Our upcoming projects are always a dynamic mix.  Here’s a table that shows where we’re headed.  Check back often to see what’s been added. 

2023 Dates	Location	Activity	Second Week
July 8-17	Timor-Leste	Helping to teach in a Trade School about building electrical generators for extremely rural homes	Japan – Tokyo, Nara, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, and more, via the bullet trains
August 14-28	Bangkok, Thailand	By invitation of the Royal Thai Volunteers, teaching their volunteers how to build Solar Stoves and Bio-Sand Water Filters	Many sights around Thailand, including elephants, Temples, Present and Historical wonders
September 7 – 14	Santiago de Cuba	Teaching English	Only a 1-week Ptoject

See below for more information about each project.

 Timor-Leste

In our conversations with the faculty at the Dili Institute of Technology this week, we determined that we would be able to provide better support for their classes if we postponed our trip.  That’s because there are so many other events happening in the country at that time.  They’re having Parliamentary Elections that week, and the school, itself will be celebrating its own birthday all week.  The 22^nd of May will be Timor-Leste’s Independence Day – 21 years old – Hooray!  We’ve all come to an agreement: that’s not going to be the most productive time for us.  So, we’ve decided to move the trip to the week of July 8 through 17.  Yes, I realize that’s more than a week, but it gives you a couple extra days to relax on the beach before going home and getting back to work (although you can still leave a day or two earlier if you – or your employer – feel you must). 

You might notice that the description above does not mention the tour of Japan that we described previously.  Well, that excursion is still available, and has the same itinerary, but it’s now considered optional.  If you want to include that 2^nd week, be sure to let us know when you sign up to join us. 

These changes come with a minor adjustment in the costs, as well.  Here’s what that looks like:

Timor-Leste only:                              US$ 1,810.00 per person, double occupancy

Timor-Leste AND Japan:                 US$ 3,305.00 per person, double occupancy

And, as usual, Airfare is extra.

So check your schedule and see if this awesome project will fit for you now. 

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Timor-Leste is the 5^th newest country on this planet, and as such, they are consistently and diligently working on measures to develop and continuously improve every element of their society.  They already have some of the world’s finest coffee and chocolate – yes, we’ll be able to try some – and we are going there to help them make life easier for the thousands of folks who live in very remote areas.  We’ll go to the capital city of Dili, and work with the engineering students at the Dili Institute of Technology – their local Trade School.  Our project is to help these bright students do the brainstorming necessary to teach remote families how to construct small electrical generation systems for their homes.  We don’t necessarily need to have engineering training ourselves, although it would help, but our main goal is to share our ideas and strategies with them.  They can do the engineering work and our collaboration will help to speed up the process immeasurably. 

When we finally complete this educational project and see some homes being lit up, it will be time for us to depart for Japan.  We’ll spend a couple days touring Tokyo and then head south on a bullet train, stopping first at Osaka.  From there we’ll be able to visit the ancient capitals of Nara and Kyoto.  After that it will be time to hop back on the bullet train and head south to Hiroshima to see the museums and shrines that are so ubiquitous there.  We’ll spend one full, incredible day there, then a couple more in Tokyo before finally returning home.

Two unique destinations in one unbelievable trip.  Sign up today to reserve your spot. 

More about Timor-Leste 

We’ll be going to this young country (5^th newest on the planet – look up their incredible history) on May 13^th, 2023.  Our task is to work with their local Trade School, the Dili Institute of Technology, to help their mechanical engineering students design, build, and understand small electrical generators that can be used in rural homes.  Since there are so many homes in locations so remote that they have no hope of getting onto a power grid for several decades, a simple, inexpensive, and reliable source of power will likely change their lives in a most dramatic way.  In addition, we will be interacting and working with some coffee, cocoa, and spice farmers there to determine the best ways that we can help them on an ongoing basis.  It looks as if this will be a wildly productive week – and very satisfying, to boot. 

The last time we worked there we spent our second week in Bali.  In an effort to change things up a bit, this time we plan to spend a week in Japan on our way home.  After a couple days exploring Tokyo, we’ll hop on a bullet train and zip down to Osaka.  From there we can take day trips to the ancient Capitals of Nara and Kyoto.  Then we’ll continue south to Hiroshima, where we’ll spend some time exploring the museums and parks.  Then it will be back to Tokyo for a little more shopping and sightseeing and then off to home. 

We’ll put more details up here as they evolve.  You can save a spot on this project any time, though – just call or email us.