Where Happiness is Back in School
Children return to safe, bright classrooms in Sangthong District, where a flooded school comes back to life with laughter.
When Typhoon Yagi hit Lao PDR in September 2024, Hinlap Primary School disappeared under floodwater. Classrooms filled with mud. Books were destroyed. The playground became a swamp. The children had nowhere safe to learn and the joyful sounds of play were replaced by silence.
Among them were Ada, 9, and Sam, 10, two Grade 4 students whose lives were turned upside down.
Dreams on Hold
Before the floods, Ada, 9, walked to school each morning, sometimes with her mother. She loved learning new Lao words so she could read more books and dreamed of becoming a doctor. Classroom was her favorite place where she felt safe, focused, and inspired.
Before, I felt uncomfortable studying because my classroom was full of water, dirt, and a bad smell. But now it is clean and new, my favorite place is my classroom, and I want to keep it clean so we can use it for a long time.
Sam, 10, was known as the class goalkeeper. Every break time, he could be found on the school’s dusty playground, diving to block shots and laughing with friends. He loved mathematics and imagined himself one day becoming a soldier.
When the school was closed during flood time, I felt so sad. I couldn’t go, but my friends in other villages could. Now, I love the new playground , where I can play football with my friends again.
However, when the flood swallowed their school, everything changed. The playground became a muddy swamp. Classrooms were buried under thick dirt and broken things. The air smelled of damp and rot.
But the damage wasn’t just to the building. It broke routines. It puts the dreams of children like Ada and Sam on hold as they have to study in an unsafe place where it is dark, smelly classrooms that make them dread going to school.
A New Beginning
Hinlap Primary School came back to life. Classrooms were repaired, a new roof was built, walls were bright with fresh paint, and electricity flowed again. The playground that once lay under floodwater was now clean and safe.
Ada returned to her favorite classroom, proud to be back and eager to learn. Sam, too, was in his element again, running across the playground, laughing with friends, and guarding the goalpost with joy.
The rehabilitation of Hinlap Primary School and Samphanna Secondary School in Sangthong District was supported by the Korean Committee for UNICEF through the Schools for Asia initiative. Implemented between May and June 2025, the project included roof replacement, ceiling installation, painting, and restoring electricity. The work was ready by September 2025, right when the new school year started. The quick rehabilitation helped keep children in school who might have dropped out because of the flood damage. Children like Ada and Sam are now back in school — learning, playing, and dreaming again.
