Puppetry has been a traditional method for entertainment and community education in Lao PDR, especially in remote villages without electricity. These same villages are also high risk areas for UXO.
The Comprehensive Mine Risk Education (MRE) project works with the Ministry of Education and Sport (MOES) to bring unexploded ordnance (UXO) safety messages out of the classroom and into communities through its puppetry program. In March, the project supported 20 MRE puppetry troupes, which are led by local primary school students and their teachers, to disseminate UXO safety messages on International Women’s Day. These performances reached 6,080 community members, including over 4,000 children.
World Education also traveled to Savannakhet province in April to facilitate the project’s final “training of trainers” on puppetry. The participating teachers and administrators learned how to build puppets, perform puppetry skits and songs about UXO safety, and manage troupe finances. When they returned to their schools, they formed new puppetry troupes with their students.
The Comprehensive MRE Project is a gift of the United States Government