Visiting a school is important for all children, but for Lou Ker, 12, and her classmates it is almost more important, because they learn not only reading and writing, but also Laotian, the language of their country. Lou Ker belongs to the ethnic group of the Akha and in her village, the Tamy village, only the Akha language, a language without writing, is spoken. Akha language and Laotian are very different and without instruction it is very difficult to learn Laotian. Lou Kers's mother did not have the chance to go to school and does not speak Laotian. This means that you are a stranger in your own country and can not communicate, for example, with a doctor in the next city. Also, you can not read a newspaper or watch TV and be informed about what is happening in your own country and the world in general. Anyone who does not speak Laotian usually stays all his life in the same village, marries early and works in the fields, like Lou Ker's mother.