Mr. Vilaiphone is a sales representative for TerraClear. He loves his job, selling filters to families all throughout the district of Ta-Oy, in Salavahn Province. His sales area includes about 100 villages, which he rotates through every few months. While Mr. Vilaiphone loves selling the filters, he loves even more when he is able to help needy families in his district with subsidized filters from TerraClear.

In June 2024, as Mr. Vilaiphone was visiting PaSing Village, he took the opportunity to visit some previous customers and families who received filters, including Mr Am Sim and his wife Ui.

Mr. Am Sim was excited to share with Mr. Vilaiphone about how his life had changed! Mr Am Sim said, “I got this filter in 2022, even though I could not afford the price. Since we have had the filter, we have stopped having stomach and intestinal issues. The water from the creek nearby is muddy and unclean, but now I can filter it and drink it with no illness following! Because I am stronger and can work harder, my income has increased and my family has more food than before. Clean drinking water has changed my life and I love my filter!”

Mr Vilaiphone walked away amazed. He loves his job, but hearing these words from Mr. Am Sim made him love it even more. It is a small thing to do his work and sell filters and give lessons on health, but as Mr. Am Sim shared, the outcome is meaningful and important. 

From there, Nith and Phoneseng drove filters to the river and with the help of villagers, loaded them onto the ferry. From the ferry, the filters were loaded onto a tok-tok and carried to the village.

Finally, the 35 families gathered to learn about their new filters. Training includes instruction on setup and maintenance. Now 35 families in Phoneton Village have clean water! Thank you, TerraCare team!!!

On Sunday, 15 August, more that 20 families built Tippy Tap handwashing stations outside their homes in the Lom Sak Thai Village in Champasak. One of the TerraCare trainers, Nith, decided to teach about clean hands and Tippy Taps after the Sunday church service in the village. Many families from the church, but also many other families from the village came to hear her teach about the importance of handwashing. Nith taught the families about the dangers of not washing hands – how disease can transfer when hands are not clean. She taught when we should wash (before preparing food, before eating, and after using the toilet) and she taught how to wash, using a poster that shows the 7 steps of handwashing.

Finally, Nith taught the families how to build a Tippy Tap – a ‘handwashing station’ that families can build using sticks, an empty plastic jug, and rope. The handwashing station is a place where families can wash without dipping their hands in to a shared bowl. Soap is easily accessible. In places without running water, handwashing is a challenge. Tippy Tap brings easy handwashing to every home. As a prize, everyone who build a Tippy Tap got free bars of soap.

Congratulations, Nith, on bringing the knowledge and practice of clean hands to Lom Sak Thai Village!

I graduated from high school with a degree in electricity, but had an accident and had to take care of myself by staying at home for a year. After recovering, I started working as a general contractor and one day I met Mr. Sudjaia, a representative who works for TerraClear selling water filters. He gave me the advice to apply with TerraClear to also sell water filters. I came to meet the boss at TerraClear first and then came down to Pakse to try this job for 2-3 months. I passed the test and then I returned to be a sales agent in Vientiane, where I did another 24 day training period. After that I was a fully qualified representative in Vientiane.

After becoming a sales representative, my life changed a lot. Before I was a person who does not speak very well and was not confident. Now I discovered  I have the courage to be able to be a sales representative and speak boldly. The company trained me and helped me to believe in myself, but most importantly, I sell a product which I really believe in. In addition, the company is like a family and cares for each other. Also, I earn a salary that gives me the courage to think about my future.

I would like to thank my boss Xai , and the TerraClear company for believing in me and for giving me the opportunity learn about this work, about the importance of development for the people who receive a filter and also for me. I still have so much to learn, but I am thankful for this opportunity to improve myself and help others.

In March, the TerraCare team had completed the third health training of the TerraCare program, which specifically teaches about the harmful effects of open defecation and teaches how to build a dry pit latrine. Mea Ning and her family paid close attention and really understood the need for a toilet instead of using the forest for defecation. They immediately began to build a latrine, guided by TerraCare technicians.  In fact, this family was very enthusiastic to provide the best for their family. Instead of building a dry pit latrine, they asked their son to help them to buy the parts, and then they built a better quality, pour flush latrine. Their new toilet was complete with a  metal roof and covered by a solid wall. TerraCare  was very proud and excited for her and how well she paid attention, learned something new and better for her family’s health, following through with building the new latrine for her family.

