Picking a Place for Andy's Library

Disty and I have come to Laos to visit with Ajahn Bounxay and find a place in his home town of Ban Thaio, about 8 miles from Oudomxay, for a library. Ajahn Bounxay has picked there or four potential locations for the library—two in his town and one in the city—and he wanted to take us on tour to see these.

We have decided that a library project would be a fitting way for us to connect with the people of Laos and make a fitting tribute to Andy. Libraries have mattered in our family. From my father, I learned the importance of books and libraries. Throughout college I worked in the library, spent much of my time in the library, and moved the library from one place to another. I worked in a library after college. I even contemplated for a short time going to graduate school to get my MLS degree. I dreamed of restoring old books.

It was not a matter of coincidence that both of my boys would love to read and collect books. The boys and I read every night together when they were young, and those memories are very sweet. Andy was an avid collector of everything, but books were his passion. Circling his bedroom are the bookshelves that he and I built together that house his book collection. Afterwards, he went about organizing the books and the shelves in a cataloging system that makes it easy to find pretty much anything of interest. Andy loved libraries. They were a refuge for his soul, which thirsted for the wonder that flowed in the books he found: randomly or not.

Our driver, Ajahn Bounxay's cousin, and his young son were waiting for us in his pickup truck at the head of the driveway. The Abbott of the Wat in Ban Thaio, was waiting and was planning to join us for our tour. The pickup truck is lined with a grass rug and two plastic chairs are set up in the pickup area for the monks. They are seated and Disty and I get into the front. It is a stick shift and, as we head down the road, I mention to our driver that my car at home has a stick shift, as well. about half a mile up the road we make a right and head up a very rocky road. After about 100 yards, another truck is coming down towards us, and our driver backs down the road. Once the truck is past, we head up the road again. It is impossible to imagine cars or motorcycles or bicycles making regular use of the road.

I want to mention something that has been becoming more and more obvious the longer we are here. There is a lot of trash everywhere. Plastic bottles and takeout containers and bags and wrappers. It is endless. For a country that is so beautiful, that prides itself on its cleanliness, it is littered with trash. On the bus trip from Luang Prabang to Oudomxay, I thought that one project which might be good to do would be to bring people here, rent a truck, buy trash bags and walk from Oudomxay to Luang Prabang picking up trash along the side of the road. I tried to imagine how many trash bags it would be and what sized truck would be necessary. I am thinking maybe 50-100 cubic yards of trash. There seems to be nowhere to put the trash.

1. The Secondary School

This terrible road was no different. But it opened up to a place of incredible beauty at the top of the hill overlooking the surrounding villages. This was the first place we might pick for the library: the secondary school. This is a regional school, which brings together children from a radius of more than 30 miles. There are 180 students. Today, there is a group in the field marking out a building site for more classrooms. And there is a cow tied to the tether-ball pole in the middle of the school field. Behind us and to our left were some small free-standing bamboo buildings, we learned later that these are dormitories for students who live more than 30 miles away and that they were built by their families. This is a place for poor children who are getting an education.

Somehow, the people in the field were the very people we would need to talk with about building the library: the Provincial Director of Finance and Development, The District Superintendent, and The Provincial Designer. We took this not as a coincidence, but as a sign that this is the location for our library. These officials were there to place the first markers into the ground to indicate the footprint of the new classroom building they are constructing. They were also there with a tray of food and some Lao Lao (rice whiskey) to remove the Pi (evil spirits) and commemorate the moment. Ajahn Bounxay introduced us and explained why we are there. It turned out that the District Superintendent was Ajahn's teacher in fourth grade.

We discussed the library and everyone agreed that there is a great need for a library here and that the poor students from many areas would be very well served by having one. Currently there is a small room in the current classroom building that is used as a library. The new building they laid out today will have more classrooms and no library. A library is definitely needed for these poor students from the far flung villages. We have driven through these villages and we know how poor they are. In fact, I learned today that the Oudomxay district is the second poorest district in Laos. As we discussed how we might build a library here, the director of finance was very clear about how it would work: the district would decide what the library would look like and how it would be used, and we would give them the money in advance. They suggested we visit a secondary school in Oudomxay that had a new library.

We were offered Lao Lao, but Ajahn Bounxay, the Abbott, Disty, and I declined. Our driver, however, joined the others in a mid-morning celebration. Afterwards we took many picture of all of us, except the finance director, who had slipped away.

We hopped into the pickup and headed towards the city of Oudomxay. There we found a tuk tuk driver. It turned out that the driver was married to one of Ajahn Bounxay's cousins. He became our driver for the rest of our day.

Before we went much farther, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that the tuk tuk driver took many people from out of town. He joined us for lunch and we ordered way too much food: laap gai, ga pow, soup. We packed up the leftovers and hung them in a plastic bag on one of the top rails of the tuk tuk to bring them home to our hosts.

2. Wat Phou That

After lunch we wandered up the many steps of Wat Phou That in Oudomxay. In Lao, Phou That means The Hill. The giant upright golden Buddha and stuppa of the Wat at the top of the hill soar into the sky and can be seen from many places in the city. We walk slowly up the stairs. There are many purple flowers overhanging the steps. I look back down the stairs, as we were about two-thirds of the way up. There was an overhanging flower and two butterflies were circling around it. It overlooks the city and the stairs and the view are breathtaking. What if this were a sign?

We got to the top of the stairs and go up another small flight. To our left was a cement picnic table and benches covered in ceramic tile. Sitting there, in a spot overlooking the city was a young man in shorts and a t-shirt with a computer. I thought: I could work here forever, in the Wat, overlooking the houses and rice fields and forests.

