What better way to get to know people than to travel around the world and listen to their stories? That’s always been a dream for Ariston Vallejos, founder of a new nonprofit organization called The Important Project.
Vallejos says the idea for his startup is to create an all-inclusive global community that’s not separated by cultural, language, or physical barriers. He says he and his team have met some pretty inspiring people along the way.
“We interviewed a Syrian refugee who was imprisoned and tortured for over 50 days in Iran,” says Vallejos. “He was smuggled into Turkey where he lived nine months in a barn before he sought asylum through the United Nations. We’re definitely telling his story.”
While he was in college, Vallejos lived in Japan for six months. He came up with the idea for the Important Project even before he returned to the U.S.
“The biggest lesson I learned while abroad in Japan is essentially that less is more,” says Vallejos, a member at Portland’s WeWork Custom House. “In Japan, people typically have far less in terms of space and material belongings than we do in this country. I got rid of the things in my life that were excessive in order to seek a much more happier, simpler lifestyle.”
Vallejos says he’s determined to travel to 30 countries for a year to find subjects who have interesting and inspiring stories to share with the world.
Vallejos hopes to publish a series of photo books featuring the people he has met on his journeys. His recently launched Kickstarter campaign seeks to raise $85,000 to help defray the costs of printing and travel abroad.
“So far, we have interviewed over 800 people,” Vallejos says, “so this will be a very robust collection.”