New workshop in Prek Toal
From OSMOSE in Siem Reap:
From the 1st of August 2008 a new workshop has opened on the Water Hyacinth Handicraft Platform in Prek Toal.
During boat journeys to the bird sanctuary (next to Prek Toal) or the Tonle Sap Lake, tour operators can offer tourists an interesting visit to the new Water Hyacinth Handicraft workshop in Prek Toal.
It gives the tourists an opportunity to discover the work of the women and to support this fair trade project.
It is also a nice break on the daytrip, because this platform has a toilet and a lot of space to stretch ones legs!
Daily from 8.30 until 17.30 o’clock the women are showing in the workshop their weaving techniques and are also selling their handicraft products.
The tour guides can ask for Veasna, the sales assistant on the platform.
Location: The platform is situated next to the pagoda of Prek Toal. It will move some meters on the river during the year with the changing water level (see attached pictures, the big green roofed platform).
The Women of Prek Toal
The 30 women of Saray come from poor families or are the only source of income for the household.
For more information contact us
HP: 099 727 698 – Vorng
Email: saray@osmosetonlesap.net
Web: www.osmosetonlesap.net
The Fair Purchase: 100% Khmer Handicraft and natural material
The water hyacinth handicraft project does not only provide economical benefits but also ecological improvement: the more water hyacinths are used, the better is the environment. The aim of the SARAY project is to respect ethical and environmentally friendly practices and to foster the ongoing revival of Cambodian traditional skills. Buying a product made by the women of Prek Toal, not only helps them to diversify their incomes but also gives them a sense of pride and self-confidence.
OSMOSE NGO has revived the traditional water hyacinth handicraft. Since 2004, four training sessions were organized with support from the Belgium Technical Cooperation and the Asian Development Bank. The beneficiaries are a group of women in Prek Toal village.OSMOSE further facilitated and supported the group for the selling and marketing of their products on the local market. In November 2006, the women created a cooperative and named it SARAY, a delicate yellow aquatic flower of the lake.
The Water Hyacinth
Originating from from South America and introduced on the lake, the Water Hyacinth is an invasive aquatic plant, becoming an increasing environmental issue on the lake. It grows extremely rapidly and forms dense floating mats paralysing the navigation in some areas of the lake.
Prek Toal village is a traditional fishing community living in floating habitation in a ‘deadlock bend’ of the Sangke River in Battambang province. At the beginning of the rainy season, enormous quantities of water hyacinth get stuck in the village, seriously disturbing all activities.
Tag: Cambodia
posted by Jinja @ 4:08 PM
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