- I think this will be quite a challenge. I am in the process of getting a Lao language tutor.