Friday, November 4, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
God is faithful to us!
God is so faithful to help us when there seem to be no other solutions! We had a situation of threat recently, which had no clear solutions without risking lives. One of our clients, N, has been with us for 2 years. She has dysfunctional behaviours and some frontal lobe damage from a childhood injury (ADHD and anger). Her husband is a violent ex-convict who beat her, and whose violence and alcoholism has caused serious health problems in one of their 3 children who got caught in the cross fire. He was referred to Teen Challenge last year by Hope for Life, a local church we partner with, and he has made huge changes after becoming a Christian there, so much that Teen Challenge and the local church are both interested in employing him as staff in the future. N also became a Christian through Hope for Life. But N has been engaging in very destructive behaviours in recent months (night time activities with bad people, live-in lovers, regularly abandoning her daughters aged 9 and 13, and substance abuse). She developed paranoia towards our staff member, Socheata, who is the manager of the Sewing Business where N is employed. When something goes ‘wrong’ in N’s experience (such as her shoes going missing 2 weeks ago, which subsequently were found on a different shoe rack), she curses Socheata and has recently been threatening her. We take her threats seriously. Her husband was imprisoned in the past for causing grievous bodily harm to a neighbour after N told him this neighbour has said bad words about N. Recently we suspended N for cursing others and bringing pornography into the building. N then threatened that a 3rd party (who she named, and he is a definite threat) would hurt either Socheata or Ruth the director if we fired her from Daughters. She also stated that her husband will quit at Teen Challenge if we fire her, and will be harmful to his recovery and Christian development, which is clearly in the best interests of the children. We sent out this story to our prayer network last Friday with this request: ‘Please pray for this client, to truly come to repentance before Jesus and put her life right, and that we will have great wisdom to know the best decision and strategy in this situation’. Before one day had gone by, we had a wonderful answer to this prayer. Last Friday at Daughters church, Ruth preached on repentance and purity. It was a powerful and anointed message. This client, N, was there. She cried all the way through the message. At the end of the message, she responded, desperate to repent and change her life and desperate to end the sin and behaviours she's been engaged in. It seems to be a wonderful victory and the best answer to this difficult situation :) Please pray for N to continue to sustain this choice, and to walk it through day by day.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Recent News & Updates!
The Sewing room:
During the first half of this year, we have begun implementing exciting plans in the Sewing Room for this year – we are aiming during 2011 to become more professional in our production and capacity, and have commenced new training courses, run by a professional trainer to the garment industry in Cambodia. Ten of our best producers in The Sewing Room have attended 3 training modules in pattern cutting. We also chose 16 clients to attend production management training courses, which were held in April and May, and all 16 graduated, and are putting their skills to practice in our production rooms. We have been purchasing new production equipment and having coaching from a professional production trainer, to increase efficiency, quality and productivity.
We added a large number of new products to our range and these are available in our online catalogue - www.daughtersofcambodia.org/downloads/Daughters%20Catalogue%202011.pdf
Our new catalogue includes the beautiful jewellery made at Daughters, which uses locally sourced raw materials and several re-cycled objects. We have added lots of pretty accessories and cushions. We have also launched our beautiful new sleepwear range, designed by British designer Emma Hawthorne exclusively for Daughters. It is made from soft, light cotton in pretty colours and trimmed with hand-made lace. Emma is returning to Cambodia this summer to work at Daughters longer term, and we are excited about that.
Jewellery
Since opening our shop last year, we have found that our biggest seller, of all the products we make at Daughters, is the jewellery. We have recently hired an additional 3 clients from Daughters Sewing Room to make jewellery, making a total of 7 girls full time in the jewellery program. In addition, we have 4 of our boys in Sons program cutting the coconut pieces that we use on the jewellery along with other accessories such as buckles and buttons.
Wwere blessed to have several designers working with us since January, 2 short term jewellery designers and an accessories designer.
