Each family contributes equal amounts of labor, material, and money to village projects.

It was one of several millennium village projects around seeking to regenerate inner-city areas.

Government funds were also provided for village projects in which local people built schools and roads, while free health care and education were introduced.

In addition to new schoolhouses, they showed off village projects for breeding pigs, poultry, cattle and shrimp.

Neighbors Pitch In He said caring for them had become something of a village project.

While serving, he "sometimes took leaves of absence to work on village projects in Uganda and elsewhere."

Not everybody thinks the village project, at $7.5 million, has been a success so far.

When OBI started operations, village projects including kindergarten schools for the poor were set up.

Volunteers are needed to teach English or work on village projects, and you can simultaneously take Thai language and cooking courses.

Mason has now retired from his full-time teaching career and currently lives in Dehradun, where he is working on a village project near Meerut.