We do not need new items. Things thrown out in the west can be put to good use here. If you're coming to Laos, a notice in your church, temple, or community center might produce someone willing to donate one of these items.

* Your favorite book. We don't need large quantities of books. But if you particularly loved one book as a child, or a child you know has a special favorite, we'd welcome a copy. We use these for inspiration by our staff. When you arrive, ask if there's an opportunity to talk with some of the staff about what makes this book special.

* Graded Readers. Many publishers have a series of books, often including the classics like Treasure Island and Oliver Twist, which have been abridged and simplified. Some of these series (usually the ones that are on sale) are atrocious hack jobs, enough to kill the pleasure of reading for anybody. Others are quite good. The "Scholastic Junior Classics," the "Oxford Bookworms Library" and the "Bullseye" series from Random House are among the better ones. We can always use more of these, for the students who come through our office, and for distribution in high schools and colleges. Some are rated for difficulty; all levels are helpful.

* Art books. "How to draw" books, and picture books of good artwork, are valuable for our staff. Most of our artists cannot read English or other western languages well enough for the text to be helpful, but they've already improved their art skills considerably by looking at the pictures in such books.

* Specific books. There are sometimes specific books that we need: for researching another book, as inspiration forour staff, or because they've been recommended as books we might translate. If you're willing to track down one or two, and either mail them or bring them when you visit, please contact us and we'll let you know our current needs.

Educational Toys

* Educational toys. Walk into the gift shop of a big museum, and you'll probably find an interesting array of toys and games that have an educational value – anything that helps children see things in a new way is educational. Don't buy them for us! They're usually frighteningly expensive. That money will have a greater impact if you simply donate it for books. But if you do have any of these toys that are no longer being used, we can give them a new life – if you're coming this way, and have a little extra room in your suitcase.

* Used laptops. Many people in the west have upgraded their laptops, and still have one in the closet that works fine, but never gets used. We can use it! We don't need the lastest thing. A minimum 128 MB of RAM, a working CD drive, and at least 2 USB ports, are the main requirements. It's even OK if the battery is dead, we can keep it plugged in. (Yes, we can also use desktop computers, but you probably don't want to haul one along, do you?)

* Used digital cameras. Many of you probably also have an old camera in a drawer. We don't need lots of pixels, just something that works, with a memory card that fits. If you've got the cables, instruction manual, and other accessories, please remember to bring them; if not, we may already have a suitable cable, and one of the teenagers will eventually figure out how it all works.

* Computer parts. If you (or a friend) has unwanted computers and know how to take out the small but useful parts, such as memory, hard drives, and disk drives, we can probably put them to good use here. If we can't, we'll send them to Siphone's computer shop, where college students get experience using and repairing computers.