Silk Screen Printing:
WE have been working hard to improve our t-shirt program, under Sons of Cambodia. We have 2 volunteers, Chet and Amarja, both from the USA, who are managing the production and systems, such as inventory flow, management of orders, and systems for tracking stock. We have a silk screen expert, Matt from the USA, who is Amarja is training the clients in silk screen printing skills, and Matt is also working on some exciting new designs.
Other Skills Trainings
Two clients in our Visitor Centre commenced a twelve month training in management, provided by Hagar Career Pathways. They will return to Daughters at the end of the training and use their skills to each manage 2 of the small businesses based in our Visitor Centre. We are very excited for them!
Social Services Programs
Our social work team, now 7 people, has been very busy and active. Their work is often dealing with critical situations and emergencies involving domestic violence, or interventions to prevent the trafficking of babies or young children. Another very common problem is the clients’ lack of skill in managing their money. We have appointed one of our counsellors as money management counsellor, since many clients engage in gambling, reckless spending, or losing money because they do not keep it safe. Many also have debts that mean they cannot buy food or pay rent. We are working with them to help them reduce their debts, save a portion of their salaries, and manage their money better.
We have seen some recent successes in our men’s project. This is a new project working with husbands who perpetrate violence, or engage in other dysfunctional behaviours. We have made referrals of 3 husbands to a residential treatment program for substance addictions, and they are making extremely positive progress. We have been building relationship with a few other husbands, and have also seen them implement growing behaviour changes through the behaviour management techniques our social workers have been teaching them. We often find that their children are caught up in the family problems and some have been at risk of being trafficked as acts of revenge or due to neglect. We have been able to successfully prevent several babies recently from being trafficked. We have also made 2 referrals to a women’s refuge for victims of domestic violence, and this intervention has been very valuable in proving safety and support for those victims.
We promoted one client in the Sons program to be supervisor of the other boys. Since coming to Sons, he demonstrated radical lifestyle change from the first day, and has grown by leaps and bounds in taking initiative and responsibility. He is a fantastic peer mentor to the other boys, who respect him and learn from his example. His work is diligent and conscientious. We are very proud of him.
Workshop Program
We have held educational workshops recently on the following topics:
The importance of hydration (drinking enough water)
Emotional abuse education
Making healthy choices when selecting a mate
Prevention of Diarrhea
STD education
Correct use of medicines
Preventing intestinal parasites
The Immune System
Drug & substance misuse workshops (external trainers)
How to implement a savings scheme & money management
Hepatitis, dengue and malaria prevention
Education in the use and misuse of medications
Parenting skills
Medical Program:
We had an outbreak of rubella among our clients earlier this year, and due to the steady number of pregnant clients, we developed some new health policies which we have been implementing for the purposes of infection control. Rubella is particularly harmful to the foetus in the first trimester of pregnancy, and is very widespread among the community at large in Cambodia. We introduced isolation measures for clients with rubella and the incidences were eradicated at Daughters, which we were thankful for.
We have widened our infection control measures to include a range of other diseases that are important to eliminate without further spread.
Photography Classes:
We have 5 clients who are learning photography skills for a project which we ran for 4 months. They were trained by a photographer George Hsia from the USA. We will be producing a photojournal shortly as a result of this project. It was a great opportunity for them to learn this beautiful skill.
During the first half of this year, we have begun implementing exciting plans in the Sewing Room for this year – we are aiming during 2011 to become more professional in our production and capacity, and have commenced new training courses, run by a professional trainer to the garment industry in Cambodia. Ten of our best producers in The Sewing Room have attended 3 training modules in pattern cutting. We also chose 16 clients to attend production management training courses, which were held in April and May, and all 16 graduated, and are putting their skills to practice in our production rooms. We have been purchasing new production equipment and having coaching from a professional production trainer, to increase efficiency, quality and productivity.
