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: Ann Creevey, Picture by : Nathan Dexter. |
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Across the
road from Psar Toul Tom Poung, or the Russian market
to foreigners, a little oasis of greenery fronts
a jumble of coconut woodcarvings, silk lamps and
wall hangings. This is the main Rajana shop- a small
business that rose out of nothing more than a few
hundred dollars, philanthropy and the will of a
small band of Cambodians to do something for themselves
on their own terms.
The whole micro enterprise began back in 1995.
"I'd been living in a border camp in Thailand
from 1991 to '93, and when I came down to Phnom
Penh, I recognized a lot of faces from there,"
says founder Marie Hill, of the non-government organization
South East Asian Outreach. After living in the refugee
camp, many of Ms Hill's friends had been repatriated
to poor villages in the countryside. Many of them
were orphans; others had come to Phnom Penh in the
hope of finding jobs because there was little for
them to earn money from in the villages. None would
have any chance to finish their schooling.
"They were telling me they wanted to do something
but they had no skills or training to find good
jobs," she says. |
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The hand painted sign welcoming
people to Rajana. Rajana helps young Khmers learn
skills in traditional arts and crafts.
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There wasn't a
lot of funding available, but with US$800, Ms Hill began
what she thought would be a small skills training center
in the downstairs section of her house.
"It was a very small shop. We started off making
greeting cards. Those early ones were pretty ugly really
but we got good support from humanitarian and church outlets.
They heard what we were doing and came to buy from us,"
she says.
The designs quickly became more and more sophisticated.
The Khmer trainees learned to read the market, and understand
what sold and what standards customers expected.
The staff consisted of two managers and three trainees
who also learned computer skills, English and accounting.
Although small, it was succeeding in its mandate to provide
income for young, disadvantaged Cambodians, to provide
skills training, to revive Khmer craft and encourage cultural
expression through art, to give opportunities for personal
development and to give exposure to Christian ethics in
the business and personal lives of the participants. |
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And more
small grants followed, from the Anglican Church
of Singapore and Spring Harvest.
They used the money to buy equipment, particularly
for silver smiting. "We wanted something that
required a small outlay and returned good profits,
and something that the boys could learn and feel
happy doing," Ms Hill says.
All the staff was young-most between 16 and 17 years
old. SKIP, an NGO dealing with orphaned children,
brought new members to Rajana to train. Before long,
Rajana was exceeding Ms Hill's wildest expectations
and with the skills they had learned, the young
trainees wanted to stay and turn the training center
into a business.
From greeting cards, they branched out into silver
smiting as planned, then silk crafts and decorations.
The group started to form associations with other
Cambodian NGOs and families in villages, swapping
ideas and marketing products for them. Rajana had
turned into a fully fledged business concern. Around
this time Ms Hill met Chhoeun Vuthy, better known
as Seng. He was a cousin of a driver Ms Hill used
and was living in the family house in his home village.
"She asked me if I wanted to learn how to be
a silver smith. I said yes and I studied for six
months," |
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Some of Rajanas fine silks
(above) and traditional instruments (below,
right). The gong is fashioned from recycled
bomb shells.
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he remembered.
A born manager, Seng quickly became the head of the silver
smiths and continued to learn and grow. Now Seng is director
of the Street 170 shop. At the end of 2000, SAO assistance
stopped and Rajana became an independent, self-sustaining
association, with people like Seng running operations.
"There is a group of us to ensure there is no chance
of corruption. This system runs well and we have not forgotten
the aims Rajana started with," Seng said.
That means when Rajana people go to the provinces to buy
off local suppliers, they do not grind villagers down
to the lowest price. |
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"If
we can afford it, we pay them more than they are
asking. We always pay a little bit more than market
price, because the aim of Rajana is to help Khmer
crafts people. That means helping everyone, even
at the bottom of the line," Seng said.
That goes for clay pots from Kampong Chhnang, some
of which Rajana has made especially so they can
decorate them and fill them with Cambodian turmeric
and lemongrass.
"These particular products are a popular one
with tourists," Seng said.
And it applies to the villages near Oudong who turn
spent bullet and bomb casings into beautiful gongs
and key rings that Rajana markets in both its Phnom
Penh branches, or the coconut wood buttons and other
items crafted by a member of an amputee project..
And to the families in Takeo who makes wind chimes
and other delicate items from raw bamboo for Rajana.
It even applies to the unique range of Ratanakiri
province hill tribe products, which have been made
into a distinct section of the main Rajana shop.
"We have to make enough to pay rent and wages,
but we always pay above market rates. It is our
policy," Seng said.
They also provide a market for other NGO programs
creating raw materials such as the distinctive recycled
paper Rajana makes into lamps, cards and other items.
Seng said he has watched most of the staff that
work with Rajana in Phnom Penh grow up.
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"They came
here and they didn't know how to clean a house. We give
them training for basic business and language and they
grow up here. We don't have many people leave us before
they are fully trained because they know that this is
the best chance they will get to leave the villages and
learn and be safe. In fact, most people never leave us
and we never force anyone to leave."
Rajana has changed as the market has changed. When tourists
began coming back to Phnom Penh, the staff thought of
products and designs that could be easily transported
overseas. And when silver work proved to be so popular,
they adopted modern designs they saw and copied from catalogues.
Now the Rajana silversmiths fill large orders for local
companies and overseas markets. A few of the early trainees
have even left the association to pursue their own successful
businesses, something Rajana welcomes, evolving as it
did from a training organization. In April 2001 Rajana
opened a Siem Reap branch and this branch is expected
to operate independently by April 2002. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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