Saomao is a fair trade art and craft business founded by Marie Hill who started working with Cambodian refugees in Thailand in 1991. In 1993,when the refugees returned to Cambodia, she worked with SAO (South East Asian Outreach), a Christian development organization. She set up “Rajana,” a skill-training and income-generation project in Phnom Penh, which trains young disadvantaged Cambodians in the production skills and marketing of arts and crafts. Rajana now is a fully sustainable project with Cambodian management, and has three retail outlets in Cambodia. Saomao was opened in Siem Reap in 2001 and is largely modeled on Rajana. As in Rajana, SaoMao employees are paid fair wages, have good working conditions and are given training and education opportunities. Village artisans are given a regular and reliable outlet for their high quality goods; the resulting income gives them more choices and opportunities in their lives. |
A wounded country yet with the strength to live In one way or another, suffering, violence and war have touched every Cambodian and the heart of the country is hurt. Every man and woman has been wounded by so many years of violence and revolution. Some because they experienced it in their own lives; others because they are orphaned by it; others because they have been beaten and bruised in their bodies; others carry their wounds in their inner beings and in their hearts to the point of being unbalanced. In many cases the traumatic experiences of the past manifest themselves in physical problems today; this is a common symptom among the Cambodian people. The social fabric of the country has also been deeply hurt. The ways in which people relate to one another is damaged. The traditional social institutions were decimated and systematic distrust among the Cambodians is a wide spread reality. Features of the emerging society Now that a new life is emerging in the country there naturally carries new problems and limitations, yet New life is none the less obvious and a new society is rising from the ashes of war. This new emerging Cambodia is different from the one of the past; No one knows where it is going but it is clear the traditional rural society will not return. Cambodia is a sea of contradictions; alongside the most sophisticated technology and systems of communication there is the lack of the most basic means of survival. |
© Saomao 2003-2006