We added a large number of new products to our range and these are available in our online catalogue - www.daughtersofcambodia.org/downloads/Daughters%20Catalogue%202011.pdf
Our new catalogue includes the beautiful jewellery made at Daughters, which uses locally sourced raw materials and several re-cycled objects. We have added lots of pretty accessories and cushions. We have also launched our beautiful new sleepwear range, designed by British designer Emma Hawthorne exclusively for Daughters. It is made from soft, light cotton in pretty colours and trimmed with hand-made lace. Emma is returning to Cambodia this summer to work at Daughters longer term, and we are excited about that.
Jewellery
Since opening our shop last year, we have found that our biggest seller, of all the products we make at Daughters, is the jewellery. We have recently hired an additional 3 clients from Daughters Sewing Room to make jewellery, making a total of 7 girls full time in the jewellery program. In addition, we have 4 of our boys in Sons program cutting the coconut pieces that we use on the jewellery along with other accessories such as buckles and buttons.
Wwere blessed to have several designers working with us since January, 2 short term jewellery designers and an accessories designer.
Silk Screen Printing:
WE have been working hard to improve our t-shirt program, under Sons of Cambodia. We have 2 volunteers, Chet and Amarja, both from the USA, who are managing the production and systems, such as inventory flow, management of orders, and systems for tracking stock. We have a silk screen expert, Matt from the USA, who is Amarja is training the clients in silk screen printing skills, and Matt is also working on some exciting new designs.
Other Skills Trainings
Two clients in our Visitor Centre commenced a twelve month training in management, provided by Hagar Career Pathways. They will return to Daughters at the end of the training and use their skills to each manage 2 of the small businesses based in our Visitor Centre. We are very excited for them!
Social Services Programs
Our social work team, now 7 people, has been very busy and active. Their work is often dealing with critical situations and emergencies involving domestic violence, or interventions to prevent the trafficking of babies or young children. Another very common problem is the clients’ lack of skill in managing their money. We have appointed one of our counsellors as money management counsellor, since many clients engage in gambling, reckless spending, or losing money because they do not keep it safe. Many also have debts that mean they cannot buy food or pay rent. We are working with them to help them reduce their debts, save a portion of their salaries, and manage their money better.
We have seen some recent successes in our men’s project. This is a new project working with husbands who perpetrate violence, or engage in other dysfunctional behaviours. We have made referrals of 3 husbands to a residential treatment program for substance addictions, and they are making extremely positive progress. We have been building relationship with a few other husbands, and have also seen them implement growing behaviour changes through the behaviour management techniques our social workers have been teaching them. We often find that their children are caught up in the family problems and some have been at risk of being trafficked as acts of revenge or due to neglect. We have been able to successfully prevent several babies recently from being trafficked. We have also made 2 referrals to a women’s refuge for victims of domestic violence, and this intervention has been very valuable in proving safety and support for those victims.
We promoted one client in the Sons program to be supervisor of the other boys. Since coming to Sons, he demonstrated radical lifestyle change from the first day, and has grown by leaps and bounds in taking initiative and responsibility. He is a fantastic peer mentor to the other boys, who respect him and learn from his example. His work is diligent and conscientious. We are very proud of him.
Workshop Program
We have held educational workshops recently on the following topics:
The importance of hydration (drinking enough water)
Emotional abuse education
Making healthy choices when selecting a mate
Prevention of Diarrhea
STD education
Correct use of medicines
Preventing intestinal parasites
The Immune System
Drug & substance misuse workshops (external trainers)
How to implement a savings scheme & money management
Hepatitis, dengue and malaria prevention
Education in the use and misuse of medications
Parenting skills
Medical Program:
We had an outbreak of rubella among our clients earlier this year, and due to the steady number of pregnant clients, we developed some new health policies which we have been implementing for the purposes of infection control. Rubella is particularly harmful to the foetus in the first trimester of pregnancy, and is very widespread among the community at large in Cambodia. We introduced isolation measures for clients with rubella and the incidences were eradicated at Daughters, which we were thankful for.
We have widened our infection control measures to include a range of other diseases that are important to eliminate without further spread.
