Supporting Khmer businesses which help local people earn a sustainable income through their own efforts and independent of charity makes for rewarding shopping in more ways than one.
There are several online publications which give tips and lists of fair trade and eco-friendly businesses in Cambodia such as Stay Another Day Cambodia and TouchStone. Groups which participate in these programs include rural communities and co-ops, and disadvantaged youth, women and the disabled who are learning a skill and extra income at the same time.
Responsible Relaxation
More than 15 years ago, US Catholic mission Maryknoll began teaching Cambodia's blind the basics of Japanese massage methods Anma and Shiatsu so they could set up their own spa businesses. Today, Seeing Hands Blind Massage graduates operate their own massage franchises all over the country and enjoy financial independence. Other organizations, not only for the blind, have since adopted the concept and some have taken the health and wellness angle even further, providing nail care, hair cuts and spicing up the massage mix by introducing Indian-style techniques.
Guilt-Free Dining
A number of restaurants offer delicious food with behind-the-scenes benefits. Mith Samlang's Romdeng Khmer restaurant and sister restaurant Friends near the National Museum are two such options. They train former street children in business and restaurant cookery skills. Nyemo's Le Rits plays the same role for trafficked, poor or formerly abused women. In Siem Reap, Sala Bai teaches former street youth hotel, catering and management skills. Paul Dubrule School of Hotel and Tourism (established by the Accor hotel group's founder) gives students experience in a working hotel environment. The school serves customers a three-course set menu for just 9USD a head and provides accommodation from just 15USD a night. In Sihanoukville, the Starfish Project bakery and café works with people with disabilities while teaching them to make delicious cakes, pastries and quiches.
Eco-Friendly Adventure
Fancy an ox-cart tour around local natural attractions or temples? Quality time with rescued elephants learning the ways of a mahout? Perhaps a weekend stay where visitors are welcomed into real Cambodian village homes? These are all enjoyable activities which give back to local communities who have embraced eco-tourism, often with the help of aid organizations to get them started and always to the benefit of their surrounding forests and fisheries. Groups such as the Cambodian Community Based Eco-Tourism Network provide a comprehensive list of these sorts of options, which detail trips from bird watching and wildlife safaris to community projects assisting the protection of ancient temple sites. Community-based cooperatives such as pepper growers in southwestern Kampot province have found the income generated by increasingly popular tours of their plantations are helping the industry rebuild after it was severely decimated during the 30-year civil war. Cambodian pepper was once the choice of the finest restaurants in Paris and is again regaining its mantle as the best in the world, partly with the help of income generated from tourist dollars.
Shop Until You Drop
There are literally dozens of outlets showcasing products and crafts made by various groups, from village cooperatives to individuals living at a disadvantage. Many of these outlets are doubly responsible as they use recycled products, such as the shimmering recycled mosquito net tote bags from Smateria or recycled paper jewelry crafted by former Phnom Penh garbage pickers. The best places to find these outlets and products are in large boutiques, boutique hotels and around the main tourist markets such as the outer areas of the Russian Market in Phnom Penh, around the Old Market (Psar Chas) in Siem Reap, or the Siem Reap Night Market. Other projects in the provinces teach recovering drug addicts wood and stone carving, women living in difficult circumstances silk weaving and silk handicrafts and other communities unique skills such as coconut wood carving and metal smithing. These products are usually labeled 'fair trade' and use the circumstances of their makers as a selling point, making them easy to find and identify. Not only are these souvenirs one of a kind, but they are providing a sustainable living and new independence to the people creating them, meaning tourists who purchase them know they are both giving and getting something very precious in return.