 When we did the follow up, we also asked “Why didn’t you want to build a latrine before?” She replied: “In the past I thought defecation was easily composted and did not pose a health risk.” The TerraCare Team also asked her: “What do you understand now about the dangers of open defecation? She replied:

1.       Open defecation is dirty and makes the area around the home not clean

2.       Open defecation cases diarrhea and abdominal pain

3.       Open defecation makes water dirty and carries disease

When we heard Mae Ning’s answers, we were very happy to be a part of providing knowledge and understanding about hygiene and good health practices for village families.      

First of all who read this, hello to people who care about clean water in Laos, people who help financially to see this work done, also to all TerraClear staff, whether it is the production team, the quality team, the TerraClear team,  or the TerraCare team. I hope you all listen to the good things to understand this work.

My area of ​​responsibility is as sales representative in 37 villages, Tum Lan district, Salavahn province,  primarily people in the Tha Pang Thong and Ta-Oi ethnic groups.

When we start work in a new village, we work hard to build relationship and coordinate with the Village Chief. We cover the cost of his phone use for TerraClear activities with a phone card as he is not paid. This is one of the things that makes the work easier, even if it is only a small thing.

For the TerraCare work, we reach out to very low income clients, offering them a subsidized filter. If they agree, then they get a filter and we give them lessons on health education, hand washing, toilet building, and clean water.

After the family received a filter, the village united to help Mr. Khamphut and Mrs. Tan’s family to build a better house to protect the family and the filter from the dangerous conditions that result from having the house directly on the ground. In addition, the village came together to help another family who had a similar situation. They, too, qualified for a filter but their house was a poorly constructed hut directly on the ground. The new house, built by the community, is a raised house with a wooden board floor, built with the hard work of the villagers and the contribution of the village organization. I am really proud that the community came together to help these two families, and that their houses have changed for the better. Our company, TerraClear, as well as the TerraCare program and team have come together to help families who cannot help themselves financially to buy water filters. And the community came together to help those families build better homes. Thanks to the team, TerraCare, Sister Thip and Sister Pui for coming to help.There is one village that I am very proud of, Ban Abe, because the village sees the importance of water filters. As I explained the TerraCare program to the village head, I asked,

“In your village, are there poor families who can benefit from a water filter? These families should not be relatives of the village chief and should not have consumer goods like motorcycles and trucks. The families will receive a filter, pay only 50,000 kip, and be taught 6 lessons about health and wellness.”

Although this is a village with many very poor families, one of the poorest families is Mr. Khamphut and Mrs. Tan, who have 7-month-old baby and 3 older children, and Mr. Khamphut is crippled and unable to work. As a family, they live on someone else’s land, and the condition of the  house is very poor, with a thatched hut and covered with tarpaulins, directly on the ground.

After the family received a filter, the village united to help Mr. Khamphut and Mrs. Tan’s  family  to build a better house to protect the family and the filter from the dangerous conditions that result from having the house directly on the ground. In addition, the village came together to help another family who had a similar situation. They, too, qualified for a filter but their house was a poorly constructed hut directly on the ground. The new house, built by the community, is a raised house with a wooden board  floor, built with the hard work of the villagers and the contribution of the village organization. I am really proud that the community came together to help these two families, and that their houses have changed for the better. Our company, TerraClear, as well as the TerraCare program and team have come together to help families who cannot help themselves financially to buy water filters.  And the community came together to help those families build better homes. Thanks to the team, TerraCare, Sister Thip and Sister Pui for coming  to help.

Everyone can learn from real experiences that we can share with each other, learning from each other. When I learned about TerraCare that is part of the TerraClear sales model, I found that there are opportunities to work to help even the poorest people, the ones who benefit the most from a water filter but could not afford one.