Photography Classes:
We have 5 clients who are learning photography skills for a project which we ran for 4 months. They were trained by a photographer George Hsia from the USA. We will be producing a photojournal shortly as a result of this project. It was a great opportunity for them to learn this beautiful skill.
Friday, January 21, 2011
some thoughts for the new year
When I was young, I used to dream of being a world changer, a history-maker, for the purposes of God. Now I'm (slightly) older, I know that anyone can do this - it doesn't depend on ability, or some personal attribute, it depends on stepping out in obedience to God, putting faith to the test, and the power of prayer. If you are exactly where God has called you, doing what he's anointed you to do in the place he's anointed you to be, you can live life that is exciting and miraculous beyond your wildest dreams. Not glamorous - obedience is a place of humility and there is a cost. But a place where you know God, because either he comes through for you or you crash and burn. And he comes through every time :)
This has been my experience. I am living my dream. Its not an ability of my own, or personal charisma, or super-human energy or anything else that depends on me - its all about God creating something amazing and me being privileged to be a part of it. He is the one who does amazing things over and over, to make every difference in our hurting world. He is the one who shines :)
This has been my experience. I am living my dream. Its not an ability of my own, or personal charisma, or super-human energy or anything else that depends on me - its all about God creating something amazing and me being privileged to be a part of it. He is the one who does amazing things over and over, to make every difference in our hurting world. He is the one who shines :)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
a few words to close the year with...
2010 has been an exciting year for Daughters of growth and expansion and change in wonderful areas, with new projects, and amazing outcomes, all of which greatly exceeded my expectation.
We opened our new Visitor Centre, as previously described, housing 3 businesses, and able to accommodate the large number of visitors who are interested in supporting our work. This centre has been covering its own costs for some time already. Due to the volume of products being sold in the shop from our sewing business, The Sewing Room is also covering its own costs, which are substantial, being our biggest business employing 50 clients. This outcome is greatly beyond our expectation, and helps us move towards our goal of sustainability.
We started a new project, Sons, in February offering opportunities to male transsexual sex workers (‘ladyboys’) to change their lives, with 2 new small business schemes geared to their skills. We now have 12 boys who are stable and committed. They are making great progress. Their needs and struggles are different to those of the girls, and we are learning along with them. They are precious and a blessing.
We received funding for a social work program in June, and now have an active counselling and social work team, headed by a British Social Worker, Amanda, which is actively creating change in domestic situations of clients, to improve quality of life, reduce risk factors and protect children.
We commenced a new project to combat gender-based violence, which is a huge problem for our clients. We have 2 staff employed in this project, 1 female and 1 male. The male social worker is working with Cambodian husbands to reduce dysfunctional behaviours including domestic violence, but also addictions, abuse, unwillingness to financially contribute, frequenting brothels, and many more behaviours, in order to raise the standard of domestic life for vulnerable women. Dysfunctional male behaviour norms are a huge problem in Cambodia, but are largely untackled and we are thrilled to be making a difference in this area also.
The most thrilling aspect of all is the change I see in the clients who work at Daughters; as I interact with them each day, I see life, hope, joy, dignity and self-worth shining out of them tangibly, along with a determination. This determination comes from empowering them in the ways we strive to do, so that they are working to raise their own lives in greater and greater ways into a place of having surmounted, conquered, the chains of their past, having gained for themselves self-esteem in their hearts, dignity from their work, increasing quality of domestic life, financial security, a respected status in society. Most of all they know they are loved, and this is where healing begins.
I cannot end the year without acknowledging the incredible contribution made by Daughters’ dedicated and gifted team of staff, both Cambodians and foreigners, and the large number of volunteers who have raised our capacity in various ways throughout the year. None of this would have been possible without them, and I wish to express my thanks to all of them for working so hard to give our clients a new and beautiful life that would not have been possible otherwise.
