HER NAME IS PHONETHIP,15 YEARS OLD, LAOTIAN. I NEVER KNEW LAOTIAN WAS A PERSON FROM LAOS, LAOS THE MOST BOMBED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, LAOS A COUNTRY IN ASIA; NEXT TO VIETNAM

SHE RISES BEFORE THE SUN, 5 AM DAILY. THERE IS STICKY RICE TO BE MADE. HER MOM NEEDS HER HELP, HER BROTHERS ALL AWAY AT SCHOOL, SHE THE YOUNGEST HELPS HER MOM. SHE WANTS TO GO TO ENGLAND. HER ENGLISH IS QUITE GOOD, MY LAOTIAN IS NOT EXISTENT, I AM HERE, SHE IS NOT THERE.

5 :00, TWO TIMES DAILY, IN THE MORNING MAKING STICKY RICE IN THE EVENING AT THE DOCK. SHE WAITS FOR THE FOREIGNERS, SHE USES HER ENGLISH TO CONVINCE THE ARRIVIES TO STAY AT HER MOM’S GUESTHOUSE. EVERYDAY SHE SEES THE WORLD PASS BY HER AND HER VILLLAGE, AGAINST THE CURRENT OF THE MEKONG RIVER. ALTHOUGH THE WORLD EASLILY HEADS UPSTREAM, DOWNSTEAM DOESN’T LEAD TO ENGLAND…WHERE THEY STARTED. HOW MUCH STICKY RICE (PRICE= 10,000 KIP) DOES IT TAKE TO BYPASS THE MEKONG TO ENGLAND? STICKY RICE IS NOT AS LUCRITIVE AS THE BURGERS AND BEER I SERVED WHICH BROUGHT ME HERE. BUT STICKY RICE IS WHAT PHONETHIP SELLS, ALONG THE MEKONG RIVER, IN LAOS, THE MOST BOMBED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD: NEXT TO VIETNAM.

 

I feel like I have been robbed of an education, an education that actually matters. I have been spoon fed information that ignores phonethip, that silences the majority of the world overpowered by the words of the minority. How can I know my beliefs, when I seem to know so little of the truth? The more I learn the dumber I feel, the more I question everything…