Laos - Facts and Figures
Government	Communist state
Captial	Vientiane
Population	6.2 million
Ethnic groups	Lao Loum 68%, Lao Theung 22%, Lao Soung incl. Hmong & Yao 9%, Chinese 1%
Religion	Buddhists 60%, animist and others 40%
Language	Lao
Literacy	66.4%
GDP	USD 1,900 per capita

Situational Analysis

After six centuries of monarchy, the Communists took control of the government in 1975 and instituted a strict socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. Since the revolution, isolation and economic deprivation have hindered the Communist state. Today it is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, although a gradual return to private enterprise and the liberalization of foreign investment laws began in 1986. Laos also became a member of Asean in July 1997. Historically, most ethnic groups had no written language, since most education took place in Buddhist wats, or temples, where monks taught male students orally. Although literacy is on the rise, the lack of available reading material means that literacy is often short-lived. In addition, there is a lack of schools and trained teachers. They are paid irregularly which means that they must work for income elsewhere and often provide only a few hours of instruction a day. Furthermore, parents often require their children to work on their family's farm rather than attend school regularly.

Child's Dream's Objectives

Child’s Dream is broading the access to basic education by building, upgrading and extending schools for remote communities in rural areas. While giving more children the opportunity to study, we intend to reduce the rate of illiteracy among children and provide them with better chances to lead a successful life.