Cambodian Threads

My best friend out here, Jake Daniels, whose brother I went to UVM with and who convinced me to do my teaching in Cambodia left yesterday to travel around SE Asia, India and Nepal with his girlfriend for the next 4 months. Jake was a huge help before I even got to Cambodia and even more so since I got here in late September. I will definitely will miss him and his girlfriend Melissa. One of the last places Jake took me was Mekong or Silk Island. We took my moto and drove to the North of Phnom Penh then took a ferry and were on the Island in less than an hour.

First, some background: Jake has been buying scarves from a family on the island and has set up a business back in the states called Cambodian Threads through which he sells them. He has two people running the website and taking care of orders in the states, while he takes care of placing orders and buying the scarves from the Heng family. The amazing part of the whole project is that a portion of the sales of the scarves go straight back to the community near the Heng family’s home. He uses the money to buy bulk amounts of school supplies and then drives them out to the public school near the Heng family’s house (which the Heng sisters attended growing up) and donates them to the local public school. He has already made numerous donations of school supplies that the school told him they were lacking such as maps, notebooks, pens, pencils, and erasers. It’s a really ambitious and beautiful project that Jake is passionate about.

When we got to the Heng’s house I was introduced to Mamma, Aunty, Naysim, and Naycheng, only some of the family members and artisans. Right away it was quite clear that the family loves Jake and treats him and anyone he brings to visit as a family member. I was given water, soda, coconut juice and fruit and told to sit down and relax. They showed me some of the silk weaving looms and tried to explain some of the intricate and complicated processes from dying the silk to cutting the long material into scarf size pieces. After about 2 hours of hanging around and discussing future scarf orders and other business me and Jake said our goodbyes.

Jake suggested we take a drive out into the country side just a few minutes from the Heng’s house. The dirt road soon changed from bumpy to incredibly bumpy, rocky and narrow as we entered into the country side surrounded by green fields and trees as far as the eye could see. Once in a while we would pass someone else whether it be a moto, cow pulled cart, a engine attached to a cart with 4 wheels or a pickup truck filled with what at first looked like soldiers but turned out to be a pickup filled with farmers and their tools. After a drive around we headed back to Phnom Penh. It was an amazing experience meeting the Heng family and not just seeing the country side while on a bus, but actually driving my moto on it’s bumpy roads and through it’s vast expanse of greenery. Only a few weeks later me and Jake took a trip back to see the Heng family and have a great traditional Khmer lunch they prepared for us.

While Jake is traveling he has handed some of the Cambodian Threads responsibilities over to me. Every month or two I’ll meet with Naysim to pickup and pay for scarves. Then depending on the demand back in the states I will either keep the scarves safe until Jake returns or ship then back to the U.S. to be sold. Jake has also suggested I make a donation to the school which would entail taking school supplies Jake left me along with going to the market and buying some more and then taking them out to the school and donating them. Hopefully I’ll get to do this, as Jake says it’s a truly magical experience to see the school children's faces when they receive the school supplies.

I suggest that you take a look around the website at not only the beautiful silk scarves in the Store but also the About Section as well as the Blog which has great pictures of the Heng family and the school children and the donations. If you decide to buy a scarf please know that some of the money from the sale will support this cause that I have witnessed firsthand, a cause that truly goes full circle – from the Heng family’s hard work through Jake’s Cambodian Threads and then back to the community in which the Heng family lives and works and the school in which the Heng family’s children once attended.

Silk Island