Laos Volunteer Locations: Vang Vieng

The small village of Vang Vieng lies halfway between the capital of Laos, Vientiane, and UNESCO heritage site, Luang Prabang. This tiny town is often used as a tourist pit stop between these two Lao cities and therefore caters to them with its many western restaurants and guest houses. Despite this, Vang Vieng manages to retain a fairly authentic Laos atmosphere. Nestled amongst the typical Laos hilly and mountainous terrain and situated on the banks of the Nam Song river, the landscape is breathtaking. Just a short walk from town are many ethnic Lao, Kmou, and Hmong villages. The organic farm itself is located just 4 km north of Vang Vieng town in the tiny and peaceful village of Phoudindaeng.

Volunteering in Vang Vieng

Because of Laos' colonial past, Laotians in general posses better language skills than neighboring South East Asian countries, however most Laos schools are extremely poor which little other than the most basic facilities.

Travel to Teach works in the Phoudindaeng village just 4 km north of Vang Vieng. We are working in conjunction with the Vang Vieng Organic Farm.

Vang Vieng Organic Farm was founded by Thangnongsi Soangkoun in 1996 with the goal of introducing organic farming methods in an area where chemicals and deforestation were ruining the land. He wanted to lead by example, showing that organic methods could be profitable as well as healthy. He also wanted to assist the local people through community projects supported by the profits from the farm.

Today the farm is a vibrant center for a variety of community projects including a community center and classroom where English classes are held and a community library where there are many books in both English and Lao, computer classes are also held in the library. Profits from the farm have also purchased two school buses for the kids. Prior to the purchase of these school buses the children would walk to school and since the distance is quite far many children did not go to school every day.

This project needs volunteers to help with a variety of tasks around the farm and the community including volunteer English teachers, computer teachers, a computer repair instructor, and librarians.

Volunteering Projects

Phoudindaeng Community Center/ English Teaching
In 2004 the Vang Vieng organic farm worked with local villagers and foreign volunteers to build a community center for the village. It was built from local materials as much as possible including unfired bricks, mud plaster, and local lumber. Much of the work was done during the school holidays so that the children could help out. The center is available for use by all of the residents of the community and where the English teaching classes are held

Volunteers will conduct English classes at the center. Classes are held 6 days a week after school usually from 5:30 to 8:30, although these times vary. There are two English classes, one is for younger children aged 3-10 whom learn English by playing games and other fun activities and the other class is for older and more advanced students. Sometimes as many as 100 villagers of all ages show up for these classes, so the need for volunteers is great.

Phoudindaeng Community Library/ Librarian and Computer Teacher
The community library was built in 2004 in the same manner as the community center. The library was constructed using mud bricks and the whole community pitched in to build it along with foreign volunteers. The library is a small building which currently holds a collection of fiction and non-fiction books including English instruction textbooks, novels, environmental texts and more. There is also a nice collection of maps and foreign language periodicals.

Computer classes are also held within the library. Computer teachers and a librarian are needed for this project. Volunteers work for 4 hours per day for all of the projects.

Computer Repair Instructor
The village of Phoudindaeng and the town of Vang Vieng have many computers in need of repair. We enthusiastically welcome a volunteer knowledgeable in the repairing and building computers to instruct local villagers in this area of expertise. Volunteers for this project need to be independent minded as there is no set schedule or curriculum for this work.

Photo Gallery: Vang Vieng Organic Farm

General Vang Vieng Information

Leisure
Leisure activities include (but are not limited to) hiking, spelunking in the numerous caves, swimming, kayaking, or tubing down the river, watching a movie in one of the many restaurants in town, and of course relaxing and taking in the beauty of the surroundings.

Accommodation
Volunteers will live in one of the many farmhouses on the farm property which is located on the banks of the Nam Song river amidst the limestone mountains of the Song River valley. Accommodation is basic, but nice and clean. Views from the windows are very often spectacular. Bedrooms are shared and all are accompanied by bathrooms with a western style toilet and shower with hot water.

Weather
Laos has three seasons; hot, wet, and dry. The hot season is from March to May when temperatures can get as high as 38 Celsius. The wet monsoon season is from May to October and temperature averages around 30 Celsius. Dry season lasts from November to March, this also happens to be the high tourist season. During the dry season temperatures are a bit cooler particularly at night in the mountainous regions.

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