Fairtrade in action, our artisan stories

Lay La, Pattern Maker & Trainer, VillageWorks Songhkem

My name is Lay La and I am 32 years old. I was born in Kompong Cham Province. I contracted polio in both of my legs when I was one years old. I am the youngest son among three children in my family. 

I stayed at home, unable to walk to school, until 1997, when I came to Phnom Penh to attend vocational training. I trained for one year and was then selected to work for Marryknoll for six months.

Since July 2005, I have been working for VillageWorks Songkhem as a pattern marker and trainer. My current salary is $130 per month and it helps me support my family (my wife and child, and five younger relatives).

In the future, I want to set up my own producer group and retail shop to sell my products, but I need the capital to invest in this shop.

Sok Sokunthea, Producer, NCDP

“I am happy with my life now, I am able to earn between $50 to $100 USD per month as a producer for NCP. I am looking to find a home, starting a family and learning design skills."

However, things have not always been this easy for Sokunthea. The youngest daughter of seven, Sokunthea contracted polio when she was only one month old. Although she managed to attend school for several years near her home in Takeo Province, that all changed when her mother passed away in 2002.

Sokunthea was forced to quit school and help her father by working at home. After several years, she left home to find work in Phnom Penh.  She knew finding work would be difficult as she needed to find a workplace sympathetic to her needs.

She was fortunate to secure a position with NCDP in 2004, and is able to save money by staying in accommodation provided by NCDP.

Chin Veasna & wife, Peach, Producers, NCDP

Chin Veasna is now 25, and was born and brought up in a small village in Svay Rieng Province.  In 2002, his leg was amputated after disease left him unable to move his leg, which had not been medically treated before as his family could not afford it.  He was unable to complete school due to his illness and disability. Veasna had feared that finding employment would be very difficult, however, he moved to Phnom Penh and attended a tailoring programme for disabled people.  Within the year, he secured a position working with NCDP making handicrafts. 

He met his future wife, Peach Pov, who is also disabled by a motorbike accident at NCDP, and since, they’ve married and had their first child.  Through the wages paid by NCDP – between $50 to $100 USD per month – they are able to support themselves and their baby.  They hope to be able to set up their own business in the future.

Chin Sovann, Jewellery-Maker, Rajana

Chin Sovann was born in Phnom Penh in 1988. The youngest of three children, she stopped going to school when she reached grade eleven because she needed to support her family financially in order for her older brother and sisters to continue their education.

After Sovann stopped going to school, she planned to work at a garment factory, although she doubted whether she could get a job there as she had no tailoring skills. She then heard about the silversmith and jewellery training being offered by an Italian organisation called AFILIO where she trained for four months before being selected to work at Rajana Handicraft Association in 2005. After 5 years of working as a silversmith and jewellery-maker at Rajana, Sovana is very happy with the direction her life is going in.

She is now 22 years old and earns at least $70 per month, most of which goes to support her family. In the future, she wants to have her own tailoring shop, something that she admits many Cambodian women dream about.

Peach Yum, Producer, Village Works Songkhem

For many years, Peach Yum’s life was marked by tragedy. Having grown up the daughter of a poor farming family, Yum knew both hard work and the pain of an empty stomach from an early age.

When she married and had her own children, she continued farming and grew rice and vegetables. In 1991, her husband died of malaria and her son married and moved out of the family home, leaving Yum alone and dependent on other family members for money.

All that changed in 2000, when the Pastor at her local church told Yum about a training programme in the nearby village of Somrong, Kompong Thom Province. He suggested that she contact them and find out whether they could provide her with sewing training to enable her to find work to support herself.

When she arrived at Villageworks, she had no vocational skills, but picked up the art of sewing in just a few months. After her training, Yum was offered a permanent job and is now the longest serving member of the Villageworks team.

“Being at Villageworks has given me the confidence to set up my own business selling food from my house,” the 52-year-old says. “My life is so much better, now that I am working here.”

Seang Sopheak, Producer, Village Works Songkhem

Sopheak was born and raised in Baray less than a mile from the Villageworks training centre. The 26 year old grew up relying largely on the income her mother made selling fish at the local market.

Her father died when she was only 12, leaving her mother in need of further income to look after the family. Sopheak was sent to work as a housemaid for a wealthy family in the nearby town, although she managed to attend school in the morning and work in the afternoon.

When she was 19, she heard of the Village Works training programme and decided to make the journey to enquire about training and employment.  She was accepted onto the programme as an embroiderer and has recently begun learning how to weave. “Before I came here, I had to work very hard for very little money, but now, I am able to earn a fair wage and even learn new skills, which I really enjoy.”

Hoy Sinoeun, Trainee Producer, Village Works Songkhem

Sinoeun is joined in the photo with the Project Manager at Village Works - the most special Anak.  Hoy Sinoeun comes from a very poor family in the countryside, so she was only able to study until high school grade 10. She was unable to go to University as it was too expensive to pay for the studies, and her family could not afford it. There was little hope that she could continue with her studies as the Government only have very limited scholarships available.

She decided to train in sewing, and is attending a sewing machine class at Village Works in Phnom Penh for 3 months.  When she finishes her training, she will go back to her home in Baray and work for Village Works as a full-time sewer, so that she can earn a good wage to help her family.

 

Sun & Run, Producers, EcoCrafts

Neighbours Sun & Run live in the poorest community on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.  Before joining EcoCrafts in 2010, they worked in a garment factory for very little pay & had to work in very poor conditions.  They had little time to spend with their families and care for their children due to the long hours away working at the factory. 

They enjoy making a living making recycled jewellery whilst working from home.  They are also able to take better care of their home and their children.  They now earn a fair wage which they are much happier about and do not have to endanger their health from working in a factory. 

Mr Vy, Producer, KNN

Mr. Chey Vy lost his left leg from a landmine whilst in the Cambodian military in 1987.  After the injury, he returned to the countryside to live with his family as a farmer, but due to his disability, the farming was extremely hard and he was unable to support his family.  Given this, he attended a training opportunity in a special rehab centre to learn sewing and tailoring.  He now leads a home-based group of 4 working for KNN. 

As a farmer he used to earn only $50 per month, but now he can earn between $120 and $200 a month.  With this increased income and livelihood, his family living standard has improved greatly and he can send his two children to a school. 

Am Minas, Producer, KNN

Am aged 25 years old is the eldest of  four from a very poor family. Girls from poor families rarely receive much education and traditionally have to work to support the family. Her local community offered her a sewing training course and she started to sell her products in the market. She, however, made very little money and was unable to adequately support the family, so was very worried.

A neighbour told Am about KNN. She joined as a home based producer in 2005, and now can earn $150 a month.

 

 

El Phalla, Producer, KNN

El Phalla was born into a poor family and they did not have money to pay for her schooling.  She was married at 20 and now has two sons. She needs to work to help supplement the family income. 

Traditionally women in her situation would have to leave home to find work, but El decided to train herself to sew through the NGO’s training programme.  In 2005 she heard about KNN and applied to work for them as a home producer, whom she has worked for ever since.

Mr Ngoun Soa, Producer, KNN

Mr Ngoun Soa used to live in the Svay Reang province of Cambodia, but he did not have enough land to grow crops.  He left with his family to seek a better future in Phnom Penh.  In 1995  he attended a training programme learning to sew bags at home, and started selling his products to several different retailers. In 2006 he started working for KNN.

Mr Soa taught his wife to sew and she also works for KNN.  Together they earn between $200 and $250 a month. Initially Mr Soa used to struggle to buy the materials that he needed to make the bags, but KNN now offer him an initial payment so that he can afford to buy the raw materials.

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