“Smile, Valina!” Sometimes it is not easy to smile and be light hearted for Valina, a 15 year old Laotian citizen, currently studying at Upper Bucks Christian School in Sellersville, Pennsylvania on a scholarship provided by AnB Education. In her hometown of Vientiane, the capitol of Laos, Valina accompanies her mother on missionary assignments. Valina joins her mother in teaching God’s word to young women who come from nearby villages to the capitol city but instead of finding prosperity, they have fallen on hard times.
The missionaries teach skills to the young women to lift them from a life of prostitution and they also run a private school, which Valina was fortunate to attend on scholarship. Without the scholarship Valina’s single mother would not have the financial means to fund Valina’s education. Having divorced Valina’s father when Valina was two years old, Valina’s mother has done her best to provide for her family. It certainly helps that Valina is very bright, focused and a quick learner.
At the Vientiane Glory School, a Christian school in Laos, Valina participated in a system called, Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). They studied books called PACE and “the more diligent” the students, the faster they are able to graduate. Currently Valina is excelling in her classes with her lowest grade a B+ in personal finance. She maintains that “everything is fine for me, not too easy and not too hard.” Her host mother encourages Valina to integrate with other teenagers but Valina is accustomed to the companionship of adults. It is understandable that Valina has a lot of adjustments to make to living in the United States even if one of them is getting in the habit of smiling. Smiling is correlated with health, happiness, friends, success, and a longer life, all of which AnB Education wishes for Valina.
