This image shows two young novice monks playing (while working) at Wat Impeng temple in Vientiane during Pi Mai (Lao New Year). Pi Mai is one of the biggest festivals of the year in Laos, a time when thousands of people visit the many temples found all across the country to wash the Buddha images as a way to gain merit.

While we are enjoying the grand temples of Vientiane, the mighty Mekong region and the towering limestone karst scenery of Laos, there is a big problem that needs our attention. Where there is poverty and large numbers of relatively affluent visitors, sadly there are also opportunistic exploiters of children.

As a postscript to our Young Adults Put Muscle Behind Fundraising for the Sangkheum Center in Siem Reap, Cambodia article, the following is a brief report from Thomas Holdo Hansen, the whl.travel local connection in Siem Reap. Thomas and his team supported the training and fundraising efforts of the young people from the Sangkheum Program…