Apart from their religious role and social services, the nuns around Thakhek, south-central Laos, are also farmers who have to earn their own living through agriculture.

“Farming is hard work, especially without modern machinery. Our backs hurt. We get dirty, sweaty and we feel very tired. But we are proud to be self-sufficient,” said Sister Pratin Chitwong of the Lovers of the Holy Cross congregation.

Tiring as it may be at times, the 56-year-old sister in her nuns’ habit said  that she is happy to be close to the village community as she feeds her pigs and works with the locals in the fields.

Sister Yommala Chantim, community rector in Thakhek, said they feed themselves by growing rice, vegetables and fruit trees, and rearing pigs, cows, chickens and fish as the vast majority of Laotians have to do.

“We are not different from other villagers. We do everything they do and we also help lay Catholics keep their faith,” she said.

Arphorn Sasaengwong, 16, an aspirant in the nuns’ community of Xieng Vang, south of Thakhek, agrees that farming is hard work. “But I am not afraid of hard work and being dirty. It teaches me to be in solidarity with ordinary Laotian villagers, who are very poor.”

Laotian nun during visits to their neighbors and teach catechism

In the Lovers of the Holy Cross congregation, there are 33 nuns and many aspirants in several communities across the country. They usually start their day with prayer before moving on to work in their farms. In addition to that, the nuns also visit the old and sick people and teach catechism to children.

A 65-year-old nun from another local women’s congregation said things were very different before the communist rule in 1975.

“We used to work in schools and hospitals as teachers, nurses and doctors. After our schools and hospitals were taken over, we had to work in the fields to feed ourselves,” said Sister Marie Pascale Chansom, provincial superior of the Sisters of Charity.

But they are used to the current way of life. “We nuns live like other people and have good relations with our neighbors,” she said.

The Sisters of Charity congregation has 62 nuns throughout the country. Their work is to serve the needy people, especially women and children. Besides farming, the Laotian charity nuns also serve at the center for the handicapped people in northern Laos run by the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres from Thailand in collaboration with the government.

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