Today I delivered the second round of funding to the head of the school parent committee for the secondary school library in Nam Meng Town, Meng District. The total was 18,500,000kip ($2,257) and will pay for the next round of materials, including roofing sheets, more bags of cement and other needed materials.

This is the second of three installments. The final installment will be paid once the secondary school library is completely finished.

The Money Handover Process

For those of you who are interested in the nitty gritty details, this is how the money handover works. After Jai Lao Foundation transferred 2,257USD to my Paypal account, I went to a local ATM and withdrew the necessary funds over the course of three days. (Charles Schwab, thankfully, doesn’t charge any fees. Gosh, I love them!) This particular money handover was a bit squeezed for time since wanted to get the funds to Sis Kan during her weekend visit to Houayxai District. I ended up converting about $620USD of my own funds to LAK since I encountered some ATM difficulties and then rushed over to her house on the outskirts of town.

Once I arrived at the house, we made small talk before turning to the real reason of my visit. I discussed some of my concerns, especially some receipt issues. Then, I handed her the money and she counted through the stacks of bills. After all of the money was accounted for, we drafted and signed a simple letter that explained the transaction.

The Next Steps

Today Sis Kan will return to Meng District and hold a meeting with the head of the village and the school director. She will record the funds in her own notebook and ask two or three people to sign as witnesses.