TEDxLanexangAve has released the full videos of each of its speakers’ talks on its official YouTube channel. This is the first time that a TEDx event has been organized in Laos.
The Idea of Laos | Anoulak Kittikhoun
What is the idea of Laos? The idea of Laos, like all ideas, is based on two things and two things only: the place we are located in, and the history of this place. In an increasingly competitive, highly integrated, technologically advanced world, is this idea of Laos sufficient?
Dr. Anoulak Kittikhoun researches, writes and speaks about how ideas shape an organization, nation, region and the world. A political scientist by training, he graduated as an International Valedictorian from the Australian National University and received his Master and Doctor of Philosophy from the City University of New York. In his past life, he was a staff of the United Nations Secretariat (the first international staff from Laos) and a college professor in New York. He has published on the UN, conflict management, international relations, revolutions and Laos, in which his article won best award from the American Sociological Association. In his current day time, he serves as the Chief Strategy Officer at the Mekong River Commission.
Why Laos was Bombed: The Enemy is me | Mike Boddington
How was it that the most powerful nation on earth, the most technologically advanced, the wealthiest, could spend nine years bombing the heck out of one of the weakest countries on earth, one of the least technically advanced, one of the poorest?
Educated in agriculture and economics, Mike Boddington became an academic at London University in 1967 under the tutelage of Professor Gerald Wibberley, the doyen of countryside planning in UK. Mr. Boddington left the sheltered confines of academia and established a rural planning consultancy, in 1972, which took him all over the world.
He visited Lao PDR in August 1994 to assess the need and established a project with the Ministry of Health. COPE, a cooperation between the Ministry and international NGOs, was established in 1997. Wanting to have a representative of the Lao disabled community, Mr. Boddington established the Lao Disabled People’s Association in 2001. To generate a longer term, sustainable income for COPE, a Visitor Centre was created in 2008 and recently visited by U.S. State Secretary and President Obama.
Pragmatism is a passion killer | Sebastien Perret
Around the world, there are many NGOs, many international organisations, working to regulate and distribute humanitarian aid. Most of these NGOs use a pyramidal management model, where decisions are taken at the very top, and those affected at the bottom are seldom asked if they like the solutions.
Because many of these organisations are very big, they have heavy bureaucratic systems and a tendency to be very pragmatic, not tailored enough to the problem at hand
Sébastien Perret thinks that both form and contents are equally important. Alongside with a team of 8 passionate Laotians in 2010, he helped build up the first ever emergency ambulance service, literally from scratch. Today, Vientiane Rescue counts 220 volunteers and helped save more than 25,000 people for the last 6 years. Vientiane Rescue is more than just a rescue service. It’s a true miracle that could teach the whole word a lesson of generosity, dedication and selflessness. Thanks to its non-paid volunteers, Vientiane Rescue provides a fair, timely and compassionate service to a 800,000 inhabitants city.
From Fear to Fearlessness | Amy Chanthaphavong
Fear isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It helps us to stay alive. Fearlessness is NOT about winning. It’s about courage and living your life with boldness, unafraid of the outcome. It is freedom from FEAR.
Amy Chanthaphavong was the first Laotian-American woman to be crowned Miss Asian America in 2009, the longest running Asian pageant in the U.S. As Queen, she traveled across the U.S. and abroad as a goodwill ambassador and a leader in the Asian American community. She actively utilized her title to bring awareness to social causes such as Human Trafficking, Education, Preservation of the Family Unit and her parents’ native country – Laos.
My Philosophy of Giving | Sanva Saephan
Knowing that giving is good and can bring so many benefits to us, I am sure the next logical thing that follows in the mind of everyone here is “How to give?” That is the hardest part, isn’t it?
Once you secure the commitment from the receiver, it already demonstrates the context of good giving. How to make good giving to become great giving? The joy of giving is amazing if one can achieve “great giving”.
Displaced by the Secret War in Laos from 1963 to 1973, tens of thousands of highland Laotians, Mienh and Hmong people made perilous journey across the Mekong River to seek temporary refuge in various camps scattered across Thailand. Sanva was also among one of the refugees and only migrated to Bokeo, a province in the north of Laos, in 1994.
While in Singapore, San Saephan published his very first book in 2013 titled “Stateless: Diary of a Spirited Boy at Napho Camp” with the proceeds going towards building a much-needed primary school in his hometown. Continuing from the success if his first book, Sanva, in 2014, published another book titled “Transition: A Journey in Laos” with the proceeds going towards constructing a vocational training center for the less fortunate female in Vientiane.
Currently, he is the founder of Yaonoy Center, an educational social enterprise, to provide an affordable language enrichment class to students from all walks of life.
The Lesson Is Never Just a Number | Sousada Chidthachack
Lessons about grit and mathematics. “Grit” is persevering despite the obstacles. “Mathematics,” for many people, is about overcoming obstacles, or problem solving. It is safe to say, mathematics mirrors life.
Dr. Sousada Chidthachack is a champion of education. Currently at University of San Francisco, she serves as the Upward Bound Math and Science STEM Education Coordinator. In this role, she prepares and inspires first-generation college students for careers in STEM fields. Dr. Chidthachack has traveled to over 25 countries on six continents while earning a Bachelor’s, a Master’s, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Her research and professional work has been presented nationally and internationally in Brazil, Cambodia, China, Germany, Laos, Thailand, and South Africa.
