“Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration – recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a ‘women’s issue’ but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality be ..read more

As a volunteer organization in SE Asia’s poorest country, we take our responsibility towards the community we strive to help as our greatest concern. We acknowledge that the desire to help is simply not enough. Our work is always adapted based on the village’s premises and preconditions. As our project’s founder, Aay, is a local citizen, our visions, the work we do, and the changes we make are always founded from a local perspective. We avoid idealistic and privileged volunteers wanting to ease their conscience or boost their SoMe profiles. Instead, we want volunteers who will never compromis ..read more

We wanted to give you guys an explanation of how we think and work – what we care about and our positioning on different topics. “Rights" are things every child should have or be able to do. All children have the same rights. These rights are listed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Almost every country has agreed to these rights. All the rights are connected to each other, and all are equally important. Sometimes, we have to think about rights in terms of what is the best for children in a situation, and what is critical to life and protection from harm. Our policy is to maint ..read more

“Laos, a world of towering mountain ranges and fertile river beds”. A country that is “the land of a million elephants and a colorful stage on which some of the most charming scenes of Southeast Asia unfold” where you “simply marvel at the untouched beauty of a sunset upon the Mekong”. These statements are taken from various marketing webpages that seek to show off the Laotian beauty for tourism purposes. Although I do love Laos, much for its emerald-green forests and its kind-hearted communities, the new market structure in Laos that foster consumerism tells a different story. Namely, a stor ..read more

Our volunteer Carolina from Portugal wanted to share her observations of the people of Laos, and the sharing culture that she experienced when she visited Aay's Village in September 2018. The people of Laos is exceptional. If there are people who like to share - it is them. The little they have, they share. They are very willing and always ready to help. It's spectacular how happy they are and they'll make you happy when they come to you in the street. That does not mean that they have a lot to share. Their houses are empty; They only have the essential like small tables where they make simp ..read more

A day in Aay’s is always full of good energy, because all the Lao people here and the kids are full of it. We wake up around 9 o’clock in the morning, and we have a simple breakfast; delicious fruits that we buy from the market across the street. During the morning we plan the classes with our mentor, which is Tar. He teaches English with us, since he can speak English and Lao very well. We plan the classes according to the three levels that we have, and sometimes we also correct the exercises that we gave to students on the day before. The first level is for the smallest kids, until 10 years ..read more

Amanda just joined our organization as our Fundraiser and Partnership Coordinator after she volunteered with us in Laos in May 2018. After her experience as a volunteer, she thought of a few questions to ask yourself before you volunteer abroad that we wanted to share with you as well: 1. What are your motivations behind volunteering? Really think about why you want to go and how you will be helping. There's a lot of information and videos online about the dangers of voluntourism that explain when it's more destructive than helpful. You should definitely not be taking and posting photos with ..read more

Hi and hello to all you followers of our jungle nonprofit, I know our team members have been able to enjoy the sun and nature this summer, and I hope you have too. We all need a moment every now and then to walk barefoot through grass and get kissed by sun rays. That being said, we are soon moving into our third year of operation in Laos, and we are eager to get started this fall. In June we looked at what we were doing and found possibilities to improve our ways. We came up with a lot of new ideas which I wanted to share with you guys; Improving our volunteer experience Feedback from our vol ..read more

Aay’s Village is hiring an Accountant & Fundraiser for our international team of volunteers! This is an excellent opportunity for you who want to contribute to our mission in Laos. You can be located anywhere in the world as long as you have a computer. You’ll be working weekly in a team of 6 international team members from all over Europe who volunteer for the local team consisting of 4 paid team members in Laos. We work on a basis of at least 5-10 hours weekly depending on what is happening that week. We always show flexibility both ways. The position is split into two parts. Let us kno ..read more

Why are we called Aay’s Village? In 2015 when we started planning our organization, we contacted Google Maps ask them to add us to the map. We were surprised to find that a big area of Laos just didn’t exist on the map; the whole district that our village is located in was just a blank white area on the map. ?? Then a funny thing happened. Google told us that if they sent us a letter to the village, and if we could prove that we had received it, then they would put us on the map. We did receive the letter, and Google asked us what the village was called. Phonsavath was the local name of the ..read more