A huge thank you is also due to our donors, both large and small, who believe in what we do, support us in our stress (!) and work incredibly hard to raise funds without which none of this would be possible.
We opened our new Visitor Centre, as previously described, housing 3 businesses, and able to accommodate the large number of visitors who are interested in supporting our work. This centre has been covering its own costs for some time already. Due to the volume of products being sold in the shop from our sewing business, The Sewing Room is also covering its own costs, which are substantial, being our biggest business employing 50 clients. This outcome is greatly beyond our expectation, and helps us move towards our goal of sustainability.
We started a new project, Sons, in February offering opportunities to male transsexual sex workers (‘ladyboys’) to change their lives, with 2 new small business schemes geared to their skills. We now have 12 boys who are stable and committed. They are making great progress. Their needs and struggles are different to those of the girls, and we are learning along with them. They are precious and a blessing.
We received funding for a social work program in June, and now have an active counselling and social work team, headed by a British Social Worker, Amanda, which is actively creating change in domestic situations of clients, to improve quality of life, reduce risk factors and protect children.
We commenced a new project to combat gender-based violence, which is a huge problem for our clients. We have 2 staff employed in this project, 1 female and 1 male. The male social worker is working with Cambodian husbands to reduce dysfunctional behaviours including domestic violence, but also addictions, abuse, unwillingness to financially contribute, frequenting brothels, and many more behaviours, in order to raise the standard of domestic life for vulnerable women. Dysfunctional male behaviour norms are a huge problem in Cambodia, but are largely untackled and we are thrilled to be making a difference in this area also.
The most thrilling aspect of all is the change I see in the clients who work at Daughters; as I interact with them each day, I see life, hope, joy, dignity and self-worth shining out of them tangibly, along with a determination. This determination comes from empowering them in the ways we strive to do, so that they are working to raise their own lives in greater and greater ways into a place of having surmounted, conquered, the chains of their past, having gained for themselves self-esteem in their hearts, dignity from their work, increasing quality of domestic life, financial security, a respected status in society. Most of all they know they are loved, and this is where healing begins.
I cannot end the year without acknowledging the incredible contribution made by Daughters’ dedicated and gifted team of staff, both Cambodians and foreigners, and the large number of volunteers who have raised our capacity in various ways throughout the year. None of this would have been possible without them, and I wish to express my thanks to all of them for working so hard to give our clients a new and beautiful life that would not have been possible otherwise.
A huge thank you is also due to our donors, both large and small, who believe in what we do, support us in our stress (!) and work incredibly hard to raise funds without which none of this would be possible.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Daughters New Visitor Centre!
At last, I can proudly announce the successful opening of our own new visitor centre. This is a beautiful space housing several Daughters' businesses, to which the public can come and learn about our work, be educated about the issues and realities of sex trafficking in Cambodia and support Daughters through the many customer opportunities (shop, women's spa and top floor cafe). It is located on st 178 (art street), opposite the University of Fine Arts' new art gallery. We employ around 14 girls here, some of whom are training as managers and other positions of responsibility.
The cafe, called Sugar 'n Spice, opened mid-June and has had a steady stream of customers who have been giving great feedback. We could not have done this without the skills of our kiwi Chef, Rich, whose amazing culinary talents have meant a fantastic menu and 3 highly skilled trainee chefs. The cafe is intended as a place for vocational training, where new clients will train and then graduate to work in top end restaurants and hotels. We offer comfy sofas, free wifi, delicious coffee, original smoothies which are fast becoming famous along with our outstanding brownie, light lunches, desserts and homebaked treats. All at unbeatable prices! It is not surprising our customers keep coming back.
Customer feedback so far includes; 'We really enjoyed our visit, the food was great and served in good portions. What an inspiring business - the slide show was very moving, and presented the trafficking situation well. Thankyou and good luck to all the girls'; 'The food and service at the cafe was wonderful! I definately would love to come back soon'; 'What a gorgous place - I could stay and browse in the shop for ages. Beautiful food and super service in the cafe' (Australia); and 'Service was gracious and efficient, the environment & setting is beautiful. I will be telling all I know to come here' (UK).
