LAOS. Savannakhet. 2012. Bouavanh Songmala, 30, one of the country’s few male midwives, walks nine hours and swims across eight rivers to reach the furthest village in his Virabury district, next door to Sepon. As part of the focus to accelerate the availability of appropriately trained medical staff, Songmala has returned to school for a year of midwifery skill-upgrade training.