In the recent "heatwaves" that have hit all over Australia, it has really made me think of how we handled the heat while living in Cambodia. The hot season brings an average of 35 to 40  degrees each day, with no relief for days on end, almost months...I came across this email that I wrote home to family and friends while living in Prey Veng, which I thought painted a good picture of April in Cambodia, where loud music mingles with the humid air...

"I shouldn’t speak too soon, but there’s no religious music belting out over loudspeakers near our house today…there’s almost silence…well there’s still the neighbours…they’ve been making minced pork for a while now, chop, chop, chop, chop, and there’s the bread selling lady, walking down the street yelling ‘noom paaaaan, noom paaaaan’ – she has baguettes arranged nicely in a cane basket on her head – it’s nice when you catch her and get fresh bread delivered in the morning….the dogs are barking, there’s a few mangoes and coconuts plopping from the trees…but there’s no xylophone type music playing at high decibels through crackling speakers ruining our morning….peace.

Over the past week and a half, we’ve had 6 mornings with this music starting between 4:00am and 5:30am…it’s a little difficult to bear. While we struggle very hard to respect the traditions of the Khmers, we really can’t reconcile the fact that these traditions need to wake us up at 4:00am. Ahhh, I guess it’s all part of it, we’ll get over it when we get some sleep and a few straight days of silence! We’re planning on getting away from it all over the next week when we head down to Kep for a few days…ahhh, “Verandah” goodness, it’s a lovely hotel, with beautiful, natural looking bungalows made of wood and stones, all looking out over the sea, and what’s more they now have a swimming pool. So really we shouldn’t complain – this is our reward for living through the Khmer New Year lead up in Prey Veng!

The thing is this is just the most trying time of year in Cambodia, not only is there the ceremonies and lack of sleep but the heat is really quite unbearable. You sweat just standing there…it’s around 40 degrees every day with high humidity…and pretty much no air conditioning. Well there are only fans at the office…we do actually have an air conditioner in our bedroom at home which we do tend to use to cool down the room as we’re going to sleep but the cost of it is pretty astronomical, so we try not to use it through the night…maybe every now and then we need to buzz it in the middle of the night to try and circulate the air. The thermometer on my alarm clock states that it is around 30 to 32 degrees pretty much all the time in the bedroom which makes for sticky nights…early morning brings the only relief – plus the cold shower. While in the early mornings of November the cold shower is not welcome, in the mid day heat in April, it’s the best thing ever invented! That and the fan…the transportable fan pretty much follows us around the house, it’s pretty much unbearable without a fan right on you – much better when you’re wet too, just out of the shower – no point drying yourself – you’re dry in about 3 seconds!"

  
1. Young Men working in the April heat                                                        2. A Prey Veng sunset during the hot season

It’s Pchum Ben in Cambodia which equates to a Western Christmas – it’s the time when Khmer people travel back to their homelands and spend time with their families enjoying the Buddhist Holiday. It is also a time to go to the Pagoda and pray with the monks, a process which pays respect to the families’ deceased ancestors. It is a time when much importance is placed on the preparation of food, both to eat together as a family and also to offer the food to the monks. The offering of food generates “merit” that indirectly benefits the dead, you are in effect feeding the ghosts.

As a foreigner, Pchum Ben is a great time to receive some insight into Khmer families and their strong observance of tradition. There is a great mixture of traditional ceremonies and prayer time as well as party time which always involves dancing around a tree with the music at top volume and karaoke! For some, the long prayer times can lead to some discomfort – it is not easy to kneel on a wooden floor for up to an hour, and can lead to some confusion, which bowl do you scoop the rice into and how many times do you bow to the monks? I must admit, my favourite time was always the day at the Pagoda where everyone had prepared their signature dish for the monks and we were able to sit there and eat the most delicious food with the monks – well not quite with them – we were served their leftovers, a sign of respect!

 
 
1. delivering the food offerings for the monks, 2. Dividing the rice out into the monks food bowls, 3. Presenting our donations to the Pagoda in the form of a golden money tree 4. The spread of food that we sat down to eat - the monk's leftovers!