The shop sells the beautiful products made in the Sewing Room. Many of our products are made with eco-friendly naturally dyed cotton in earth tones, and includes accessories (jewellery, bags, scarves etc), clothing, and home furnishings. Jewellery is made on site and you can watch this being produced en route to the women's spa and visitor exhibitions. The women's spa specialises in head, shoulder and face massage, along with hand and food treatments including massage and pedicures/manicures. A registered Canadian massage therapist trained the girls, and as a result they have highly professional skills.
The visitor exhibitions include information boards scattered around the building, along with a slide show presentation in our dedicated presentation room, which gives insight into the issues and problems faced by victims of trafficking, and the solutions Daughters is able to offer.
We are very blessed to have this beautiful new centre, and thankful to everybody who has participated in making it possible, including donors and volunteers, and the girls themselves who are the true stars :)
The cafe, called Sugar 'n Spice, opened mid-June and has had a steady stream of customers who have been giving great feedback. We could not have done this without the skills of our kiwi Chef, Rich, whose amazing culinary talents have meant a fantastic menu and 3 highly skilled trainee chefs. The cafe is intended as a place for vocational training, where new clients will train and then graduate to work in top end restaurants and hotels. We offer comfy sofas, free wifi, delicious coffee, original smoothies which are fast becoming famous along with our outstanding brownie, light lunches, desserts and homebaked treats. All at unbeatable prices! It is not surprising our customers keep coming back.
Customer feedback so far includes; 'We really enjoyed our visit, the food was great and served in good portions. What an inspiring business - the slide show was very moving, and presented the trafficking situation well. Thankyou and good luck to all the girls'; 'The food and service at the cafe was wonderful! I definately would love to come back soon'; 'What a gorgous place - I could stay and browse in the shop for ages. Beautiful food and super service in the cafe' (Australia); and 'Service was gracious and efficient, the environment & setting is beautiful. I will be telling all I know to come here' (UK).
The shop sells the beautiful products made in the Sewing Room. Many of our products are made with eco-friendly naturally dyed cotton in earth tones, and includes accessories (jewellery, bags, scarves etc), clothing, and home furnishings. Jewellery is made on site and you can watch this being produced en route to the women's spa and visitor exhibitions. The women's spa specialises in head, shoulder and face massage, along with hand and food treatments including massage and pedicures/manicures. A registered Canadian massage therapist trained the girls, and as a result they have highly professional skills.
The visitor exhibitions include information boards scattered around the building, along with a slide show presentation in our dedicated presentation room, which gives insight into the issues and problems faced by victims of trafficking, and the solutions Daughters is able to offer.
We are very blessed to have this beautiful new centre, and thankful to everybody who has participated in making it possible, including donors and volunteers, and the girls themselves who are the true stars :)
We now have Sons!
Earlier this year we started a new program working with ‘ladyboys’, male transsexual sex workers known in Cambodia as '3rd sex'. They are a completely unreached and highly ostracised population in Cambodia. Generally they only come out after midnight, due to the blatant social discrimination they face, which at the very least includes insults hurled at them from passers by if they venture outside in daylight hours. We conducted outreaches with these boys in the early part of 2010, and as a result started Sons project. We invited these boys to join Sons if they wanted to end sex work and earn alternative income. Thanks to a partnering business from Europe, we were able to offer them jobs making hand-made leather buttons, and have since added another small business to this project, silk screen printing. Their attendance has fluctuated, with a high attrition rate, but also a number of steady participants throughout, who have begun implementing huge life changes. The boys have been attending creative and educational programs, including music classes (we have a plan to form a worship band with them in the future) and literacy classes. We have had wonderful male volunteers working with the boys to show friendship and loving care, and the boys have chosen to attend our Friday church where most of them have become Christians. Two of the boys who became Christians a few weeks ago have made the decision to take on male identity once again, and end their promiscuous lifestyles, as they seek to follow Jesus. We are very blessed by them and thankful to the volunteers who have impacted them so much with friendship and unconditional love and acceptance. We see God is at work in their lives in a beautiful way and give him the Glory for this.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Take a look at all our hard work!
