From a Single Essay and Drawing to a Youth Movement: Saving the Xe Champhone Wetlands
When our founder, Latdavanh Keodala, was 13 years old, she entered an online writing competition about the power of kindness. At the time, it felt like a simple contest, but the self-paced research she conducted completely changed how she saw the world. Realizing the direct impact a single thoughtful action could have, a 13-year-old Latdavanh took matters into her own hands and hand-delivered 40 sandwiches to people in need in her community—an effort sparked entirely by a single essay about kindness.
That moment planted a lifelong conviction: when you give young people the space to research and express an issue on their own terms, empathy naturally transforms into leadership.
Photo copyright: Latdavanh KEODALA
The Heart of Laos Under Threat
If you travel to Savannakhet Province, you’ll find the Xe Champhone Wetland—a Ramsar site of international importance and the true ecological heartbeat of Laos. It provides clean water, food, and livelihoods to over 42,000 local residents. Beneath its waters and within its rich habitat lies a critical biodiversity hotspot, home to rare species like the critically endangered "Siamese crocodile".
Photo copyright: FISHBIO
Photo copyright: WCS Lao PDR - Wildlife Conservation Societyy
While formal conservation organizations work hard on the ground, one crucial voice was missing from the long-term solution: the local youth who will inherit this land.
That missing link became the spark for Youth Innovating Wetland Solutions in Xe Champhone. Running from December 2025 to May 2026, the project empowered local high school students to discover their role in protecting the wetlands through a writing and drawing competition. The finalists' work was showcased on a display board alongside a small call-to-action board display designed to inspire more students to advocate for wetland conservation.
With the help and coordination supports from WCS Laos. In December 2025, our project team arrived at Houayxay High School in Xe Champhone—the school situated closest to the wetlands. Connecting with local teachers and government officials while meeting over 200 high school students was both thrilling and humbling.
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
We only had half a day to connect with them, and we knew a standard, dry academic lecture wouldn't work.
Instead of lecturing, we focused on storytelling and personal connection. We shared our own journeys, opened up about our failures and successes, and invited them to speak up. We introduced the four major threats facing their local environment: invasive species, chemical runoff, habitat loss, and sustainable farming.
By the time the launch event wrapped up, the atmosphere in the school had completely shifted. We weren't just running a school seminar anymore—we were starting a movement.
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
The "Multiplier" Model in Action
From January through April 2026, we rolled out monthly creative competitions. Each month introduced a specific environmental theme, encouraging students to conduct self-paced research and propose actionable, community-based solutions.
To ensure every student could participate—whether they communicated best through written words or visual art—the competition offered two pathways:
- Creative Writing: Essays articulating community solutions to wetland pollution and environmental threats.
- Visual Storytelling: Drawings and artwork visualizing local ecological issues and practical conservation steps.
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
Out of 209 participating students (101 females and 108 males), a committee formed by two local teachers, two student volunteers and our team selected 4 winners every month. By the end of April, we had cultivated a core leadership cohort: 16 Youth Wetland Leaders, supported by 2 student volunteers and 2 lead teachers.
These 16 winners were awarded English language scholarships, certificates, monetary awards, and ongoing guidance—equipping them with tangible tools to become lifelong ambassadors for their homeland.
The Impact: What the Data Showed Us
The transformation in these young leaders was remarkable, backed by both quantitative and qualitative project evaluations:
- Overcoming Apathy: Before joining, 81.25% of the selected leaders (13 out of 16) admitted they felt detached and unconfident, viewing wetland conservation as "not my business" or "the duty of external organizations."
- 100% Confidence Shift: Post-program evaluations revealed that 100% of the 16 Youth Leaders felt highly confident, holding a firm belief that their individual actions make a genuine difference.
- Flawless Feedback: Across all surveyed groups—students, teachers, volunteers, and WCS staff—the initiative earned a 5.0 out of 5.0 satisfaction rating, with 100% requesting the program continue in future years.
- Institutional Scalability: Impressed by the pilot's success, our technical partner, WCS Laos (Savannakhet), formally expressed interest in replicating this exact youth-engagement model across 9 additional network schools.
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
Real community work is full of heart, but it also comes with practical hurdles. Evaluating our operational challenges gave us crucial insights for the future.
Leading with Heart & Empathy
We believe our success was possible because of empathy. One evening, after a long and exhausting day of activities, several students chose to stay late into the night at school to help us edit and produce project video content. That level of spontaneous dedication doesn't happen because of a rule or a grade—it happens when young people feel genuinely heard, respected, and invested as true partners.
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
Lessons Learned & Areas for Growth
Lesson 1: Rebalancing Gender Dynamics
Even though the project served an equal balance of 209 overall students (101 female, 108 male), our finalist cohort ended up heavily skewed: 15 female finalists and only 1 male finalist where only two male participated. Follow-up conversations revealed that male students lacked the confidence to submit their work, partly because our core on-ground team was entirely female, leaving them without direct male peer role models. For future programs, we will ensure our core team includes male role models and schedule informal rapport-building sessions to build confidence before submissions open.
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
Lesson 2: Lowering Participation Barriers on "Call to Action" board for other students
We installed a permanent, weather-proof Information Board to showcase students' work alongside an interactive "Call to Action" wall in a busy walkway. While passive reading engagement was massive, active posts on the small interactive board were limited because students felt self-conscious writing publicly in front of peers. Future iterations will introduce anonymous submission drop-boxes and guided prompts to make sharing ideas easier.
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
Lesson 3: Navigating Remote Logistics for English course
Delivering the English scholarship component for 16 winners in a remote district like Xe Champhone presented unexpected logistical constraints due to the scarcity of local language providers in which we decided to hire local English teachers to support with the English language course provider. Thorough pre-feasibility research on regional providers will now be completed prior to proposing English scholarship for remote projects.
A 5-Year Sustainable Legacy
We structured this project so its impact would continue long after the pilot ended in May 2026:
- 5-Year Permanent Showcase: The weather-proof display board featuring the winning student essays and drawings is mounted in the main school walkway for 5-years, dedicated to inspiring incoming student bodies for at least five years.
- Resource Reinvestment (The Mini-Library): All remaining project funds were reinvested into buying books and establishing a dedicated mini-library space at Houayxay High School, filled with accessible books on environmental conservation, leadership, and educational environmental comics.
- The Conservationist Network: We established a permanent WhatsApp network connecting our 16 Youth Leaders and 2 volunteers directly with Latdavanh and the project team. Through this platform, we continuously share global scholarships, specialized training, and career opportunities, building a direct bridge from local youth action to international conservation pathways.
Photo copyright: NaturePreneur
Acknowledgments & Partners
This initiative was made possible through the collaboration, vision, and dedication of:
- Grants & Program Support: The National Geographic Society, The Nature Conservancy, and the Freshwater Remote Externship Team (2025).
- Technical Guidance: WCS Laos (Savannakhet), for connecting conservation science with community action.
- Project Team & Mentors: Latdavanh KEODALA (Project Lead/NGS & TNC Extern), Ms. Souphatta Chanthaphone, and Ms. Sonesavanh Phommathep
- Local Partners: The teachers, student volunteers, and young leaders at Houayxay High School in Xe Champhone. Your stories and art are the heartbeat of this wetland's future.