Some facts about Don Phoung Project completed in December 2025

Objective: 5-classroom primary school – fully furnished, electrical supply, washrooms, deep water well

Total Cost: $ 60,000 (us)
School, washrooms and deep well (without secondary projects)

Don Phoung School - Xanakham district, Vientiane province
Grades: 1 to 5
Students: 85
Teachers: 3 salaried and 2 interned
Population: 774
Households: 163

Don Phoung Primary School is in the Xanakham district, Vientiane province in a remote mountainous region, 5 hrs drive north-west of Vientiane. The road is 80% asphalted and 20% dirt roads (in extremely bad condition). The Don Phoung Project was a first-time partnership. The organization PRÉCI (Programme de regroupement étudiant pour la coopération internationale) humanitarian club of l'ÉTS (École de technologie supérieure) in Montréal, was responsible for the construction and financing. 6 students from Montreal oversaw the building. They stayed during 4 months in the village.

They worked with the contractor, his employees and the village people. It was quite an adventure specially throughout the rain season. SKL provided support and assistance during the whole project, specially at the beginning, for communication, consultation and logistics. SKL also contributed financially, more than $ 10,000 (us). The Project was done – School building, washrooms and deep well. Thongsay Phanlouvong and François Tremblay from the board of SKL were at the inauguration in December 2025. It’s been a demanding experience. The 6 students learned a lot. They faced culture shock, issues with the language, etc. SKL learned a lot too. The students, teachers, and village people were very happy and grateful. PRÉCI’s team spent a lot of money on secondary projects. SKL faced (like PRÉCI’s team) some challenges more than expected. We all did what we had to do to finish the project, including normal compromises.

The PRÉCI’s team was young, green and very hard workers. They were very proud of what they accomplished. SKL helped them a lot. As usual, the maintenance of the school was part of an agreement with the village people and the school staff.