Artisans Associations of Cambodia

Dear old friends and new friends of the Artisans Association of Cambodia,

Old friends know of the tremendous difference the Artisans Association of Cambodia (AAC) has made in the lives of Cambodian artisans who had come to the program from backgrounds of high disadvantage due to disability, widowhood and other factors creating poverty.  We hope that you will continue to support this effort and that new persons just becoming aware of this program will be moved to help us continue this effort. Created by the World Rehabilitation Fund some 15 years ago with members consisting of some 42 grass roots organizations, AAC supports some 2,700 artisans and staff, most of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Over ¾ of the workers supported by the project are women, and women direct over half of the member organizations of AAC.  

Member organizations of AAC have presences in 10 different provincial areas of Cambodia.  Members are striving to becoming social enterprises, having missions that involve both entrepreneurship and promoting social and economic benefit.  Another major focus of members is to promote the use of ecologically friendly methods in creating products.  

Employees of member organizations include large numbers of persons with disabilities (which was the main focus originally of the program), persons with HIV, and victims of human trafficking.  Many of the groups have a strong focus on meeting the needs of women from vulnerable backgrounds and many members also have a major focus on the betterment of youth from impoverished backgrounds.

In our first year, AAC's four members showed sales of $250,000.  This year sales are over $4 million, far higher than the $3 million predicted for this year.

Through support from donors like yourselves, AAC will continue to provide training and technical assistance to further the design, production and marketing of member products.

Significant events of the previous period include the conduct of training in the following areas:

• making products more fashionable based on current international trends
• using photography to enhance promotional materials
• preparing textile collections to meet the interests of European markets
• utilization of the internet and, especially, Facebook to promote products
• setting up effective business practices in starting and improving a business enterprise

Technical assistance provided by AAC staff and consultants included:

• strategies to becoming an effective social enterprise
• complying with international safety and health standards
• packaging products to maximize buyer appeal
• strategies for ensuring proper export forwarding
• developing effective displays for stores and trade fair presentations

Please check out the World Rehabilitation Fund website and examine the AAC catalog (link below) to learn more about the project and see the extraoridnary handicrafts created by AAC artisans. 

Thank you once more for your continued support!  We look forward to sharing more about AAC's activities in the coming quarter.   Until then, please know that we are most grateful for your generous support.

Warmest regards,

The WRF Team

Links:

• AAC 2016 Catalog