Washing Clothes in Xieng Khuang

I was blown away when we walked through this Hmong village in Xieng Khuang about four years ago and came across this mother and daughter washing clothes. I don't think I've ever seen a younger girl washing clothes, and with such determination and commitment to the task at hand! The reality is that this really is not that unusual and that because 70-80% of Lao (including ALL ethnic groups) families are living at a subsistence level, children begin working and helping out at a very young age. Growing, finding and eating just enough food to get by is the main task at hand. Hopefully in the next month or so I'm going to post an interview we did of the three young girls singing kwv txhiaj and they talk about only eating meat a couple of times a month.

I just hope that people watching some of these video clips get a feel for the real Laos. I think there are many ways to look at a clip like this one, but for me the little girl's determination and commitment to the task at hand say a lot about the Hmong. If that little girl was given a chance for a decent education and the kind of opportunities our students have here in the states, I know she would do extremely well. Let's work to help little girls like this, let's embrace a spirit of reconciliation with the country and people of Laos and extend a helping hand.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Laos
• Hmong
• Xieng-Khuang

[pnynurse]

Ua nstuag. This is a wonderful example of the resilience of the Hmong spirit. The Hmong have encountered generations of hardship and yet we live. Beautiful.

[peterlaos]

pnynurse: I agree totally with your comment. "Resilience of spirit", I like that...

[PreludeSi91]

I said kids in USA is spoiled.!!!!!!!!!!!..that little girl is washing clothes while kids her age in USA playing video game.

[simplysong]

aww...tat little girl is sooo cute!

[IrisMG]

What's unusual about this? You need to visit black families more. I was helping in the kitchen by 8 yrs old, cut my own chicken to fry by 10, doing the laundry by 12. In my family and families like mine you are expected to pull your own weight as soon as possible.

[80z90zhouzemuzicgrl]

@jephboy great example .i tell my daughter ur going to have to wash dishes and mop and sweep and she looks at me like im from outer space . terrible . shes still going to do them! lol some woman dont even know how to fry an egg because there mother was to stuck up to show them ..my daughter is a princess and she wont do any of that mommy will do it for u .dont want u to break a nail i paid for you darlingggg lmao

[ahaha12st]

Dam.! Smart kid

[naleeyang2004]

so sad and cute :(

[Mobilewasher]

The Breathing Mobile Washer is the fastest and easiest way to wash clothes by hand - gets cleans results

[jephboy]

In the U.S., this is considered "child labor" and kinda taboo. Frankly, I'm not even sure when they are officially allowed to do chores, for fear some crazy cat lady will call CPS and have your kids taken away. I have him 4 year old help me carry stuff out to the trash (ie. plastic bottles for recycling) and I teach him every chance I get on the importance of doing things right.

I would be best if kids go to school first, but in a society like Laos, the infrastructure sadly doesn't exist.

[rabrsm]

when i was little , iused to do that, bec. my mom told me that, i have to know all the household chores like cooking, etc so that it can help me when i have my own family.and it does.(btw,im from the philippines.) my kids grew up in the states but they know how to do household chores, i passed it to them what my mom taught me.

[samkoi56]

Yes, it took the western countries 100 years to destroy our beautiful planet that has been evolve for billion of years. Laos was a country covered with green tropical forest roamed by million of elephants is now home to over 80 million unexploded bombs. So sad!!

[PerastisTR]

so cute :]