Lotus Silk was founded by Vannary San back in 2003 with the purpose of promoting local silk sourced from weaver communities in the provinces. The social enterprise also has several full-time employees at the beautiful showroom/workshop in Phnom Penh, including a group of female tailors, who are offered a nice work environment and a salary significantly higher than what the average garment factory worker makes.
Our new hair bows look like candy, don’t you think? The bows are made from organic Peace Silk which is silk made without killing the silk worms. We use raw silk, which has a somewhat coarser texture and a more discreet luster compared to silk satin, and the bows come in 3 neutral colors that go with everything. Perfect for those days when a scrunchie might be too casual, but you still want your hair up without too much work.
I usually stay at Kanary’s homestay when I am in Phnom Penh, and on the ground floor in her house, CWSG has a small shop, where you can buy some of the things the group has made.
Sylvia from Chimmuwa is also launching a retreat for traumatized women. She offers the women support and a safe place to stay and help them get the professional treatment they need.
Meas Family Homestay is located in the outskirts of the small village Prey Tiet in Cambodia. It is Cambodia’s first homestay, and since 1999 they have been welcoming friends and guests curious to experience Cambodian village life. The homestay is run by Linda Meas, who is also one of the founders of Weavers Project, which is part of the social enterprise Sonas World.
LWH (Local Women’s Handicrafts) is a textile and handicraft collective in Nepal founded by Nasreen Sheikh. Nasreen is a former sweatshop child worker and she has experienced the dark side of the garment industry on her own body, being forced to work 12-15 hours a day.
In my previous blog post I talk to Chantha from Angkor Bullet Jewellery about his life and what inspired him to start his social business, and in this blog post, we are visiting the workshop to see how the bullet casings are melted and transformed into jewelry.
After Hong Kong, I went to Mae Sot in Thailand, close to the border to Myanmar. Here, I was meeting with Borderline Collective, which is an organization supporting migrant and refugee women from Myanmar. The women are organized in smaller autonomous collectives based in the small villages along the border.
Angkor Bullet Jewellery is a social enterprise founded by Chantha Thoenun. Chantha’s mother passed away when he was 4 years old and his father was killed by Khmer Rouge when he was 8, so Chantha went to live with his grandparents.
If you travel a lot, or you just need to sleep during daytime, you know that a good sleep mask is priceless. I have tried so many sleep masks through the years, but I have never managed to find one that ticked all the boxes. So I decided to make my own, and together with the women at CWSG we started working on the best sleep mask ever.
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