For a brief moment, here on the top of the hill at this Wat, I thought about Buddha disconnecting from his family and life of riches and privilege to find a release from Samsara. Desire and pain. This poor country that at that moment I was looking out on, needs so much and has so much. This country, where the oldest Buddha statue lives just a few kilometers away in Luang La, is the richest and saddest place on earth, for me, because everywhere I look I think I feel the spirit of my lost son. But it is connecting, not disconnecting. I realize, I do not understand the Buddha. And because of this I can never be a Buddhist. How could a man or a god abandon his wife and son to release himself from Samsara. I know people try to relieve their suffering by moving on. For me, there is no greater love on earth than that of a parent for a child. I spend my meager life, now, loving one and trying to reconnect with the other who is lost.

We walked up a few more stairs and took photos of the many nagas on the stairway and the statues of "Mother Earth" that are placed on either side of the stairs to the Stupa. The nagas are made of cement and I thought I might try to make a pair on our front steps at home. Around the Stupa are statues of Buddha in daily poses; each birthday—the day of the week you are born—is represented by a different pose. I made a donation to Wednesday. Disty made one to Friday, her day, and two for Thursday, for both of our boys.

We sat on the stairs of the Stupa overlooking the city. Next to us down the stairs is a building that is half complete. We look out on the villages below. Ajahn Bounxay points out the family house of a friend who runs a restaurant in Connecticut, whom we met at the Wat recently. Ajahn's grandmother, who is in her nineties, also lives in the village below.

The Ajahn and the Abbott suddenly stood up and around the corner had come the Abbott of Wat Phou Tha. The monks spoke for a while. Ajahn Bounxay introduced us and tells the Abbott our story and why we are here. He listened. He said that a library is very important, but first they must finish the building they are working on but can't complete for lack of funds. We took some photographs with the frail Abbott, who, I guess, may be in his 50s or 60s.

We turned around the path to some small houses at the edge of the hill. Ajahn Bounxay walked onto the porch of one, and we followed, removing our shoes and kneeling on a grass rug where Ajahn's master, Satu Pheng was seated with his legs crossed. We bowed down. And they chanted. He is a very revered man, and we were privileged to be in his presence. He is very charismatic and had a warm constant smile that made me feel very comfortable.

Ajahn Bounxay told him why we are there, and Satu shook his head as he listened. Satu told us that he also would like to build a library. We told him that we hoped to attract a monk to be the librarian, to have a room in the library where someone could come and stay to exchange language and culture with the people, and that it be a place that represents the importance of knowledge to everyone regardless of age or gender. He told us he has already picked out a spot. Would we like to see it?

We followed him around the corner and down the steps of the Stupa past the table where the man was sitting with his computer and down the short set of steps to where the long staircase begins its descent. To the right of the stairs is a cement area that overlooks the village. It was dreamlike: this place, this location, the satu. If I were sitting here, in Andy's library, overlooking this hill, I know that every sound of a gong or a broom sweeping, or the smell of the incense, or the sight of the young monks, or the feel of a book in my hands or the breeze through the banana leaves would bring me to a state of joy.

We took photos, exchanged information, and Disty and I each took a stone from the site. Then I took another.



3. Monk's High School, or, Wat Me Worry

We next went to the High School for the monks. It is a large sprawling campus. We pulled into the courtyard and in the center is a tree. On it, hang animals and fruit and leaves. At the top there are two reclining Buddhas. At the bottom of the tree is a Buddha with the face of Alfred E. Neuman. I now affectionately and will forever know this Wat as Wat Me Worry. But beyond the humor, the tree is magnificent. On closer inspection, I realized it is made of cement and everything is attached by wire. I meet the English and Geography teacher. He is anxious to speak English and he tells me the story of the tree.

There was a man in the village who had a dream that he knew his former life. He has sculpted and built the tree exactly as he saw it in his dream. He is still alive and still creating works for the tree. These are not for sale. It is his life's work. I believe we should all have such a life's work.

The teacher showed me the small library. It is a little closet where multiple copies of the textbooks the students use were laid on the floor.


4. Room to Read

We headed next to the Secondary School, mentioned by the officials we met in Ban Thaio, where the school has added a library. As we arrived, hundreds of students were pouring out of the gates by foot and on motorcycles. We have arrived on the last day. The school is quite large, built in a "U." On the right is a classroom building built in cooperation with Vietnam. On the left is a new technology lab that has been built with a loan from China. In the back left corner of the buildings is a new free-standing library. The plaque on the building reads: "This library was established through the cooperation of the local community with Room to Read. It is dedicated to Rachel and Noah Lesperance whose names and lives bring hope to others." It was closed. And we looked through the windows. It is a beautiful space with books around the walls and a tables and chairs in the center. Of course, the Director of the Secondary Schools was there to officiate over the final exams, and he wandered out to see what two monks and two foreigners might be up to. He met us at the library and we chat about what they are doing.  It is very impressive, and we realized that Room to Read is providing libraries to many schools in the area. In fact, we learned, their headquarters are right around the corner.

We got back in the tuk tuk and headed back after a long and extraordinary day. There is much to talk about. And the options are many. The pros and the cons. While we were traveling back, Ajahn tells us that we will have a meeting with the elders of Ban Thaio that evening to discuss locating the library at the Wat. We look forward to a little rest and a little food, before then. It is 6:00 pm and the meeting is at 7:30.