Sponsoring a Student From Laos' Northern Ag and Forestry College
While traveling through Thailand and Laos for their International Seminar, Washington’s AgForestry Leadership Class 37 gained important perspectives on the history, culture, political systems, and natural resource industries of the two countries.While touring the Northern Ag and Forestry College in Laos the class decided to make a difference in a student’s life by providing a scholarship for one student’s three years of education. Class 37 President Riley Mengarelli shares why the class was compelled to give a $2,900 scholarship
Mengarelli: “There is just a tremendous need when you look around those countries, especially in Laos, for agriculture education. There are people there who are farming there, but they don’t get production. They just don’t understand what it takes at the scientific level. So what this college is doing is trying to do is grow or nurture agriculturists who understand crop nutrient deficiencies and things like that. So that they can train them up to do that and go back to their communities to teach these things and become productive agriculturalists and feed their own people.”
He says in addition to providing room and board, meals and tuition
Mengarelli: “So it is a three-year education and that includes that whole kit and caboodle for three years — that is $2,900 for the total. You can looked down at the expenses and they get an allowance of 15,000 Kip per day in Laos and the exchange rate is maybe 8,000 to $1. So essentially they are getting a $1.85 a day for spending money on foods and things. That is included in this sponsorship. So very cheap in comparison but this individual is getting a high class education. It is actually an associate degree in that country.”