Giving Back

The Orphanage school was opened by an Australian, Andrew Brown in 2019 to operate as an NGO to support the existing government run Luang Prabang Orphanage. The Orphanage currently supports 32 children and 12 staff with plans to increase capacity to 60 children. 

Lao's population is just 6,800,000 people and approximately 40% of the population live below the poverty line. Most of Lao's population live in rural areas and families rely on farming for their subsistence living. Very few families have access to medical facilities and, as such, the average lifespan of a Loa person is less than 50 years - almost 30 years less than the average western lifespan.

Helping children is a no-brainer!

The mortality rate for childbirth is as high as 20% in remote areas. With no doctors or midwives, complications often lead to the death of the child, the mother or both. Children also faces risk such as being trafficked into child sexy slavery to surrounding nations such as Thailand, Vietnam, and China. The outreach work of the orphanage is critical to ensure that vulnerable children have a safe pathway to the orphanage so that they can be given the best chance at life. The cost of supporting a child at the orphanage is $2000 AUD per year. As parents with children who want for nothing we were moved to help and this along with our core values as yogis to be able to help those less fortunate than outlives, given back is core teaching of “Karma Yoga”

A little goes a long way!

our currency can make a substantial difference in countries like Laos, one of the poorest I the world. A small amount goes a long way. Importantly for us we are partnered with Abdrew brown and his organization as we have line of sight to our donations, we can visit and inspect how our donations are being used, there is no middle person or bureaucracy reducing the impact of each dollar donated. For us this is a no brainer, donations are 100% transparent and we can see the positive impact they have on the children in need.

Current Programs

Poverty is the leading cause of death in Laos with a variety of diseases prevalent such as, scabies, polio, typhoid,  Malaria & whooping cough. Malnutrition also prevents infants from developing the digestive capacity to grow, Western Wellness currently supports the milk and shoes program whereby we fund the delivery of high fat/protein based milk to the assist infants with develop the digestive capacity and provide shoes to reduce common skin based infections.  In 2024 Western Wellness swill raise $6,000 AUD for the above programs to supply milk and shoes for up to 500 children.

Orphanage - Milk & Shoes Program

Poverty is the leading cause of death in Laos with a variety of diseases prevalent such as, scabies, polio, typhoid,  Malaria & whooping cough. Malnutrition also prevents infants from developing the digestive capacity to grow. As such Western Wellness currently supports the milk and shoes program whereby, we fund the delivery of high fat/protein-based milk to the assist infants with develop the digestive capacity and provide shoes to reduce common skin-based infections. 

In 2026 Western Wellness will raise $6,000 AUD for the above programs to supply milk and shoes for up to 550 children.

Rural Village Project - Milk, Eggs & Maternal Health

Most rural villages in Lao have many children living below the poverty line with children living in appalling conditions and orphaned children receive barely enough support to survive as their adopting families are often quite poor themselves.  Many children in these villages seldom enter schools and many die from malnutrition and disease. Our Village project funds two primary initiatives, firstly, the supply of nutrition through protein rich milk and eggs at their primary schools as well as providing medical support for all children in the village.  

Secondly, we fund maternal health programs where we provide funds for every pregnant mother to give birth in a hospital setting which protects both the mother and baby. We also supply baby formula to those mothers who do not have enough breast milk and we weigh every baby under 12 months of age and record their medical history so that we can intervene if the child becomes ill. This program is very labour intensive, but it provides a level of safety that the mothers and children would not have otherwise.  

In 2025 Western Wellness plans to raise $6,500 AUD for the Ban Na Hai Village located in Jumpet district - 90 Minutes from Luang Prabang. This will ensure an entire village receives milk and eggs for an entire year as well as receiving a monthly mental health service.  You can support us by making either one off or regular donations toward this initiative.

“Giving is living” yoga retreat

The Giving is Living yoga retreat is a not-for-profit yoga retreat with a difference in that 45% of the retreat fee will go directly to funding the Luang Prabang Orphanage Nursery School. Participants will enjoy an immersive visit to the Orphanage to meet the children and its founder Andrew Brown who will guide us on a tour of the site as well as providing a presentation on how your donation will directly support the children. Participants spend 7 days at the Hillside Eco Retreat located in tropical bushland and immersed in the deep cultural history of Laos. Soaking up the sights, sounds and taste of this magical country guest will have a transformative yoga experience of daily yoga, meditation, sound spa’s and offsite cultural execution and activities.

The retreat is restricted to 9 participants who each donate $1650 each towards the operating cost of the Orphanage. In 2025 this will raise $14,500.

How can you help?

Any donation towards our programs is greatly appreciated.

You can first support our programs by attending our sound workshops or donating towards same.

If you like a “hands on” experience as well making donation, then please consider joining us on the Giving is living yoga retreat.

If you would prefer to make a one-off donation or to make regular small donations then please consider donating say $5-10 per week towards our Village (Milk, Eggs & maternal health) projects. Small regular donations can be made via direct debit or via one off bank transfer.

Please reach out to Stuart Harrison – Managing Director Western Wellness via email for donation details.