Laos

It's been such a busy year already, I haven't had time to take us all on a look back at the year that was for Lao Minnesotan artists and our friends and family in 20

This excerpt is from the Minnesota Literacy Council's annual reading by adult learners held on May 12, 2011 in collaboration with the Loft Literary Center. The event featured the stories of adult literacy students enrolled in English as a Second Language, GED, reading and other classes. Several of the readers were authors featured in the book Journeys: An Anthology of Adult Student Writings. Some are immigrants or refugees writing in their second or third language, while others shared their writing for the first time after years of frustration and anxiety attributed to low literacy skills. For more information or to order a copy of the book, visit mnliteracy.org.

Recently, Miss Minnesota USA 2012, Nitaya Panemalaythong, was invited by the U.S. Embassy in Laos to “help promote business, charitable, and cultural ties between Laos and the U.S.” She’s running a fundraising campaign at http://www.gofundme.com/hok38 in preparation for her trip, which will be the first time she has ever gone to Laos.