Sewaid Team to Cambodia February 2017- update

Sewaid Project- Cambodia February 2016

Project overview
The Sewaid team to Cambodia will have two objectives. 1) to train and commence a Days for Girls program at the NGO Sustainable Cambodia (SC) , 2) to further the production and sales of other sewn items made in the sewing room at Sustainable Cambodia(SC)

Days for Girls Project
Extensive planning and preparation for this has taken place, including two trips to Asia to organise. Ryde Rotary is funding the production of 500 +DFG kits to be made at SC in the Sewaid workshop. Through extensive discussion with Maria Hicks ( DFG manager for Cambodia ) and several of the NGO’s in Cambodia involved or wanting DFG kits, the 500 + Kits will be distributed by Tnaisamrapsrey ( Days for Girls ) Siem Reap to The Womens Refuge, BFT, Feeding Dreams and any other deserving NGO. Training will be given by Tnaisamrapsrey.
Organising production of DFG kits in Cambodia has always been difficult due to the fabrics not be available in country. However as a result of two visits, I have now purchased the fabrics in Bangkok and they are organising to transport them across the border into Cambodia. We are hoping this may also work out to be a sustainable supply route for future production. Some top up fabrics will be carried from Australia by the team.

Costings of the kits. So far the costing is consistent with my budget of US$ 7,00 (A$10.00 ) per kit. We were able to buy the cotton at very cheaply, but there will be some additional charge for freight. SC are organising all the small items. Initially there will be enough fabric and supplies to make 600 to 700 kits.
Production: The sewers at the SC workshop are good sewers and they have 8 industrial machines and one industrial overlocker. We may carry in one additional overlocker. It will be the team’s job to teach the sewers how to make the DFG kits. We except this will only take 2 or 3 days given that we have such an experienced team going.

Sewaid Team:
Fay Kitto ( leader) Rotarian, and member of DFG Ryde,
Deryl Mason , member of DFG Ryde.
Kim Fitzpatrick , Team Leader at DFG Avoca
Tina Lathan, Rotarian, member of DFG Avoca and leader of two previous overseas DFG projects.
Maggie Tse, from Philippines, Rotarian, and manager of our Sewaid workshop in the Philippines.

Other Sewaid projects for this trip:
The team will also undertake a number of other activities designed to assist the further development of Sewaid projects in Cambodia. They will visit Rotary clubs in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and also Sobath, another sewing workshop in PP that we are trying to assist.
At SC they will instigate all the sewing items currently in production and evaluate the quality and design with the view to making changes so that sales and profits can be improved. While in Siem Reap they will visit and have discussion with Kerry at Feeding Dreams regarding the opportunity to get the goods into the 5 star hotel shops.

Rotary Tour
The team is fortunate in that they are joining a Rotary tour of Cambodia organised by Richard Allen the founder of SC, and they will be able to take the tour as well as complete the two objectives for Sewaid. Tour Dates are Feb 2nd to 12th, but our team will have an extra couple of days in PP and Siem Reap so as to complete our Sewaid objectives.

Please check the Sewaid website from time to time for latest updates.
TC