Christmas arrives at the Daughters

A set of Christmas bunting goes through a quality control inspection.

Christmas came early this year in the Daughters of Cambodia sewing room, where clients are busy stuffing stockings and sewing Christmas tree bunting. The sewing room has been a tangle of red and green since July, as our production team vamped up work on seasonal decor in order to meet an anticipated high demand for those products this fall.

This line's of Christmas products includes some of last year's best-sellers, like our Khmer-inspired Sarong Stocking, Christmas party bows and stuffed reindeer, as well as a few new items, like our snow-white polar bear bear sporting a festive Christmas scarf.

Our Christmas line will hit the shelves at the Daughters of Cambodia Visitor Centre shop in September. 

A client sews the lining into a Khmer-inspired Sarong Christmas Stocking.

A sample reindeer sits atop a pile of reindeer parts in the sewing room.

Stretching to the limit

Daughters of Cambodia's increased outreach efforts, which started at the end of 2012 and have continued into 2013, have been more fruitful than we could have imagined, with more than 100 new clients starting work with us so far this year. However, this exciting growth also brings new challenges for Daughters, as space in our sewing room and Operations Centre is becoming increasingly limited with each new client.

Nonetheless, Daughters is committed to maintaining our policy of never turning away a girl or boy hoping to leave the sex industry. But in order to do so, we will need to expand. Daughters is currently in negotiations with our landlord regarding rental of a building he is constructing immediately adjacent to ours. Such an expansion, if negotiations go well, could more than double our available space and ensure our strategic presence in the red-light district of Stung Mean Chey for years to come.

In the meantime, Daughters is continuing our outreach program to draw in as many clients as possible, and we're set to launch a new nighttime outreach later this month.

White Linen Boutique Hotel Opens

Daughters of Cambodia's newest social enterprise, the White Linen Boutique Hotel, opens today. In a country ravaged by sex trafficking, White Linen offers hope to young women who are looking for freedom and dignity outside the sex industry. White Linen aims to provide relevant training and employment to our clients in order to meet demand in Cambodia's growing hospitality industry, giving our clients the ability to sustain their exit from the sex industry long after their graduation from Daughters.

The name of the hotel was inspired by Scripture: "She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear," (Rev. 19:8, NLT), and represents a counter-narrative to the commonly held Cambodian belief that "women are like pure white cloth that cannot be made clean once stained." At White Linen, we help victims of trafficking see their own value through dignified, rewarding employment.

Soak in the view from our penthouse suite's private rooftop terrace.

The hotel itself is located on a tranquil street near the popular Russian Market and features five custom-designed rooms in a light and airy layout. Its breezy balconies and complementary home-cooked breakfasts make White Linen the perfect home-away-from-home for couples and tourists, while its common lounges, guest kitchens and flexible booking options make this hotel ideal for large families and teams.

Beautifully made custom products from the Daughters of Cambodia Sewing Room and the Sons of Cambodia wood workshop and screen printing press are on display throughout the hotel, from the screen-printed pillows inviting guests to "relax" or "sleep," to the hand-sewn laundry bags and complementary toothbrush pouches.

To learn more about White Linen Boutique Hotel, visit our website or book online now. To see even more photos of the hotel, visit our Flickr album.

The Frangipani Suite boasts a stunning four-poster bed.

Even the hotel's exterior is done in White Linen's signature light blue and white color scheme.