International volunteers want to travel overseas, to volunteer in Thailand and other places.

Secondly, people of all ages and international volunteers want to travel overseas to learn about other cultures, to get new perspectives. They want to volunteer overseas, to volunteer in Thailand, to do something of value for others and themselves at the same time!
Globalization. Become worldly! Volunteer in Thailand and Laos!
Globalization is a fact. Everyone needs cross-cultural skills to be able to work with people from other places, countries, and cultures. Diversity boosts creativity! A very good way to increase cross cultural understanding, social skills and creativity is to volunteer overseas, to volunteer in Thailand!

Our Solution. We want to bridge knowledge and digital divides between rich and poor. Our learning and volunteer projects reach out to help the poor to better learning with the help of modern information technology and by inviting international volunteers to volunteer in Thailand and Laos in these grass roots projects!

International volunteering in Thailand and Laos. stimulates and stimulates and motivates students to learn and teachers to teach! The international volunteer in Thailand helps children to learn and teachers to teach by using modern learning ideas, computers and the Internet; a new way to learn! Learning is cheaper than teaching!
Visit also www.ITinIsan.org

A Brief History of OpenmindProjects.
OpenmindProjects as Pioneers
In 2001 OpenmindProjects, then called IT in Isan, pioneered computer training projects in poor Thai villages in an effort to see how the so called Digital Divide can be bridged. How to give children and youth a chance to learn to use computers and to learn other subjects too with the help of computers? See www.ITinIsan.org , http://groups.msn.com/ITpilotsInIsan

As a result we were invited to an international conference to share our experiences, see http://www.ait.ac.th/gmsarn/publications/newsletter3.pdf Video presentation: Click here

Another result was international volunteers wanting to help us.
And media writing about us, http://www.openmindprojects.org/newsite/pdf/bangkok_post_it_learning.pdf

In 2002 OpenmindProjects was a pioneer to introduce computer and Internet based learning in Thai villages, orphan homes and schools, see www.ITinIsan.org. How to help and inspire students to use computers and Internet to learn English, geography and other subjects, where teachers and education material are scarce?

In 2002 OpenmindProjects later pioneered volunteer projects in poor Thai schools. Inviting volunteers to teach in remote villages and helping to improve local teaching methods.

UNESCO recognizing us,
http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=1402 and volunteers finding us http://www.openmindprojects.org/newsite/pdf/ltm_volunteering_sept03.pdf



In 2004 OpenmindProjects started supporting community based and sustainable eco tourism projects in Laos and Thailand, by creating promotion material and websites, training local people to take care of eco tourists, while simultaneously protecting nature and wildlife. See www.trekkingcentrallaos.com made by our volunteers.

In the fall of 2004 OpenmindProjects started projects in the Krabi and PangNga provinces, holding workshops with schools, and national parks. December 26 the tsunami hit these regions. In early 2005 OpenmindProjects was one of the first organizations to have volunteers helping local tsunami hit schools.

OpenmindProjects is a pioneer in arranging local teacher training workshops for Thai teachers together with international volunteers and also sending qualified volunteers to help teachers improving education at their own schools too.

OpenmindProjects acts as a private aid organization focused on knowledge and environment projects and regards international volunteers as a highly valuable source of support to local projects, acting as assistants to local teachers, teacher trainers, teachers, IT and eco tourism consultants, depending on their background, qualifications and preferences.

In 2007 CNN Chooses Openmind Projects For Their Be the Change Initiative
Recently, CNN started an initiative called Be the Change, which basically sends some volunteers to various countries, and they report on their experiences. CNN is encouraging others to volunteer, and have recommended eight organizations that people should volunteer with. Out of the thousands of organizations on the planet, CNN has chosen Openmind Projects as one of their top eight. See http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/11/13/btc.ngos/index.html


History
OpenmindProjects, then called IT in Isan, was founded by Sven Mauleon and Thaweesilph Lunchaipah in 2001 to test computer learning methods amongst underprivileged children, ideas based on self-paced and problem based learning to make children less dependent on teachers, a bottleneck in developing nations.

The first test projects were conducted in Northeast Thailand, Isan. OMP encourages the D.E.D. approach, Demonstrate what a computer can do and then let the students Explore and Discover (learn) by themselves. This approach requires less teaching resources but more time with the computer.

During the first test projects international travelers and volunteers were curios and offered their help, computer training or to teach English. More Thai schools and other institutions also asked for support. As a result OMP decided to invite overseas volunteers and Thais to support the projects.

A website, www.openmindprojects.org , www.openmindprojects.nu was designed by self taught Thaweesilph Lunchaipah, inviting people to participate our projects, allowing for an expansion to new places.

Since 2001 OMP has been able to support some 60 schools, orphanages, national parks and villages in Thailand and Laos. We believe knowledge is the best gift to young people!

Learning is cheaper than teaching
Our learning philosophy is very simple! People learn best themselves when they are motivated, have the necessary learning tools rather then being forced to learn. The best life long learners are the most successful people!

The Information and Communications Technology(ICT), offers increasingly cheaper and better learning opportunities for the motivated student.

International volunteers stimulate and motivate students to learn and teachers to teach!

Our Mission
To spread learning opportunities to the many underprivileged in developing nations by promoting self paced learning, computer and Internet based learning with the help of local teachers and international volunteers.

Our programs, to volunteer in Thailand and Laos, are designed to contribute to the motivation, creativity, inter-personal and cross-cultural skills of the international volunteer overseas as well as local students and teachers!

By arranging volunteer in Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal and Laos opportunities and designing learning projects for the underprivileged we want to bridge the gap of knowledge between rich and poor in one solution!