MEMBERS of a local Rotary club have heard a vivid first-hand account of the overwhelming poverty and deprivation suffered by families in a part of south-east Asia.

The Rev Janice Andrews, recently inducted as minister at the Evangelical Union church in Ardrossan, spoke to members of Hunterston Rotary about her work with members of the Empathy International charity helping people living in villages in north-eastern Laos.

Ms Andrews told Hunterston Rotary that she was attracted to Empathy International by their philosophy that everything they do is sustainable.  

She said: “Empathy employs around 60 Laos nationals to manage all the projects in agri- and aqua-culture, upskilling young people and equipping them to find meaningful employment.  

“The poverty is Laos is extreme. The vast number of young people leave primary school and have no further education, and face a lifetime of harvesting rice, working nine hours a day for a daily rate of £2.50.

"Empathy is truly making a difference, teaching English, motor mechanics, sewing, farming and beekeeping.

"The projects are profitable so the businesses are self sustaining and this enables us to distribute the harvest amongst the poor."

Ms Andrews, who was born in Cumnock and has a BA degree in theology from Aberdeen University, was chairperson of Cumnock and District Leisure from 1996 until 2004, raising £2.4 million for a new leisure centre.

She was also fundraising manager for Hansel Foundation from 2001 to 2005, working in close partnership with the Hunter Foundation.

Her last service in her previous post at Musselburgh Congregational Church was on February 26, and she was inducted as the new minister of the EU in Ardrossan on March 11.

She added: “Empathy International is a charity that is passionate to see the most vulnerable and disadvantaged being reached, resourced and released from all forms of poverty.

“Through EI, some of the most disadvantage people in northern Laos have been given the opportunity to improve their own lives through such projects as mushroom farming and the building of schools from local bamboo – an educational project that seeks to break the endless cycle of poverty through the provision of teaching supplies and improved education resources.

“Very isolated and poor rural schools are helped through the provision of pencils, pens, reading and writing books, play mats, age appropriate toys and school uniforms made by EI’s Dignity Sewing project.”

The project also manages and runs an evening school which teaches English as a foreign language, allowing rural students to be able to work in the tourist industry to support their families.

For the poorest of students, EI offers scholarships to cover tuition fees.

As the staple food of the people in northern Laos is rice, and with much of the local wildlife resources having been exhausted, mushroom cultivation was introduced.

The only real form of transport in that area of Cambodia is the motorbike and so EI helped start a much needed repair centre.