After having a lovely couple of weeks off relaxing in Bali after a hectic Trade Fair season, we’ve returned home to Spring. For those who know the Southern Highlands where Gareth and I live, you will understand what a relief this is! I am not a cold weather person and have certainly struggled with my adjustment from 35 degrees every day for the 3 years we were in Cambodia to a Winter where an average of 12 degrees each day is mild.

Spring in the Highlands means beautiful flowers and Bowral is famous for “Tulip Time” so there are stunning bulbs just starting to open. In celebrating spring, an article recently came out in the Burke’s Backyard magazine featuring Tendance Khmere cushions and I have realised that there is a real link between the bright colours of our Khmer Trading products and the spring season –  in theory we are gearing up for the time when the “colours of Cambodia” that we like to promote, can bloom...

Like Burke’s Backyard mentioned... “After your spring cleaning has worked its magic at your place, add a touch of fresh, bright colour to your lounge with this contemporary take on patchwork cushions made from silk and cotton.” They were referring to our floral range pictured below.

And of course Waterlily’s signature colour inspiration, greens with a splash of pink is built around the most beautiful flowers dotting the landscape all over Cambodia, the Waterlily – otherwise known as a lotus which has huge symbolic significance in the national religion, Buddhism. Representing spiritual enlightenment as well as immortality and resurrection, it seems a fitting homage to spring!

 

And what better product to promote in spring, especially during “Tulip Time” – our one and only tulip keyring which is the accessory to brighten up every woman’s day.

 

When you’re at the stage when you are actually looking forward to your third year at the Trade Fairs, does that mean you’re an ‘old hand’ at this gig now? We were pleased that the recent Life Instyle Show in Melbourne went off without a hitch. We are all set with packing the car and getting on the road to travel down to Melbourne now and the terror of Trade Fairs has definitely worn off.

A relaxed attitude lead us to have a smaller stand this year and although we didn’t quite have the wow factor that the Tendance Khmere bed and curtains traditionally give us, we were happy with the traffic that we did manage to impress. The best part is now we are having a lot more repeat business and see so many more familiar faces amongst the streams of people which is so much nicer. Great to have the opportunity to have a good face to face chat with our current stockists too. 

Last week we launched a new brand, Waterlily which complements Khmer Trading’s “Colours of Cambodia” with brightly coloured button jewellery. Inspired by the landscapes in Cambodia, Christine’s products certainly caught people’s eye at the Show with a lovely presentation of fun, recycled jewellery, perfect for pending spring!

Silk weaving has been part of Cambodian culture for centuries. Women across Cambodia have looms in their homes and practice the art passed down from their mothers and grandmothers, and on to their daughters. Unfortunately however, the ancient craft is dying out as the cost of imported raw silk continues to climb while the price of finished textiles drops.

The Khmer Rouge era decimated the mulberry tree population, the only food source of silkworms making it impossible for raw silk thread to be produced in Cambodia. Now, weavers must import the thread from neighbouring Vietnam or Thailand. Before the Khmer Rouge took power, Cambodia was producing an estimated 150,000 kilograms of silk per year, which dropped to just 800 kilograms after years of political and civil unrest.

Silk coccons being boiled to make silk thread                                                        A loom under a Cambodian house in the villages

We are doing our best to protect silk weaving by partnering with Tendance Khmere. Nina and Flavien, owners of Tendance Khmere have been struggling with the rising costs associated with the purchase of Cambodian silk but they are determined to work with the producers in order to protect silk production and tell the world about the wonderful silk products that can be produced in this beautiful country.

The price of raw silk thread has gone up by more than 60% in the last year and at the same time the price for the finished products has dropped by 56%. Many of the 20,000 estimated weavers in the country are trying to find other work. But Tendance Khmere has not given, instead they have adapted and designed a whole new innovative range where Khmer silk is mixed with patterned cottons from around the world.

We think that Tendance Khmere is a testament to what can be achieved if small producers stick together and we are very excited to be able to contribute to the protection of such a strong cultural tradition in Cambodia, even if only in a small way.

