WHY THEY CALL IT VILLAGE NUMBER FIVE

When talking to foreign friends young volunteers call this place "Village Number Five" for two reasons. First, Baan Nam Bor Mai Viang Heng is a mouthful for non-Thai speakers.  Second, they're very proud that Project Protein is already up and running in four villages.

A villager and a volunteer plant a mango tree.

Project Protein is sustainable agriculture using modern but simple methods to increase variety and yields. Each village is a demonstration project to teach how to improve diets and promote independence.  

Many believe that Project Protein will become contagious throughout the region once eight to ten villages are fully operational.

Village Number Five was chosen because it is relatively small.


The project aims to show that Project Protein methods can work in a village of any size. 


Volunteers say that in spite of the village's size, there's great enthusiasm for the project.

Like the other villages, Number Five will have a fish pond, a carefully terraced three-part vegetable garden, a poultry operation, and a "mushroom hotel" to produce food for eating and selling.  

Recently volunteers from universities in Chiang Mai went to Number Five to help villagers put in the new fish pond,and draw initial plans for the vegetable gardens.  

The vegetable gardens will be arranged in three terraces, for best yields.  The top terrace will be for relatively fast-growing foods like onions, cabbage, carrots.

The next terrace will contain the medium-growing crops such as corn and bananas.

On the lowest level, villagers will plant trees including mango and jackfruit.  These will surround the poulty operation and will be nourished by chicken manure.