A few weeks ago, Pauline Johns, Director Om Chamnap and I, plus our special guests Robin and Claire from Australia, made a special trip to the Takeo village of Trapeang Thum in Takeo district and were amazed by the creativity of our group of 10 women and one boy enrolled in the ‘Embracelets’ © Program there.
Yes! – We have one 16 year-old male student, Pros, in the program. He comes from a particularly impoverished family in a nearby village and makes income for his family by hunting frogs (for food) at night. A couple of months ago he had been hired to clean our yard. He and his younger brother would work away at cleaning up the property while we were running the initial week-long Embracelets © program.
Pros would pick up the off-cast pieces of string off the ground and started weaving bracelets. Much to our surprise, he had the ability to weave beautiful, intricate bracelets! Where he ever learned this, I don’t know – but it wasn’t long before we made him a ‘teacher’ and he was showing the women how to weave his designs.
That started the creativity ball rolling and soon all the women were creating their own unique designs in every color combination imaginable. Some of the string bracelet designs incorporate leather - some with colorful beads. Rings, keychains, pens, schoolbag ornaments – you name it – they invented a way to weave it!
Everyone who arrived at the program two weeks ago had a small bag of creations to give us. All string, materials and tools were supplied for them through the program. As they each turned in their bag of creations, they were given $5.00 for their efforts. That’s a total of $10 that each woman received – a generous stipend when you consider that the average daily salary for working 12 hours in a sweltering rice field is $1.00.
But that is just the beginning of the benefits that this ‘Embracelets’ © program will realize for these women and other rural women and girls like them.
These creative designs will now be sold in Canada and Australia and all the money from sales will go back into the program to fund the educational needs of these 10 women and one boy. Funds will also go towards enrolling other women into the program in Takeo and Battambang provinces. In Koas Krala district in Battambang province, special consideration will be given to enroll landmine-affected female family members into the program.
From sales in Canada and Australia, these first 11 participants will be supplied with school uniforms and supplies and perhaps even bicycles for the children of the mothers enrolled in the program. Students in the program will also receive the same.
‘Embracelets’© is a program of Banyan Learning Tree – a registered organization in Cambodia: http://banyanlearningtree.blogspot.com/ . In Canada, 'Embracelets for Books'© a copyrighted and registered program of A Mine Free World Foundation http://www.aminefreeworld.org/.
In Ontario, Embracelets© will be available for purchase at all Rotary Wheels for Learning presentations: http://rotarywheelsforlearning.blogspot.com/p/upcoming-presentations.html
In Australia, contact Pauline Johns to purchase or help sell some Embracelets©: paulinej1@mac.com
In Australia, contact Pauline Johns to purchase or help sell some Embracelets©: paulinej1@mac.com
For more information, please contact Lisa McCoy at: schoolsforcambodia@gmail.com or 705-687-8538.