Books are our primary focus, but we know that the best education comes from getting a variety of experiences. With help from CUSO, the Canadian volunteer organization, two young Lao men are learning woodworking skills with which to make simple educational toys.

We started with rectangular blocks that stack into a tower, with 3 blocks on each level. Players take turns removing a piece, without letting it all tip over. We've also made pentominoes, a set of 12 pieces, each a different shape, that can be fit together into many configurations. The stacking blocks turned out to be most popular when simply used as building blocks, so now we're making sets of those, as well. Eventually, we hope to have a range of toys and game. We are still experimenting with the best distribution. We may circulate them to villages where we sponsor book parties, rotating them from time to time.