The Terre des Sourires Association is pleased to announce its new partnership with the Barilla Group International Family-owned Company. Based on common values in terms of sustainability, long term positive impact, respect for the customs and habits of the beneficiaries and above all in terms of humanism, Barilla Group supports us financially for the construction of a water kiosk but also brings an additional richness to our project through their training on nutritional aspects, healthy food with local ingredients and sustainability : “Good for you and Good for the planet”.
We thank them warmly!
The manufacture of our first Jerrycans is finished. Ready for delivery in the village of Namkhong !
The Terre des Sourires Association has just reached a very important milestone. After following the official procedures of the Laotian authorities who approved our project, we obtained the last authorizations from the Laotian Government allowing us to start the construction work of our first water kiosk in Namkhong Village, Oudomxay Province. This unique concept that we are now launching and on which we have been working for more than 2 years will, finally, be a reality. The beginning of the works is scheduled for the week starting November 23rd and the total duration of the construction work is estimated to about 7 weeks.
With the primary objective of responding to the urgent need for drinking water, this project responds to 6 additional UN Sustainable Development Goals.
More than just a Water Kiosk, we are now offering a unique and innovative solution, The TdS Water Kiosk Community Centre, which will provide a large number of essential needs of the remote communities of Laos. We are proud and happy to support the remote communities through a sustainable model centred on different areas of focus on a concept that has proven itself up to now, but which is still unknown in Laos and for which TdS will be the pioneer in this region of the world.I would like to express my deepest thank :
in Lao people’s Democratic Republic : to Dr. Indara Phetsamone, Head of the Ophthalmology Unit at Oudomxay Provincial Hospital who supported us all throughout this journey with the authorities, to our entire team who is doing a remarkable job and to the various stakeholders of the Laotian authorities for their precious collaboration.
to our generous donors and financial supporters without whom this project could not have seen the light,
and, last but not least, to Alexandre Cantacuzène, our Strategic Advisor and former Senior Vice President Nestlé SA (retired), who played a very important role in this achievement and who continues to contribute to the success of this project.
It is with great joy and emotion that I am pleased to announce that our project “Lao Aqua Empowerment” will be launched in the coming months. On last Thursday, we obtained the last document necessary for its realization: The Operation Permit delivered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in Vientiane.
For more than a year, I have been working relentlessly to develop a sustainable concept that meets all the needs of the remote populations of Laos: access to drinking water, training on the WHO Water Safety Plan (WSP) program, education, economic development of villages through the creation of market ecosystems, a sustainable sanitation system and health through our partnership with the ” Association Peuples et Montagnes du Mekong”.
I would like to thank all the people who contributed to this success as well as the whole TdS team for their rigorous work.
The construction work will start at the end of the rainy season and we hope that our first water kiosk will be inaugurated during the month of October.
We are always and still looking for funds to reach our goal, which is to meet all the essential needs of the remote communities of Laos, in national level. Every donation counts. Thank you 🙏
Collaboration between partners working for a similar cause but with their own specific expertise is a step towards success. Uniting on the basis of shared ethical values to achieve a common goal: to bring support to the remote communities of Laos.
It is on the basis of the fundamental principles of this philosophy that TdS and Peuples et Montagnes du Mékong Association (https://www.peuplesetmontagnesdumekong.fr) wished to unite to pursue their actions with the isolated populations of Laos.
In the framework of phase I of our current project, TdS focuses mainly on access to drinking water, sanitation and training. Peuples et Montagnes du Mékong are specialized since 2011 in the field of health. An association of international solidarity that works for access to health among the ethnic groups of northern Laos. They set up training courses provided by occidental doctors and addressed to Lao health personnel and are concerned about the environment in which they work.
It is obvious that these fields of expertise are complementary and indissociable. Therefore, a partnership between TdS and Peuples et Montagnes du Mékong highlights the coherence of such a collaboration. We are already looking forward to moving forward together to offer the most isolated villages of Laos a better future.
In this period of global epidemic, our team wishes to express its deep gratitude to the City of Geneva (DGVS).
Committed to International Solidarity, since 2016 it has supported several of our projects to help the poorest villages in Laos. Due to its generosity, more than 5’000 people have now access to a source of drinking water.
Today, the City of Geneva is once again showing its confidence in us by renewing its financial support, over a period of 3 years, for the launch of our new project “Lao Aqua Empowerment”. A sustainable concept based on the model of water kiosks.
Their support is particularly precious to us in the current context which will have dramatic repercussions on the rural communities of Laos, which are already suffering the consequences of isolation due to their geographical location, but which is now more important than ever.
You can get more information about our project on our website “discover our Lao Aqua Empowerment project” on the Home Page.
The TdS team wishes you Happy Easter ! Our thoughts go to all those affected by Covid-19, but also to those who are alone in this difficult time, to the most deprived and to all vulnerable individuals and communities lacking essential daily resources. We sincerely hope that the situation will evolve in the near future and that we will be able to continue our actions to bring our support to the remote villages of Laos which are heavily affected by this outbreak.
In this time of global outbreak, we hope that you and your loved ones are well and healthy.
Regarding TdS, the launch of our project has evidently been postponed.
However, our work does not stop. We are all working from a safe place, from home, and continue to collaborate closely with our team in Lao PDR via video conferences.
We hope with all our heart that we will overcome this period in the best conditions.
Our thoughts go to all people affected by this virus and especially to all those who already live in precarious situations where the lack of healthcare, facilities and clean water aggravates their daily lives.
I am pleased to share with you a brief return from my official mission to Laos. The objectives were to present our project to the concerned authorities in Lao PDR and to pursue our feasibility study in greater depth in the target village for the launch of our concept.
Our Project Coordinator, Morgan Edeline and myself, had numerous meetings in the target region , Oudomxay province. The actions that we intend to carry out in the field through a sustainable concept were much appreciated by the Lao authorities concerned. Indeed, our project meets all the needs of remote communities and in which advanced technologies will be used, enhances its value. The potential of this model, but especially its medium-term impact on the living conditions of remote communities, was perceived positively by everyone we’ve met at our meetings.
I am pleased to share few pictures in our “Images” section.
I would like to take this opportunity to warmly thank Morgan, Our Project Coordinator, for his quality work in all the preliminary stages that allowed us to carry out this mission, Dr. Indara Phetsamone for his precious support and involvement, Dr. Solomzi Makohliso, from the Essential Tech Centre Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne and President of TdS, for his high quality follow-up in all the stages of this project and our precious donors to enable us today to realize this project.
Good news to share
On 21 February, I will go to Lao PDR for an Official Mission. The target province for our project is Oudomxay. Indeed, many villages suffer from a significant lack of drinking water.
On the field, I will join our Project Coordinator, Mr. Morgan Edeline, whom I already thank for the great work he has already done for TdS. Various meetings are planned with the Authorities of the Province, among others, as well as Dr. Indara Phetsamone, Head of Eye Care Unit, Oudomxay Provincial Hospital. A man who has already carried out many extraordinary projects for people in need.
Morgan and I will then travel to the target village of our project to finalize our field studies.
I am deeply touched by the progress of this project we have been working on for over a year. I look forward to sharing with you what we have been able to accomplish during this mission.
I would like to thank all those who are following and supporting us. And do not hesitate to contribute to our project through donations (via the contact page of our website)