At last, the news we have all been awaiting! We have opened our beautiful Daughters of Cambodia shop - phase I of the Daughters Visitor Centre - on March 25th 2010. It has taken 5 months to complete the renovations (should have taken 2 months max, but hey, this is Cambodia). It looks stunning, and we are thrilled with it. Until now, the products we make at Daughters have been exported overseas to wholesale buyers in Australia, the USA, and the UK, but since March 25th these beautiful products are available for the first time in our very own shop. The address is street 178, house 65eo, on the opposite side to the national museum and one block towards Street 19.
The products are made at Daughters centre by our clients - girls we have had the privilege of setting free from the sex industry, and empowering to change their lives. We offer the girls a job in our Fair Trade businesses, primarily The Sewing Room, where we produce gorgeous clothing, fashion accessories and home furnishings. We have at least 60 girls at any one time working with us, and they are my heroes - their courage, their resilience, their ability to take hold of new skills and learn to transform their own lives. From the pit to empowerment, hope, joy, life to the full.
I digress (I cannot help but get excited when I talk about the girls). Back to our shop. The location, it transpires, is divinely inspired; there is little comparable competition on st178 but many tourists and visitors. We are greatly enjoying the experience of doing business with the general public, learning what they like and which products are our best sellers. We had some great advice from Bonnie in that regard (thanks Bonnie, you are right about tops being high on the list!). Most of all we are enjoying having the opportunity to tell people about the work of Daughters and the issues of sex trafficking in Cambodia. Many people, amazingly, do not realize either the existence, or extent of, the problem.
So, sales have been going well and we are working hard on Phase II - the visitor exhibition rooms, the spa, and the Tea Rooms. I use the term 'Tea Rooms' because I am English, but in more cosmopolitan terms it is a Cafe, where we will serve light lunches (salads, sandwiches), a few main courses, lots of home baked goodies (try our brownie, it is the best Phnom Penh has on offer), great coffee, fresh teas using local flavours, delicious desserts (the best pavlova you have ever tasted, outside New Zealand of course), and some original smoothies you will write home about, believe me. The Cafe, which is named Sugar 'n Spice, will hopefully open mid-May. 7am-5.30pm, Monday - Saturday.
The Visitor Exhibition Rooms should be open by the end of April. These are a first in Cambodia, and an opportunity for the public to learn about sex trafficking and to read some of the personal reflections of the girls who have survived, and now thrive, at Daughters. The women's Spa will open at the same time as the visitor centre. The staff and clients involved in the new Spa voted recently about whether the Spa should be for women only. The vote was unanimously in favour. We believe in ownership, empowerment and choice at Daughters.
A word (or several) of thanks to a large number of volunteers for their great endeavours in this project:
• the designers (products and shop); Abbey, Olivia, Jennifer
• the marketing/graphics experts; Lisa, Liz, Lee Anne, Caroline
• skills trainers; Richard, Lois, Olivia, Bonnie, Henk, Maryke, Esther, Lene, Ruth from NZ
• exhibition information & research; Jenny, Sadie, Elisabeth
• photography exhibitions; Jaymie Friesen, Jeremy Maz
• the builders especially Samuel, Pete & Sharon for their sweat blood & toil. Well, hopefully not blood.
A word of thanks also to our donors, The Ratanak Fdn UK and Billy Graham Evangelistic Assoc for making this possible.
The products are made at Daughters centre by our clients - girls we have had the privilege of setting free from the sex industry, and empowering to change their lives. We offer the girls a job in our Fair Trade businesses, primarily The Sewing Room, where we produce gorgeous clothing, fashion accessories and home furnishings. We have at least 60 girls at any one time working with us, and they are my heroes - their courage, their resilience, their ability to take hold of new skills and learn to transform their own lives. From the pit to empowerment, hope, joy, life to the full.
