Time-out stay in Laos
A structured break, away from everyday life: to face a new reality, rebuild confidence and concretely prepare what comes next.
Alongside the Terre des Sourires team, in the villages of northern Laos, your child discovers a daily life where every action counts. Ties with the family and the school are not cut: they are prepared before departure and reinvested on return.
Who is this stay for?
This private service is offered to families of children aged 15 to 20who are going through a period of school disengagement, a break in training or a loss of drive, and for whom a change of setting could support a fresh start.
It may in particular be considered when your child:
- can no longer picture themselves in their school or professional path;
- has lost their routine, their motivation or their confidence;
- feels trapped in conflicts or repeated failures;
- needs to experience concrete responsibilities elsewhere.
Your child's willingness is essential: the stay can be neither a punishment nor a way of sending them away against their will, and it does not replace medical care or a crisis intervention.
Why Laos?
Laos makes sense because Terre des Sourires is engaged there over the long term. I founded the association in Geneva nearly twenty years ago and still chair it today: since its beginnings it has run projects with the rural communities of the north of the country (drinking water, hygiene, education), coordinated by a local team.
Your child is welcomed into a real project, in a logic of reciprocity: to be useful with humility, to observe and listen before acting, and to respect the pace of the people welcoming them.
How does it work?
Duration
From 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the needs of your child.
Group size
1 to 2 participants at most per stay.
Location
Oudomxay province, in northern Laos.
Supervision
A trained professional, key worker present throughout the stay.
Before, during and after, it is one and the same project:
- 1
Before departure
Conversations with the family, an assessment of needs and risks, simple objectives and the checking of documents, authorisations and insurance.
- 2
During the stay
Days shaped by the local activities, daily responsibilities and educational conversations. Contacts with the family are planned.
- 3
On return
A review with your child, their family and the network, to build the concrete steps of what comes next. Support after the return is provided.
The detail of the stay
Objectives, supervision, responsibilities and legal framework, to unfold as your questions arise.
The educational objectives
The objectives are individualised. The stay may in particular help your child to:
- Regaining a daily routine
- Experiencing effort in a context that has meaning
- Developing autonomy and responsibility
- Knowing themselves better: resources, limits, needs
- Gaining perspective on their path
- Letting a concrete next step emerge
A change of context opens up a new space, but it is never a magic solution: the value of the stay depends on its preparation and on what is built for what comes next.
Supervision prepared with care
- Enhanced educational presence and identified partners
- Rules of daily life known to everyone
- Accommodation and transport assessed in advance
- A clear procedure for health, treatments and emergencies
- Insurance checked (accident, liability, repatriation…)
- Incident management and a review on return
The official recommendations concerning Laos and travellers' health are reviewed before each departure.
Clearly shared responsibilities
Each stay is based on a written project and an agreement setting out the role of each party.
Trouver ses Ailes
Prepares the project with the family, defines the educational objectives, coordinates the support and carries out the review on return.
Terre des Sourires
Coordinates the welcome in Laos, the links with the local team and partners, and the logistics on site.
The accompanying person
A trained professional who ensures the daily educational presence and makes sure the agreed framework is respected.
Your child and their family
Take part in the preparation, provide the necessary information and commit to respecting the framework defined together.
Legal framework
This stay operates within the Swiss legal framework for the care and support of minors. Trouver ses Ailes puts in place the necessary authorisations, suitable insurance and a contract signed with the holders of parental authority before any departure.
Please note: this stay is one educational tool among others, linked to a plan for the return, not a punishment, a tourist trip, a humanitarian mission or a therapy. It is always built with your child and the responsible adults.
Request a first conversation
A first conversation makes it possible to understand the situation and present the project. No departure is confirmed before the preparatory meetings, the signing of the contract and the checking of insurance.
Get in touch