Global Ministries, through its partnership with Church World Service and the coordination of Global Ministries social worker Xuyen Dangers, has helped create Community Development Centers in four rural communities on the outskirts of Vientiane in Laos in recent years. In these centers, After School Programs are being implemented in order to serve local children better.

After School Programs in Laos serve many purposes. They keep children busy with health and child rights oriented educational programs, crafts and art, and capacity building. Global Ministries social worker serving in Laos, Xuyen Dangers, coordinates After School Programs in four Child Development Centers: Donkoi, Nahay, Phonsinuan and Udomphone. The programs include content on issues such as the rights of children, child labor, human trafficking, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, gender issues. There also are activities in areas of sports, carpentry, weaving, theater, Lao traditional dance, clowning, arts and crafts. Some of the activities can help children acquire skills that they will eventually use in income-generation activities. All of the programs and the support of program leaders help prepare the children to deal constructively with the challenges that children in Laos face as they grow into young adulthood.  Nahay children created a homemade TV show with cardboard for visitors to tell history of Nahay Childrens Development Center.

The After School Programs equip the children who are served by the Community Development Centers with skills, community connections, cultural and artistic values and traditions that will empower them to make wise choices about their futures. For these children the temptations of drugs, alcohol, and the lure of “employment” in far away places often leads them to disaster.

Hope for Keomany, Child Development Centers, Laos
The Story of Mr. Khamvanh Phengmany, Donkoi Child Development Center, Laos
Sili Manotham Hansana, Donkoi School, Laos