We've gotten a great deal of valuable help from a number of volunteers who have come for periods of 3 weeks or more. They leave with new friends and a great sense of satisfaction, and we get a few more books closer to publication.

But our culture and society are probably quite different from yours, and a few weeks isn't enough time for many well-intentioned volunteers to understand and adjust to those differences enough to be effective. If you think you'd like to volunteer at Big Brother Mouse, we've therefore set up the following policy:

On your first visit to Laos, focus on enjoying the country, its people, and culture. Sponsor a book party with us, in a rural village. But instead of donating the cost yourself, hold a fundraiser with friends before you come, then show them pictures afterwards. Helping us to get books to more villages, and telling people about what we're doing, is the most important volunteer contribution you can make.

On that first village, come in every morning for a week to help young people practice their English. It's a chance for you to learn about their lives and culture and needs and interests.

And spend some time in rural villages. You won't understand Laos just from visiting Luang Prabang or Vientiane. Many of the young people you meet will be happy to take you to their village if it's close enough.

At that point, if you'd like to do more on that trip, or would like to come back, please be sure to talk with Khamla or Sasha about your interests and skills.

Then, either after that first week, or on a return trip, we'll be happy to talk with you, in person, about opportunities for doing more. This is only practical in person; we have found that trying to arrange volunteer opportunities by email is not productive. Some possibilities include:

Help a young writer in Luang Prabang

We have some young artists with remarkable natural talents to illustrate our books. But good writing skills are much harder to come by. If you have a writing or editorial background, and can commit for at least three weeks, we'll match you with a student, to work on a book together.

Layout a book

We try to have books prepared by our staff; it's a chance for young people here to learn this skill. But sometimes we have books that involve a more complex layout than our staff at that time can handle; or we simply are backlogged. If you have solid book design and layout experience, we will often have a book like that that we'll be happy to assign to you.

Teach computer skills

If you're in Luang Prabang for three weeks or more, there may be an opportunity for you to help one of our staff learn some skills while working on a project together. Desktop publishing, graphics, and database skills are all needed from time to time.