36 BEIJING REVIEW MARCH 12, 2020 http://www.bjreview.com
BUSINESS
F
our years ago, Dong Latthavongsa was a
struggling vegetable grower in Vientiane,
capital of Laos, trying to make ends
meet after her divorce. Looking for a stable
job, she heard that a Chinese company was
building a railway line in Kasi, where she lives.
It was Sinohydro Bureau 14 Co., whose parent
company Power Construction Corp. of China
(PowerChina) is a state-owned enterprise and
a leading player in the energy industry. Its work
also covers design, construction, as well as in-
vestment and operation.
Sinohydro is building the China-Laos
Railway, a 414-km line that will turn Laos
from a landlocked country into a land-linked
hub. Latthavongsa, then 29, went to the
company’s construction site nearby to ask
if she could work in their canteen. She was
KLUHGWRZDVKGLVKHVDQGĶQGLQJWKHMRESDLG
well, put in her best effort.
Taking the initiative
Besides her work, she began to plant herbs in
the company’s courtyard. “After Latthavongsa
DUULYHGRXUFRXUW\DUGKDVEHHQĶOOHGZLWKSHS
per, mint and coriander plants,” Liang Zonglei,
head of one of Sinohydro’s construction teams,
told Beijing Review.
Her next venture was to ask the head
cook if she could make simple Chinese
dishes to help her out. Finding her smart
and willing to work hard, Li Fenguo, the head
cook, said yes and taught her how to cook
Chinese food.
Realizing she would have to overcome the
language barrier if she wanted to do better,
Latthavongsa began to teach herself to speak
Chinese. She bought a book to learn Chinese
and with the help of Li began to memorize
WKHZRUGVLQLW6RRQWKHERRNZDVĶOOHGZLWK
the notes she had scribbled in Lao. During the
meals, she would try out her Chinese on the
Chinese engineers and workers and the effort
paid off. She began to speak fluent Chinese
and help in communication between the
Chinese and Laotian workers. Her newly ac-
quired skills saw her wages increase.
In February 2019, the head cook of an-
other canteen of the company retired. Since
by that time Latthavongsa was adept at mak-
ing Chinese dishes and speaking Chinese,
she was promoted to that position. She
EHFDPHWKHĶUVWQRQ&KLQHVHWREHKLUHGDV
head cook at one of Sinohydro’s five can-teens in Laos. Besides doing her job well, she
also acted as a bridge between the Chinese
and Laotian employees, which resulted in
a pay raise in just five months. Today her
income is almost four times what she made
before October 2016.
The China-Laos Railway is set to begin
operation in December 2021. After the con-
struction team leaves, all the five canteens
will be closed. But Latthavongsa has a bigger
plan for that contingency: to open a restau-
rant in Vientiane that will offer both Laotian
and Chinese food with an eye on Chinese
tourists the new railway is expected to bring
in. “I want to make more money and support
my son to go to university,” the mother of a
6-year-old told Beijing Review. And she also
wants to take the new line to travel to Beijing
and see the Great Wall.Help for a career
On the other side of the world in Zambia,
Keithanna Mutempa, a young housewife liv-
ing in the Township of Kafue Gorge Upper
Hydropower Station, Southern Province,
wanted to be financially independent. The
daughter of a welder, she was interested inPowering Their World
Engineering giant creates careers for women around the globe By Li Nan
Keithanna Mutempa, a graduate from the Sinohydro Training Institute, is an
electric welder working at the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station Project
in Zambia
COURTESY PHOTO COURTESY PHOTOSOE REPORT
Florence Muyoma works as a survey engineer at the Kafue Gorge Lower
Hydropower Station Project near Lusaka in Zambia