I digress (I cannot help but get excited when I talk about the girls). Back to our shop. The location, it transpires, is divinely inspired; there is little comparable competition on st178 but many tourists and visitors. We are greatly enjoying the experience of doing business with the general public, learning what they like and which products are our best sellers. We had some great advice from Bonnie in that regard (thanks Bonnie, you are right about tops being high on the list!). Most of all we are enjoying having the opportunity to tell people about the work of Daughters and the issues of sex trafficking in Cambodia. Many people, amazingly, do not realize either the existence, or extent of, the problem.
So, sales have been going well and we are working hard on Phase II - the visitor exhibition rooms, the spa, and the Tea Rooms. I use the term 'Tea Rooms' because I am English, but in more cosmopolitan terms it is a Cafe, where we will serve light lunches (salads, sandwiches), a few main courses, lots of home baked goodies (try our brownie, it is the best Phnom Penh has on offer), great coffee, fresh teas using local flavours, delicious desserts (the best pavlova you have ever tasted, outside New Zealand of course), and some original smoothies you will write home about, believe me. The Cafe, which is named Sugar 'n Spice, will hopefully open mid-May. 7am-5.30pm, Monday - Saturday.
The Visitor Exhibition Rooms should be open by the end of April. These are a first in Cambodia, and an opportunity for the public to learn about sex trafficking and to read some of the personal reflections of the girls who have survived, and now thrive, at Daughters. The women's Spa will open at the same time as the visitor centre. The staff and clients involved in the new Spa voted recently about whether the Spa should be for women only. The vote was unanimously in favour. We believe in ownership, empowerment and choice at Daughters.
A word (or several) of thanks to a large number of volunteers for their great endeavours in this project:
• the designers (products and shop); Abbey, Olivia, Jennifer
• the marketing/graphics experts; Lisa, Liz, Lee Anne, Caroline
• skills trainers; Richard, Lois, Olivia, Bonnie, Henk, Maryke, Esther, Lene, Ruth from NZ
• exhibition information & research; Jenny, Sadie, Elisabeth
• photography exhibitions; Jaymie Friesen, Jeremy Maz
• the builders especially Samuel, Pete & Sharon for their sweat blood & toil. Well, hopefully not blood.
A word of thanks also to our donors, The Ratanak Fdn UK and Billy Graham Evangelistic Assoc for making this possible.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Daughters Shop
We are in the exciting preparation stages for opening our new store in downtown Phnom Penh. It is in an old French building on the Art Street (St178, opposite the National Museum), and has space inside for several outlets in the one store. A team of Cambodian builders have been renovating the premises, along with Pete from New Zealand. The ground floor will house the shop selling Daughters products, along with a women’s spa. Exhibition rooms will be situated on the next floor up, with a tea shop on the top floor. There are a number of purposes: it will be an outlet for Daughters products and businesses to generate sales locally; it will provide jobs to around 12 Daughters clients; it will also serve as an educational venue where the general public will have an opportunity to more about the situation regarding the sex industry in Cambodia in addition to supporting the work of Daughters.
We are thankful to have the amazing skills of Richard, a chef from New Zealand, who has been training the girls in cooking skills, and also an interior designer recently arrived, Jennifer from the USA, who is styling the store. We are thankful to many other volunteers at Daughters who are all very busy helping with the many preparations, including; customer service classes, English classes, spa skills training, graphic design and marketing, product design, screen printing techniques, and many more. In addition, we are blessed to have had a clothing designer, Olivia from Australia, who has designed a range of clothing for our new shop. Olivia has taught design classes each day in order to pass on her skills, both for sustaining Daughters design department and also to empower girls with skills for their own future businesses
We in the final preparation stages and are anticipating opening mid-March. Watch this space for more...
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