PHNOM PENH, September 09, 2024 — Ability Fair Trade Village (AFTV) and Global Envirotech Initiative (GEI) have kicked off their new partnership with an income generating opportunity in collaboration with Cambodia Knits.
Scholarships were awarded to 40 women in two villages in Kampong Khleang Commune to participate in a Cambodia Knits training program during July and August 2024. The training program provides a pathway for successful participants to access sustainable employment with Cambodia Knits. This is a wonderful opportunity for women to generate a fair income from home- based work and become formalised workers, thereby improving their family income and injecting capital into the local community.
Cambodia Knits Training Program Cambodia Knits is a social enterprise working with marginalized communities in Cambodia. They produce beautiful, high quality and unique hand-made crochet and knitted items and provide fair and flexible employment opportunities. The 16-day training program consisted of two phases.
Phase 1: Basic crochet and knitting techniques (six days of drop-in training) and Phase 2: How to make specific Cambodia Knits products (10 days of formal training). The training was spread over five weeks to provide time for the participants to practice their new skills.
At the end of the first week of phase 2 formal training Monika Nowaczyk, CEO/CKO/Founder of Cambodia Knits, reported “our senior trainers observed that the trainees have been dedicating themselves intensely to learning the new skills. The trainees exhibit a strong eagerness to learn, and are actively engaging, by asking numerous questions to deepen their understanding. They are putting in extra effort, often staying beyond the scheduled training hours to continue practicing.
Their enthusiastic approach to learning and willingness to invest additional time and energy reflect their determination to excel and make the most of this training opportunity”.
The first samples the ladies made were taken to the Cambodia Knits office and Monika commented “they show a lot of skill and promise for future production”.
District Governor Awards Certificates Soutr Nikom District Governor, Hon. Kim Vannack, attended the training award ceremony on 23 August to present certificates of completion to 31 participants. He praised Ability Fair Trade Village and Cambodia Knits for running this collaborative project and providing the chance for people in these two villages to secure jobs where initially the residents had no prior knowledge or skills. He told participants “As the first group to receive this opportunity, you all have the potential to become role models for others. But you must first commit to sharing your newfound skills with other villages in the district”.
Chhoy Naret, Director of Ability Fair Trade Village thanked Hon. Kim Vannack for his support and stated “We are here today because this man loves you. He asked me to join him in building a better life for his brothers and sisters in your villages. Of course, I said yes, because we both want to defeat poverty”.
The first samples the ladies made were taken to the Cambodia Knits office and Monika commented “they show a lot of skill and promise for future production”.
DISTRICT GOVERNOR AWARDS CERTIFICATES
Soutr Nikom District Governor, Hon. Kim Vannack, attended the training award ceremony on 23 August to present certificates of completion to 31 participants. He praised Ability Fair Trade Village and Cambodia Knits for running this collaborative project and providing the chance for people in these two villages to secure jobs where initially the residents had no prior knowledge or skills. He told participants “As the first group to receive this opportunity, you all have the potential to become role models for others. But you must first commit to sharing your newfound skills with other villages in the district”.
Chhoy Naret, Director of Ability Fair Trade Village thanked Hon. Kim Vannack for his support and stated “We are here today because this man loves you. He asked me to join him in building a better life for his brothers and sisters in your villages. Of course, I said yes, because we both want to defeat poverty”.
Monika believes strong support from local leaders plays a key role in the success of the Cambodia Knits training and employment programs. The Kampong Khleang Commune Chief, Village Chiefs and other community leader’s support for this project is greatly appreciated. They not only encouraged the women to sign up for the training program they also encouraged and motivated them to keep going until the end. The leaders will also play an important role as we move forward to support the producers as they start their journey as Cambodia Knits artisans.
Naret congratulated all the ladies for completing the training. She said “You are my heroes. You are the first, the leaders in changing the future of your villages. A future with good jobs for every family and no poor cards. I am here to walk beside you for 10 years to help make that happen”.
Naret also announced that her AFTV team will be creating more jobs soon for the people in these two villages. Projects AFTV expect to commence within the next year include: a sewing shop, a bicycle shop, a cricket farm and a green house.
FAIR & FLEXIBLE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
All participants who complete the Cambodia Knits training program are assessed on their level of ability and those who successfully demonstrate the required ability aptitude, and are of legal working age, will be invited to continue onto regular production for Cambodia Knits on a 3-month probation period. After the probation period, successful producers will be invited to become contracted employees of Cambodia Knits. The formal contract of employment includes National Social Security Fund (NSSF) schemes such as work injury insurance, healthcare insurance and old-age pension, and other benefits.
Monika advised that many participants in the program embraced the concept of a growth mindset and showed their commitment to personal development. She believes that given economic opportunities, women invest their incomes into health, education and the futures of their families.
Unique Handmade Products All completed products are sent to Cambodia Knits for quality assurance, labelling and merchandising and cannot be sold to others. We encourage you to support these ladies on their journey to break the cycle of family poverty by purchasing products from one of the Cambodia Knits retail stockists, the Cambodia Knits online shop or their global brand Beebee + Bongo online shop.
AFTV/GEI Partnership Program
Ability Fair Trade Village (AFTV) signed a partnership agreement in June 2024 with Global Envirotech Initiative (GEI) and GEI Asia to identify and develop a range of income generation initiatives in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia through upskilling and sustainable income opportunities. AFTV and GEI will collaborate with local communities and stakeholders to identify local needs to help achieve Cambodia’s Sustainable Global Development Goals. They will use a community development approach to ensure community members and local stakeholders are involved in all phases of a project, from helping identify the issues, to selecting, planning and implementing actions that are led by the community.
About AFTV
Ability Fair Trade Village (AFTV) commenced operating as a social enterprise in 2015. Their initial project, Genevieve’s Fair Trade Village was a community-based retail outlet to benefit people with disabilities living in poverty. When COVID struck they closed the retail shop and commenced the Siem Reap Food Bank (SRFB) project. They continue to work on securing retail opportunities for local artisans with disabilities and providing food security for vulnerable people. However, the focus of their new partnership with GEI is to create a range of employment opportunities for poor rural families.
