One of our SALT participants this year is living with a member of Goel Community in Phnom Penh. Goel Community is a fair trade artisan’s association that specializes in handwoven, naturally-dyed textile fabrics.

Last week Goel Community hosted their annual Christmas Fair and it reminded me a little of Gift Festival at Fairfield Mennonite. So many fair trade organizations have struggled in recent years and it’s heartwarming to come across one that’s still doing well. Goel also provides traditional weaving and dying classes.

It started with a young Cambodian lady who decided she did not want to work in a garment factory, a fate of many of her peers from her village in Takeo………..
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​Cambodia today has a thriving garment production sector, but, the industry is plagued with issues of fair and safe working conditions. Many garment factory workers have long, daily commutes or simply migrate from their home villages for work. This means mothers and daughters being apart from their family, and some mothers unable to care for their children in person.

These women resort to working in garment factories because traditional livelihoods of farming and weaving are no longer viable. Takeo, a province in Cambodia, was once known as a thriving weaving center, where weaving took place in the low season before harvest. However, during the tragic years of civil war, much of the weaving heritage was lost. This loss was further compounded by the decreased economic value of hand weaving due to industrialisation.  

​The war also resulted in the deterioration of water and land resources. The majority of land in Cambodia today can only support one rice harvest a year, leaving farmers unemployed for 8 months in a year. As farming and weaving can no longer support a household today, many young women have no choice but to work in Cambodia’s garment factories.

​Goel Community was started in 2006, with the aim to make weaving a viable livelihood again. Our hope is to restore this rich Cambodian heritage so that such artisanal hand weaving and natural dye skill is an embodiment of cultural pride again. 

Goel Community exists to give members of the community the freedom to choose what is best for themselves, and the opportunity to preserve time-honoured, generational know-how of fine craftmanship.

Today, that young lady is one of the leaders of Goel Community. ​ 
From GoelCommunity.org/about-us.html