Vientiane, Laos – “You are very friendly. You are so different from Americans,” one of the wait staff in my hotel says to me, leaning in and beaming from ear to ear. Amused by his candid observation, I scan the breakfast room to see what prompted his remarks.

There are travelers arguing with a Lao staff member in English about how cold the coffee is—and about how eggs should be poached, although the Lao-speaking waiter clearly has no idea what “poached” means. He has a gentle smile. He attempts a desperate laugh, as many in this region of the world do when something is a bit uncomfortable. This serves only to infuriate the seated couple. It’s ironic to behold the backdrop to this trio: framed behind them, not 25 meters from the glass window, are Lao families working the streets, their tiny children strapped to their backs in makeshift carrying pouches, as they try to eke out a meager existence by hawking shriveled-up fruits. Poverty in Laos is stark.

It is estimated that 27 percent of Laotians live on under $1 per day, with a considerable segment under $2 per day. More than 95 percent live in rural, remote, or mountainous areas, where access to education and services is severely lacking. In fact, international development reports estimate that by the age of 18, rural minority girls have obtained only two years of formal schooling. According to World Food Programme estimates, more than 50 percent of Lao children under the age of 5 are malnourished. Given these dismal figures, the Lao government has implemented ambitious plans for education and health programs for the next five to ten years and has publicly stated that it hopes to bring its commitments in line with the UN Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Many international NGOs support these plans, and for more than ten years they have been able to register to carry out humanitarian activities with the approval of the government. Given the lack of locally led NGOs, these foreign organizations have signed formal memoranda of understanding with the government to work in tandem on such programs as education and health.

It was not until April 2009 that locally led, community-based organizations were for the first time permitted to register as legal independent entities. NGOs are now being asked to register with the government, although many are slow to do so, if they plan to register at all. Without knowing the effects of registration or what is expected of them in this new process, many organizations are maintaining a “let’s wait and see” approach. The result is that there are virtually no locally led community-level organizations registered as NGOs in Laos. At least I haven’t yet heard of one.

All of this makes it a unique environment to identify potential grantee partners for GFC. This is my challenge for the next few days.