By Lisa T.D. Nguyen | Executive Director
In early 2013, Senhoa carried out vigorous Monitor and Evaluations (M&Es) of our programs in Cambodia to ensure that they were delivered to the service users’ satisfaction, as well as adhered to our core mission. Today, we share with you here our M&E results for the Senhoa Jewelry Program and their follow-ups.
The Senhoa Jewelry Program (lovingly named OOH – Our Own Hands) was initially conceptualized as a shelter-retention program. Very early on when we did our needs assessment, it was decided that a vocational training program was needed where the women could gain instant skills and quickly have access to income-generating opportunities, all while they were receiving social and therapeutic services from our shelter partners. Jewelry making and beading were chosen for ease of skill acquisition, as they required little to no education. This was befitting because many of the women in the program lacked formal education and literacy.
During the M&E sessions for the OOH program, there was an overwhelming request for full time employment from the service users. Many of the women in the program expressed a desire for viable employment and an opportunity to enter into full-time work as Artisans.
To respond to these concerns, over the past six months, the OOH program has functioned as a training and transition program to recruit and prepare Trainees to become Artisans for Senhoa Social Enterprise. At the end of the program, Trainees will have a command of basic to intermediate jewelry making skills and knowledge about being good employees. The training period has been used to transition Trainees/Artisans from “service users” into “full-time/part-time employees” for Senhoa Social Enterprise.
On January 1, 2014, we officially started Day 1 of the social business in Cambodia. Our former service users are now full time and part-time employees of the social enterprise, with access to an array of employee benefits and entitlements like access to a health fund, sales bonuses, annual leave and compassionate leave. Furthermore, the artisans work in a safe and secure environment with fair wage salary and educational opportunities. And last but not least, proceeds from the sale of Senhoa jewelry go back to supporting Senhoa Foundation’s community development programs in Cambodia.
On the other end of the spectrum, Senhoa Social Enterprise is now able to focus on designing, manufacturing and retailing high quality fashion accessories for the Senhoa brand, the OOH by Senhoa brand (a lower-priced line available for sale in Cambodia), and partner labels. Our dream is to be able to have our jewelry sold around the world in department stores, to be able to subcontract to make jewelry for private labels and most importantly, to be able to provide jobs for vulnerable women. We do this with the unfailing belief that access to dignified and safe employment is the most powerful armor to protect women from exploitation and human trafficking.
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