What inspired you to work for your organization?
I met Aay in 2015 in the north of Thailand, and he welcomed me to his village in Laos. After hearing his story, I wanted to help the village. Aay grew up in an ethnic group in the jungle of Laos where he lived as a hunter-gatherer. In 2009, 17 tribes, including Aay’s, were forced to move to a new village when their mountain area was turned into a dam for producing electricity. Life was not easy in this new village. Aay is an extraordinary human being, and worked hard to create opportunities for himself through different social projects in Laos, and managed to secure a scholarship for studies in Cambodia, and spent a year at Openmind Projects in Thailand. This is where we met for the first time. Aay expressed his plan for a non-profit organization to give more possibilities to the children of his village, and we quickly traveled to Laos to start planning Aay’s Village.
Åshild and the class of 2018
Describe a typical day at work.
I have my everyday commitments such as work and social life, and somehow manage to find an hour or two here and there to manage Aay´s Village (I do it 100 % voluntarily, so I have to have a paid job as well). I am not going to lie, most of the work happens early in the morning before work, at night, or on the weekends.
Why do you do what you do?
We in the western world are so privileged, and it is easy to fall into a routine where slow wifi is our biggest concern. Traveling showed me what a luxury I had in Norway, and helped me out of my bubble. I help the village in Laos because they asked for help, and I wanted to use my skills to NOT save the world, but to give back and contribute a bit. Aay´s Village is not a dream, it is hard work, tough decisions and difficult situations. But when our children feel safe in our home, and use our space to learn, play, and relax - that is when I understand why I do what I do!
What is your favorite part of your job?
Breaking through walls, the opportunity to make a positive change, and the whole ups and downs life of a startup and volunteer organization. And in Laus, the country is such a gem!
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
I have a degree in Business, Marketing, and Management, and it helps me manage the organization for sure. My current paid work is within startup and innovation, which helps me understand the road of a startup and turn problems into solutions.
Åshild by the lake
What challenges do you often face and how do you overcome them?
Oh, we always face challenges. Just this month we were kicked out of our home in Laos. Not because we have been noisy, not paid, or disrespected the house, but because the owner of the house decided to sell the house despite us having paid rent in advance until February 2020. However, as I said before, you have to turn problems into opportunities, so we are now looking into nearby fields where we could build our own home!
What are some current projects you are working on?
Clean the Jungle gives plastic a value in the jungle of Laos. Our sustainability mission is to communicate the importance of preserving the Lao nature, and initiate sustainable projects which can reduce harmful ecological processes and clean up the jungle.
That is why in 2018 we initiated Clean the Jungle. A project where we give plastic a value by collecting plastic bottles filled with plastic waste, called Ecobricks. The project is based on the Norwegian bottle deposit scheme; people can deliver their Ecobricks to us and we give them money from Empowers’ plastic fund. Then we repurpose the plastic.
Plastics are an important material in our economy, and modern daily life is unthinkable without them. Over the past 50 years, the role and importance of plastics in our economy has consistently grown. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, and as a result levels of plastic production by humans are very high. Global production of plastics has increased twentyfold since the 1960s, reaching 322 million tonnes in 2015. It is expected to double again over the next 20 years. Plastic is the world’s fastest growing environmental challenge.
Many people in Laos come from a hunter-gatherer background and are used to farming organically and a clean, straight-from-the-nature diet. However, since Laos opened its borders to foreign influence, plastic has appeared even in the deepest parts of the jungle.
Our village is overflowing with plastic waste. Coke bottles, crisp bags, and plastic bags can be found on every man-made path, even on top of mountains, by river sides, and on the lake. People of Laos has never been given a way to recycle this type of waste, nor have they been informed of the downside of plastic in nature.
Growing plastic waste generation and its leakage into our environment must be tackled if we are to achieve a truly circular lifecycle for plastics. We must also clean up the mess we have created already.
First, we educate others about the dangers of plastic waste, and inform them how to store their plastic in Ecobricks, which are plastic bottles filled with plastic waste.
Second, we collect Ecobricks at our Collection Point, which is the only plastic waste facility in the entire country, that we know of.
Third, everyone who deposits their Ecobricks at our collection point will get money in return with the help from Empower and their Plastic Fund.
Fourth, the Ecobricks we collect can be used for building bricks. In the future, we aim to shred, melt, and repurpose plastic in other ways.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Jump into opportunities, stand in difficult situations, and notice the growth you experience by breaking through walls and solving problems. Enjoy every step!
Aay and Åshild in the fields outside our village
What makes your organization special?
Our vision is to provide children in Laos with the tools they need to create the future they deserve. We have stuck to that vision for three years in every aspect of our organization. We are focused on having the children and the local community as out top priority and that is why we have said no to economically tempting deals, volunteers, and opportunities. We also focus on bringing life into the local businesses. We love to see people starting new businesses - not 100 percent based on the life we as an organization bring to the village, but maybe a little bit. And that warms my heart.
Why should someone choose your organization over competitors?
You should not! We do not think our organization is better than any other organization. However, if you feel connected to our vision, the way we work, and you want a raw experience in the jungle of Laos where you will be a core part of our organization to make progress on our projects in a very independent way, come join us!
What hopes do you have for the future for your organization?
I hope we build our own home in a nearby field. I have a vision of a couple of houses built out of Ecobricks, one for education, and one for environmental projects. I hope we can have organic farming around our house, and small huts for volunteers.
What is your organization's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?
Our vision is to provide children in Laos with the tools they need to create the future they deserve. We further aim to offer a safe employment to communities in Laos by listening to their local needs, creating possibilities, and being sustainably aware.
Our educational mission is to give underprivileged communities in Laos the possibility to create better opportunities for their children by offering a quality education based on local needs, which can lead to a satisfactory future in terms of possibilities and resources.
Our sustainability mission is to communicate the importance of preserving the Lao nature, and initiate sustainable projects that will reduce harmful ecological processes and clean up the jungle.
Åshild on the top of a mountain overlooking our village in Laos
If you could participate on one of your organization's programs, where would you go and what would you do?
Clean the Jungle is the newest program addition to our organization and it is such an honest and raw project where you get to physically see the difference you make when participating. It’s dirty work. You collect plastic and recycle it into Ecobricks, but there is so much to learn and so many possibilities to discover!
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
Volunteering with us is an experience you will never forget. Living like a local in the jungle, using your skills to help others, and experiencing the depths of a hidden cultural gem in Asia is worth every struggle along the way. We want to let you know that it is not a walk in the park. We are bringing volunteering away from “voluntourism” and back to the root: bringing those who can do more into our organization to contribute with no other payment than the joy of helping out. We don’t think that volunteers are worthless, but we think they are priceless.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Meaningful traveling means looking away from your own needs and looking to others to see how you can contribute. Traveling to volunteer in another part of the world creates fruits to collect for you and others. We believe in local workforce from a developmental standpoint, but we recognize that volunteers bring an incredible opportunity for the community to learn valuable skills like English and IT. Once these skills are passed on to a child in the village, it can bring thousands of opportunities for the future. It is also important to emphasize that Aay’s Village is a non-profit hope for the future. All profit, whether it’s money, knowledge, or support is given to the villagers and no one else. The international administration behind Aay’s Village receives no salary. We are volunteers just like you!
