Vin: A Life Lived Small but Rich

Just relaxing

Vin makes about $300 a month as a professor of Marketing Law at a technical university in Thailand.  Every year he takes on a village-improvement project in the provinces. He organizes faculty and students at his school and community leaders in the target village, to build a little library, a cafeteria, or even new toilets.

Flanked by young volunteers he stands on street corners with photos and a megaphone, raising cash for the current project. Rush hour commuters from the Skytrain are generous.

For a break from teaching or the projects, he takes a bus and visits his mother's farm, and helps with the crop and the new baby rubber tree.  Sometimes he just takes a canoe and drifts.


Some of Vin's happiest moments are when he is celebrating a victory with his students: they've finally raised enough money to fund the current project. Now they'll shift from street corners to in the big city to a little rural school where they'll build a proper library.

Vin and his students after a great evening of fundraising