Peuan Mit expands services at the Songsama Center in Vientiane

Friends-International has recently formalized its activities in the Songsama Rehabilitation Center in Vientiane, Laos. Working in collaboration with the government, the Peuan Mit team will provide support to young people recovering from drug use at the center. The team has been visiting the center once a week with a mobile school, and will establish a library at the center and offer vocational training opportunities to help these young people reintegrate into society. There are about 750 to 900 people in the Songsama Center and about 30 per cent of them are under 24 years of age.

FI’s Country Program Director in Laos, Mark Turgesen, says of the new agreement, “This partnership is a great opportunity to work more closely with the government in Laos to provide better services for young people. The success of the team’s visits with the mobile school over the past year has enabled us to expand the services that we can offer. With this partnership we are able to help more young people within the center and influence better standards of practice”.