Australian trainers share intellectual assets with Lao citizens

Australian volunteers have shared their excellent professional skills in different fields with a number of public organisations for capacity building and human resource development in Laos.  
Vientiane Times, under the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, is one of many public organisations that has benefited from the expertise of Australian volunteers. They have made valuable contributions towards developing human resources in this media outlet.

Former Vientiane Times Editors-in-Chief, Somsanouk Mixay and Savanhkhone Razmountry, pose for a group photo with women journalists trained by Australian trainers at Vientiane Times in the 1994s. (File photo)

I have worked in the newspaper for a long time and have had a chance to work with a number of volunteers, including junior and senior people, who left their homes to come to Laos to share their professional knowledge and intellectual capabilities with officials of the newspaper and the Lao people in general.
For a person to share his or her specific knowledge and talents with others is a major decision, and those trained by the volunteers gained access to a priceless legacy. The Australian government has sincerely helped the Lao government in developing the country’s human resources by providing scholarships for Lao citizens to study in Australia and by selecting its most experienced professionals to share their knowledge with the Lao people. The Australian Embassy in Vientiane has worked tirelessly to promote such cooperation and to help others in accordance with the capacity of each side.
Laos and Australia established diplomatic relation in 1952, and this year marks the 70th anniversary of that significant development. According to the Australian Embassy, since the 1950s, thousands of Lao professionals have studied and gained a world class education at several universities in Australia. Many elderly people in Laos, particularly those who had a chance to study in Australia, speak excellent English and can communicate very well in the language. 
The Lao alumni returned from Australia with expertise in specific fields of knowledge and they used this knowledge to make significant contributions for the development of the country, and especially to the organisations that employed them. A number of Lao alumni have been leaders at the highest levels of the country in the past and at present. When Vientiane Times was established in 1994, the newspaper faced several problems due to the small number of staff, especially reporters who could write news in English for foreign readers. Vientiane Times has developed over the past 28 years, and part of this was due to the support from the Australian Embassy in Vientiane, which helped the newspaper along with other international organisations in the country.
A few senior Australian diplomats helped edit news articles for the newspaper in the 1990s without getting paid any money. They helped the newspaper due to their kindness and sincerity and in line with the tradition of the two countries helping friends in need.  
In the initial stages of the newspaper’s development, a number of reporters learnt how to write news in English from top journalists from Australia. The Australian Embassy in Vientiane worked with the newspaper for many years to look for experienced reporters who could teach their Lao counterparts.
From the 1994s to the 2000s, more than 10 Australian trainers and students provided lessons to the staff of the newspaper, especially in writing news and feature stories in English. Apart from this, there were exchanges between the staff of the newspaper and a newspaper in Australia on covering news for a very short time. A few staffers of Vientiane Times applied for scholarships from the Australian government to upgrade their skills at Australian universities and returned home to develop the country, particularly through their contributions to the newspaper. 
The Vientiane Times’ staffers learnt how to effectively write the news in English because the newspaper had good Australian trainers, who spared no efforts while sharing their knowledge. The Australian trainers who worked with the newspaper at different periods of time helped as much as they could.
The Australian volunteers left a priceless legacy in Laos, especially in the many organisations where they worked. Vientiane Times has kept on sharing the lessons learnt from the Australian trainers with many other organisations, forging new forms of cooperation and establishing people-to-people links. Vientiane Times has also continued working with the Australian Embassy in Vientiane and a number of people who used to support the newspaper.
Many Australian volunteers returned to visit Laos and the newspaper to witness the progress made by Vientiane Times, which takes this opportunity to thank the Australian Embassy in Vientiane and Australian trainers one more time for supporting the newspaper in the past and at present. This is particularly special on the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Laos and Australia, and on the occasion of Vientiane Times turning 28 this year. Vientiane Times hopes this cooperation will continue in order to develop the organisation and the country.

By Phon Thikeo
(Latest Update April 28, 2022)