FEBRUARY 2024 – AN UPDATE
It’s nearly two years since the Sewing Centre was set up… and it’s not all been plain sailing. Most of the women coming to learn to sew have been farmer’s wives and are committed to helping in the fields at harvest time. This has meant rather intermittent attendance at the Centre , resulting in a reduction in the level of skill needed to produce commercially viable items. This has been exacerbated by a problem with the original Sewing Trainer and more recently by the failure of the harvest in 2023 which left so many farming families in real financial trouble.
All the women at the Centre except for supervisor Chan Thy have had to take full time jobs to earn money, leaving no time to continue their sewing. But Chan Thy is still coming and is making bags, curtains and uniform shirts/trousers and Seng Oun is very good with skirts.
They are hoping for an order of 200+ souvenir bags for an upcoming anniversary so, fingers crossed!
Sister Vangie is currently exploring other ways to keep the Centre going: students from the local high school come two afternoons a week to learn basic sewing and she is actively looking for an experienced sewist who is keen to work with the women. Again, fingers crossed!!
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MAY 2022: Support Cambodia’s latest project is the setting up of a Sewing Centre in Pailin City giving the opportunity for local women and girls to learn a sustainable skill that will earn them money.
Sister Vangie Dunton and parish priest Father Carlos Eduardo Alfaro are behind this major initiative, a long-term project which will hopefully expand as time goes on.
The Centre, which can take up to 20 trainees at a time, is housed in the crypt under Sacred Heart Catholic Church just outside Pailin City, a few miles from the Thai border. The space has been converted into a workshop and training area, much of the heavy work being done by young volunteers attending the nearby Marist Education Centre. Machines and equipment have been purchased and a professional sewing trainer from Siem Reap engaged for one year to train the initial intake of trainees. The most promising of these will then be selected to receive further instruction so that next year they can take over the running of the Centre.
The training is intensive, 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, for two three-month units back to back. At the end of the six month period, the trainee will receive a certificate. Skills covered include the making of school uniform, bags, blouses, T-shirts and Khmer dress with a view to selling locally and eventually making the Centre self-supporting. Training is free but trainees pay $2-$5 per month to cover water and electricity. Garment-making, along with tourism, is Cambodia’s main industry with a wide range of employment opportunities available for skilled workers and so for rural women, this initiative could be life-changing.
Support Cambodia are particularly pleased to be involved in the Sewing Centre: empowering women and girls will hugely benefit the communities they live in – “when you empower a woman, you empower the whole world [village]”[Ruth Mumbi 2018] . We have funded the entire setting up of the Centre and are committed to supporting it financially for the first three years.
If you would like to contribute to supporting the Centre, please visit our DONATE page, marking your donation ‘Sewing Centre’.