“When people buy in Singapore, lives are improved in villages in Cambodia,” said Susan Lee, who runs Beyond Imagination’s (BI) retail outlet at the Girls’ Brigade Headquarters in Singapore. Beyond Imagination is the sole distributor for VillageWorks products in Singapore.

Post Khmer Rouge communist rule, thousands of Cambodian farming villages started producing and selling their traditional handicrafts such as bags, pouches, lacquerware and more. Many of them leave their farms to capitalize on the booming trade.

Later, however, some of the artisans find themselves exploited by middlemen who take a large portion of the profits, only to leave a meagre portion for themselves.

But things have changed for at least the group of artisans at VillageWorks SongKhem in Cambodia, which is interestingly situated opposite the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the historical museum memorializing the horrors of the cruel Khmer Rouge rule in which more than two million Cambodians were killed – a moment of death and despair in Cambodia’s recent history. By choosing to be based right opposite the museum, VillageWorks (VW) stands perhaps as a defiant act of hope and healing in the midst of past despair.

There at the centre, the artisans sell their crafts to Beyond Imagination (BI) which acts as a trustworthy transparent middleman. BI is a non-profit social enterprise set up in 2003 by a small group of dedicated Girls’ Brigade officers to establish and develop an export market in Singapore and Asia for the sale of products from VillageWorks, which is also an initiative by Girls’ Brigade. Through Beyond Imagination, they hope to begin a sustainable effort in improving the lives of the socially and economically disadvantaged female villagers in Cambodia.

Buying products, giving hope

Peach Chheam, 49, is a VillageWorks artisan.

Everyday she has to cycle 12 kilometres across bumpy roads to work at the VillageWorks Songkhem centre but since she begun her artisan work three years ago, her life is “full of hope, joy and peace”.

She is one of the 60 artisans trained by VillageWorks, which teaches a group of female Cambodian villagers skills to create traditional handicrafts such as bags and pouches. From when the social enterprise begun eight years ago, the number of craftswomen has now grown to 14 full-timers and 60 artisans. Most artisans are women – many who are widows – and the rest, men who have physical disabilities.

Since her husband died 20 years ago, Peach had to work day and night to singlehandedly bring up her seven children. When food ran out for her family, she sold her only small plot of land and worked for a farmer just to earn 1kilogram of rice a day. The situation worsened when she fell sick due to malnourishment.

“Three years ago, I started working for Songkhem in Baray District. Things then improved greatly. I have money to buy food for all in the family and send my children to school. And when there is enough work at Songkhem, I can even have some money to save and buy back my land,” Peach said.

Songkhem means ‘hope’ in Khmer, the Cambodian national language. And hope is what villagers like Peach receive.

Sustaining hope

But besides teaching the villagers sustainable and marketable skills and hence giving them an alternative source of income, they are also encouraged to learn and develop skills in quality control, design and business management so that they may eventually run their own businesses.

Norm Bunnak, a local who manages the business and quality standards of the VillageWorks Songkhem products, is grateful for the learning experience.

“Through working for VillageWorks Songkhem, I think I have learnt what school cannot teach and I am extremely grateful for the experience. At the same time, I see people working around me have their lives improved too,” Norm, more affectionately know as ‘Anak’, said.

She added that she now leaves the artisans, who take great pride in their handicrafts, to do quality checks on their own.

These artisans are called “Shining Eyes” at the VillageWorks Songkhem centre as they take a great sense of pride and ownership of their own crafts. Also, as the artisans are paid by piece, they can work at their own pace and comfort level. Naturally, they are highly motivated.

“This is essential”, said Susan, “Running a social enterprise is not the same as running a charity or a business. The products have to sell before the cause and have to be priced competitively while ensuring fair trade standards. So, efficiency is an important factor here.”

To find out more about Beyond Imagination or VillageWorks, you can visit their website at http://www.villageworks.com/.