Eco-dormitory — World Volunteer

See what the experience is all about

Background

Access to education is not a luxury but a right. Through our eco-dormitory project students and participants can help those coming from disadvantaged circumstances access education. Northern Laos is scattered with remote villages, many of which don't have local schools or the local schools are only for primary students. If this is the case, when students graduate that primary school, they have to find the closest high school in their district. This could be fifteen minutes walking distance or two hours on a motorbike. Students are then faced with the task of having to either commute daily which is expensive and can be dangerous or have to rent a room close to the high school. Both options require additional money to be spent which can be hard when families are often earning very little each month.

Through our continued research we found out that the same problem students are facing also applies to teachers in some schools. Teachers are having to either live with members from the community, stay in poor on-site conditions at the school, or make the daily commute to/from their home to school. None of those options are sustainable or fair. Teachers that are forced to make the commute are usually late to arrive or leave early due to inclement weather.

The eco-dormitory project helps to provide dormitories at schools so that all students have the ability to access education no matter what and to increase the time that teachers are able to spend with their students.

Project

Students and volunteers will help with the construction of adobe clay eco-dormitories which will either be for local students or teachers. These structures allow the students at that school access to education no matter their circumstances and ensures teachers are not forced into impossible situations and can be with their students for the appropriate amount of time.

In some project situations we need to build a large structure to hold all of our tools and materials for the construction. Our thought was to make it worth the while, so we build larger than needed spaces and once construction of the dormitory is finished, the space for tools and materials is converted into teachers offices, more dorm space, or utilized effectively by the local school.

Similar to the eco-bungalow project, this project will also demonstrate how villagers in the future can build their own house in a cost eective way. The raw materials for the clay bricks can be found on site, providing a self-sucient and natural source of building materials.

Impact

These dormitories will provide students and teachers a safe & clean space so everyone can access adequate education. Our first dormitory project is built for 100 students and as that school is so large, we’ve started construction on a second structure that will house additional students plus have a kitchen area.

Our first teachers dormitory has two phases: phase one is building a structure to house our tools and materials which will later become a new teachers office and phase two will be a dormitory for teachers from that school as well as teachers from other rural schools.

Cash income is also distributed to the village community as a product of the homestay agreement. In consultation with the Chief of each village, World Volunteer ensures that that every family in the village has a chance to benefit from this agreement. This model shows how every volunteer has a positive and measurable effect on the communities we work with.

Our eco-dormitory project is in a large district named Chomphet, and in collaboration with the Laos Ministry of Education, our vision is to replicate this model of eco-dormitories and educational infrastructure across all needed schools in the district. The MOE has also stated that if this model proves successful they would like to replicate it across other parts of the country.