I hope that all of you will be able to use this story to understand this great program. With TerraCare as the pioneer and TerraClear as the backbone, we are able to make a difference. Us representatives all have this as our job and work for a salary, that is true, but we also can see that the work we do is to be able, even in our daily work, to have the chance to help the people who have little knowledge and little money. No matter where we are on the staff or as supporters of the TerraCare program, we can be proud to be helpers in whatever role we play.

Finally, I wish you all happiness and prosperity in your life, work and family.

TerraClear has participated in the vaccination effort with 15 employees already fully vaccinated by the end of May. When the vaccine first came to Pakse, Champasak Province in mid March, TerraClear employees were first in line to receive the vaccine and be an encouraging model for the community.

At the vaccination centers, staff were protected by PPE and COVID protection measures were in place. WHO representatives were on site to answer questions and assure proper protocol was followed.

Due to active community support for the COVID lockdown, dissemination of COVID social distancing guidelines, and now with vaccine rollout, Laos is working hard to combat community spread of COVID. And TerraClear is leading the way!

COVID finally arrived in Laos. For one year, Laos was able to keep COVID at bay, by carefully requiring quarantine for all arrivals into Laos. For one year, the cases of COVID in Laos were less than 50, with no community transmission. Then, Lao New Year 2021 (April 14-16) was celebrated in a more normal way, with some group parties, gatherings, and celebrations. A few people crossed illegally from Thailand to celebrate the New Year in Laos, and unknowingly brought COVID and community transmission with them. On April 22, Laos went into full lockdown, barriers went up, and community life halted. I am really glad they did, because although the lockdown is still in place and we have had over 1700 cases and 2 deaths since mid April 2021, the community transmission is not worse. Laos’s medical system is less robust than India’s, by far. If Laos were to suffer from COVID like India has, it would be a massive tragedy. The lockdown is still in effect, at least through June 4. However, now the lockdown is in zones, depending on whether there are active cases, tracing to active cases, etc. For southern Laos, we are able to move more freely within our own districts. Thank you to the Lao government and World Health Organization for keeping Laos protected!

On March 9, the TerraClear sales promotion team traveled to Dakcheung District in southern Laos to give lessons on health and hygiene to villagers. These villagers received TerraClear filters through the TerraCare program which gives subsidized filters to poor families throughout southern Laos. During the training, it was amazing to see how the villagers were excited about the trainings and the new information they were learning.

It was obvious through the enthusiastic participation during the question and answer time that the villagers were learning and interested in the topic of health and hygiene. The lessons were taught by Ms. Pong, the TerraClear representative, who taught in the local ethnic language of the villagers. As the lessons continued, the number of participants increased throughout the time as more villagers heard about the training. As the villagers learned, they asked a lot of questions about the water-borne diseases, disease transmission and the positive effects of clean water in a community. This was especially important as the area is a diarrhea-prone area with a lot of open defecation.

One part of the presentation is introducing the concept of a tippy tap handwashing station, a stand-alone place where a family can wash their hands without contamination, using a self-tipping water source and soap. After the lesson, one of the villagers built a tippy tap station next to their home. She said, “From TerraCare lessons, I learned how to make a station where we can wash our hands in my house.” This was amazing and made the team very proud. That family saw the significance of the lessons learned and were able to put them into practice, which benefited both the individual and the family. Even more amazing, it also benefited the community, because the handwashing station was put in a public place, and the passers-by, who had previously used only washbasins, could now see a better way of handwashing that did not recontaminate the user by dipping back into used water.

Many of the villagers who passed by the tippy tap used it to wash their hands and then asked the team if they could build the tippy tap, too. One family extended the design, asking if they could build it using a tree instead of being free standing. They said, “We are very happy. Can we build it on a tree near the house?”  The whole training team was very happy and said yes, explaining more and more about the tippy tap handwashing station.

If you want to learn more about the Tippy Tap, read on at https://www.techxlab.org/solutions/tippytap-org-tippy-tap#:~:text=The%20Tippy%20Tap%20is%20a,soap%20suspended%20by%20a%20string.