Sometimes without looking for it, you stumble upon something really neat.

My husband and I were traveling for short time through Laos and we were handed a flyer on the street.  After following a simple map on the flyer, we ended up at a simple little bar/resturant in the middle of what seemed to be a construction zone.

After speaking with the Lara, the owner and one of the visionaries of the project, we came to understand that this was a special group of people helping people. (Which happens to be the entire basis for this website).  The Kajsiab Project was established as a way for volunteers to leave a positive mark on Laos while visiting.  People from all over the world, who are stopping in this particular spot for a couple of days are asked to help build housing (in our case a huge mud hut) to be used as future accommodation of the local women in need. In exchange for this helping hand, volunteers get food and accommodation as well as an invaluable cultural exchange with locals and people from other countries who have come to be a part of this project.

Kajsiab means: a flower that blooms, a heart that opens, a love that suddenly springs, the name of a beloved sister who died a preventable death due to a minor infection. This project is founded in her honour to reduce poverty, raise social capital, and provide a culturally sensitive education necessary to bring health to the community in which she lived.

Kajsiab also aims to work together with several villages toward establishing a women’s health clinic, a traditional collective herb garden, and a school for the seven villages in the area.

If you are in Northern Laos, it is so worth stopping in to lend a hand at this great project.  Or if manual labour is not your thing, pass by for a drink or some food and take a look at the local handicrafts made by the women in the rural areas that are on sale.

For more details and photos, go to http://www.projectkajsiablaos.org/ of look for them on Facebook. (Kajsiab Project)

We were really glad that we had the opportunity to help out here.  All the best to our friends at the Kajsiab Project.

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Posted in Asia Fun Stuff Movement Travel Uncategorized by carlac No Comments Yet