The Big Calabash Book Publication Team in Laos
1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and your brook?
Sabaidee, My name is Xaiyaphone Moukda. I am a Lao participant in the CPI 2021 program and also the team leader of my group. I am interested in publishing since one of my hobbies is reading, and it helps me to gain more knowledge from the book. Participating in this program has given me the opportunity to understand the process of book publishing and also understand the shift from being a reader to becoming an author and/or publisher.
Sabaidee. My name is Vatsalin Bounmixay. I am from the Lao PDR, and I have graduated to become a teacher. I educate others about the importance of culture, and how to show love and respect for culture. Culture is a wonderful way to preserve and strengthen a community’s sense of place, forge their identity, and showcase creativity.
This program taught us how to produce a children's book, which we completed by the end of the session. I worked on the book "Mark Num Tao Poung", or the large calabash. This story explains how humans were born and the origin of Lao ethnic groups. Laos has many amazing stories that immerse the reader into the story and its characters. We want to effectively capture Laos’ culture and style, and pass it down to the new generation. We aim to promote Lao folk tales which were traditional stories passed down by word of mouth, and now, have become a story book with drawings to appeal to Lao youth.
This story is a staple in high school literature as it delivers the message that we all have to love each other as if we are all a part of the same family, from the same place, with the same parents.
2. What do you hope to achieve by publishing this book?
I hope that by publishing this book, Lao children will be able to appreciate this traditional tale by reading alongside our illustrated description of the story. Now that we are in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic, many students are stuck at home and always using technology. The use of technology, especially phones, has become embedded into their daily lives, and many have become addicted to playing games and have lost interest in reading books. We want to be able to support children’s reading and help them gain more knowledge through books.
We believe that it would be a good experience for children to see a book published by the youth for the youth. We also think that Folktales can be used to help children develop strong reading skills, study other cultures, model positive character traits and discover a love of stories. Our collection of folktales was developed in a way to fully immerse children in timeless stories and help them discover a love of reading.
3. I'm sure that the Covid-19 pandemic made it harder to collaborate on projects such as the creation of a book. How did technology play a role in the collaboration process?
I can say with certainty that technology has come to play a significant role in our lives in recent years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. We can use our technology to communicate with anyone in any nation, no matter how far apart, We are able to use technology to cooperate on this project through various online platforms. Just as we did during the CPI Program, instead of meeting face to face, we used zoom to hold meetings and Google Classroom for assignments.
Yes, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused many problems. However, technology was able to play a big role in the collaboration process. Through technology, it was possible for us to communicate with each other and do more activities without worrying about Covid-19. Many of the online platforms that we used have already been developed, and were ready to help us when we needed it.
4. What did you gain from participating in the CPI Cultural Expert Training?
CPI has helped me learn a lot about book publishing. Although I am not directly working in this field, I am confident that I can use it in my future career. My country has a significantly large publishing industry, and is being used frequently to educate children. Since my country has a bustling publishing industry that is also being used to publish books for children’s education, I would also like to be a part of this developing industry.
I personally felt qualified to serve as a delegate of the Lao people to attend the training course. After completing the CPI Cultural Expert Training, I was able to draw cartoons and learned how to make books for Lao children as well as how to make short clips and create more content for our organization’s Facebook page. I was able to come up with ideas and apply the knowledge I learned from the training program to resolve problems that arose at my workplace as well. KOB JAI (Thanks CPI program)
5. Going forward, how do you plan on promoting Laotian culture through publications?
We plan to publish many more new books after completing our first book. Other than the Mark Num Tao Poung Book, there are many more other folktales that need to be re-developed and published by Lao youth. We would like to promote our culture through drawing, and inspire children in the new generation through reading. We also plan on developing and publishing a book through children’s participation in the drawing and story telling process. This would serve as a chance for children to develop themselves, and also take a peek into the Lao publishing industry.
In my opinion, the youth and children are key players in creating a future generation of leaders, and therefore we should take on the crucial role in helping them create a vision for themselves. We need to develop and design modern creative tools to increase access to knowledge, so that even children in rural areas are able to access it. In order to promote Laotian culture, we will create more books in both Laotian and English to publish through a variety of publication methods such as E-books, short stories, and storytelling on social media. Through this, we hope to reach a wider range of children and encourage them to become leaders of the next generation. KEEP FIGHTING
Xaiyaphone Moukda
Xaiyaphone Moukda is a 2021 CPI Participant of Capacity building on the ICT-based publishing sector for children's education. He has recently graduated with a major in Information Technology, and is now working on an overseas project in cooperation the Lao and Korean government. He always looks forward to learning new things and working with other foreign nationals. Although the CPI training was a challenging program, it gave him the opportunity to develop new skills.
Vatsalinh Bounmixay
Vatsalinh Bounmixay is also a 2021 CPI Participant of Capacity building on the ICT-based publishing sector for children's education. She is a Head of the Protect and Promote Division in the Young pioneer department, Lao Youth Union. Although she is small, she is someone who has a large heart and loves to work for the sake of children, and is always hungry for knowledge.
