My Nonprofit Reviews

have lived vicariously through Pat and Sherwin’s adventures for years - “oohing” and “aahing” at their amazing photos and stories. In December 2022, I finally took the plunge and committed to join them on a trip to Laos. Within weeks, Pat pulled together an amazing (affordable) trip for me to accompany them for a project review and visits to rural schools to deliver supplies throughout the country. She’d managed to organize a 10 day Laos excursion for just us.

We made school supply lists, combed Amazon for educational supplies that we may not get in country such as Laotian to English dictionaries. Pat had already accumulated a large portion of material in her supply closet including special books requests from her contacts, such as TESOL training. By the time we left in March 2023, I had a 50 pound suitcase of school supplies to check in at the airline and including a few more things in my personal bag.

I met up with Pat and Sherwin at SFO International. She was not going to let me travel my first Asian International flight alone. Thank goodness!

When we arrived in Vientiane, after meeting with our tour guides, we needed to source more educational supplies. Our tour guide and driver were from the rural areas of Laos and they embraced IFED’s mission with great enthusiasm. In addition to sharing the fascinating sites and culture of their country, they assisted in helping us find a retail shop with an extensive enough inventory to supply the six rural schools we expected to visit over our ten day expedition. Fortunately, we were in a three row mini van, since by the time we were done shopping, the van was brimming with boxes of supplies,our suitcases and soccer balls. I wish I’d taken a real picture of it; the attached picture is at our first school and it’s not real clear.

Including items transported from the US, we had basic student supplies - pencils, sharpeners, erasers, scissors, string backpacks, notebooks and dictionaries. We also purchased classroom supplies for rural areas - posters, flashcards, board games, lined paper, paper booklets, printer paper, chalk, dry erase markers, colored pencils and art supplies, geography maps, inflatable globes and books…

By the end of our trip, we had delivered educational supplies to benefit 6 schools, 10 classrooms, 2 libraries and over 700 students.

I am in awe of the coordination, dedication and creative talent Pat exhibits in meeting the commitment to IFED’s goals to enhance education and opportunities for those less fortunate. When we arrived at each school, she assessed student and classroom needs and sorted the appropriate donations. For example, at one small primary school of twenty students, we could hand out backpacks filled with supplies to each student. They were real excited as you can see in the second photo. Then as needed at others places we brought out general supplies for primary and secondary levels. See the third picture.

I was rewarded to see first hand the joy of the beneficiaries - children, teachers and administrators in this amazing country. I look forward to supporting and volunteering on more IFED projects. Thank you for letting me participate in your project firsthand.