Did two weeks just go by? After a good 12 hours sleep last night (the most sleep I’ve had in a night in years, particularly over the last couple of weeks!), I am back in the office after my whirlwind trip of Malaysia and Cambodia.

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face on the trip into Phnom Penh from the airport, the familiar sites, smells and sounds...it was just weird feeling like a tourist for the first time – I must admit I do prefer the feeling of belonging when you actually live in the place rather than just visiting!


The chaotic streets of Phnom Penh on the way into town from the airport

There was definitely a feel of growth in the capital, a huge amount of construction going on and an upmarket feel with the shift from shops having open shopfronts to the introduction of glass and airconditioning...very fancy.

It was fantastic to see the new Smateria workshop complete with the new Day Care Centre on the top floor...not to mention the new Smateria shop at Pochentong Airport...Smateria have certainly been busy in the last year!

 
Sleeping babies in Smateria's Day Care Centre


Smateria worker hard at it - cleaning motorcycle seats
for the Smoto range

And for Tendance Khmere, I visited their newly opened shop which is attached to their new Cafe - Cafe Gourmand. I can highly recommend the trademark dish – and namesake for the Cafe which is the “Gourmand” dessert tasting plate. “Gourmand” meaning “Greedy”! The new Tendance Khmere “kids” cushion range featured at this shop is great fun and makes wonderful use of TK’s signature bright colours.


"Cafe Gourmand" dessert tasting plate


Tendance Khmere decor at Cafe Gourmand - Phnom Penh

Always a pleasure to see these new developments in person and meet with our wonderful suppliers face to face – a lovely preview of what’s next to come for us here in Australia!
-Sarah

On the eve of embarking on a familiar journey, I am extremely excited to be seeing my friends and colleagues in Penang and Cambodia. It's been 15 months since Gareth and I walked away from our home in Cambodia and I really thought I would have managed to get back there before now....but with the stresses of starting a new business and having a wedding to organise...the time has flown past without even a quick visit.

I am now lucky enough to be combining a trip to Cambodia for work and pleasure, with the opportunity to coordinate an International Conference in Penang on the way. I have long been a Director for Rose Charities Australia and my work with this most valuable philanthropic organisation has brought me twice to Penang to share knowledge, network and enjoy learning about other people's experiences in development. Meeting with a bunch of people from Canada, The UK, America, Australia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Uganda and Afghanistan (to name a few!) who make up the Rose International network and have all been involved in development work somewhere throughout the world, to me, is truly inspirational. This year I'm also lucky to be able to share some of the knowledge I've gained through Khmer Trading and have been asked to give a presentation on "Social Enterprise - An Approach to Sustainable Development". Only slightly nervous about presenting to over 200 people...

Next stop is Phnom Penh where I will be able to spend some quality time talking face to face with our fantastic suppliers, Elisa & Jennifer from Smateria and Nina & Flavien from Tendance Khmere - can't wait to visit their new shops and get some great ideas about innovative product displays. Note to self, must pick up some netting and motorbike seats to show the "before" and "after" effect at the next Trade Fair! I might get lucky and be able to have some of Nina's amazing pork ribs - Nina doubles as a French/Khmer Chef...so much talent!

A quick stop at the Russian Market - a must for any one visiting Phnom Penh's fair streets, maybe a quick stop off at Street 240 for a spot of shopping as well, and maybe a sneaky lycee cocktail at the Foreign Correspondent's Club (FCC) and then I'll be whisked away to my home away from home - Prey Veng.  It's been too long since I saw my friends and FDCC family in Prey Veng, I can't wait to see how the kids have grown and how the staff have developed since I left...I know there's been two new babies and a wedding that I've missed and I'm sure a lot more that I don't yet know about. I'll be proudly showing two Rose Charities guests the projects I was involved in while living in Prey Veng, Mekhala House, Mekhala Learning Centre and the Access For All Project. I might even get time to introduce them to the "guoy tieu" (noodle soup) at the "Shouting Man's" Restaurant - an institution in down town Prey Veng.
-Sarah

  
1. The beautiful Prey Veng at Sunset, 2. Guoy Tieu