Between 1957 and 1975, many Filipinos came to work in Laos. Most were contract workers with U.S. agencies, others were entrepreneurs. They were agriculturists, nutritionists, engineers, teachers, community development workers. A large number were Filipino healthcare personnel -- medical doctors, hospital and public health nurses, dentists -- who staffed medical facilities all over the country.
They arrived at time when their skills, much needed, were locally scarce. Like all other nationals of foreign aid agencies, they were compelled to leave when a new Lao government took over in 1975. It can be said that they personified pioneer NGO workers. What they did is not well known today and is largely unrecorded.
A new edition of a book released April 2015 describes what they accomplished in those 18 years. It provides lessons in development aid that are still relevant for today's practitioners. One reader has commented "Certainly, an interesting and overlooked piece of history. History written by Americans and Europeans has a lot about philanthropic activities of Americans and Europeans but not too much about such activities by Asians. So this but helps correct this omission." The book (246 pages, softcover) is available from www.amazon.com where its webpage includes a table of contents, printouts of selected sections, and photos.It is now available in electronic version.
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