SEVEN months ago, Mr Russ Neu took a pay cut, and traded his teaching job in a secondary school for volunteering in Laos.

Now, the Singaporean teaches English to Lao government officials at the Institute of Foreign Affairs in Vientiane - the equivalent of Singapore's Civil Service College.

'I was teaching in Singapore for six years and I just wanted to get out of my comfort zone,' said Mr Neu, 31.

He is part of the Singapore International Foundation's Singapore Volunteers Overseas programme, which sends skilled professionals on volunteer projects to developing countries in Asia.

He receives US$300 (S$458) a month as a stipend.

'In Singapore, everyone is very professional, but here, you can sense their smiles are genuine and it makes me feel so good,' he said.

Mr Neu lives in a three-storey apartment block in Vientiane and walks to the institute every morning. When he misses Chinese food, he takes a half-hour walk to a little coffee shop for his fix of fried rice or hor fun.

'I've realised I really don't need a lot to be happy,' he said.

Most of his students are men aged between 25 and 55, working for various Lao government ministries and institutions such as the tourism board.

The most rewarding moment, he said, was watching two older students improve.

They started with 'barely functional English', he recalled.

But by the end of six months, they were so fluent that their classmates clapped and cheered after their final presentation.

'They were in their 50s and so willing to learn. It was really encouraging,' he said.

Students in Singapore, Mr Neu said, 'take education for granted'. Though students in Laos have only rudimentary knowledge of English, they are easier to teach because they are eager to learn and there are no disciplinary problems, he said.

'I can focus 100 per cent on the teaching. That's what I love, and it makes me want to teach again.'

simlinoi@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times.