The women of SWDC

Our values in action

Meet Peap, SWDC Weaver

Peap joined us 16 years ago, right at the beginning of our literacy and vocational training program. She has 9 siblings, 2 of whom also joined SWDC. Her father was a motodup driver (a taxi service for motorbikes) and supported a family of 12 with his income.

After Peap and her sisters joined us, her mother said to our founder, Chantha Nguon, “I will leave them in your care”.

Peap is currently married and is supporting her two children who are attending our kindergarten and child care program.

" SWDC lets me have my own income and support my family. I can stand up and fight for myself".

Sarun sout

Meet Sarun, Master Weaver

Sarun is the youngest girl in a family of 14. When she was 12 years old, she dropped out of school to help her parents with housework, child care, and the family’s rice plot. Sarun was one of the first recruits to our SWDC family.

After training as a weaver, she married an SWDC carpenter. She and her husband saved enough of their earnings to build a house near our campus. Unlike her parents, Sarun dreams of a small family; she hopes that with fewer children, she’ll have the money to support them through secondary school and beyond. Her fondest wish is for her children to become doctors.

"I am proud to say that two of my siblings just graduated from university with my financial and emotional support. "

Som Bay nak

Meet Bay, Master Dyer|Team Leader

Nak Som Bay left school at 13 to help her mother care for her seven younger siblings. Every morning, she rose before sunrise to sell vegetables in the market, to supplement her father’s income as a policeman—around $10 a month.

Bay enrolled in SWDC’s health education and weaving programs in 2001. We soon discovered Bay’s talent for color and design and promoted her to Chief of the Dye Kitchen in 2007. Nak’s income at SWDC has allowed her to put her younger siblings through school and even send a sister and brother to college.

"Now, I live independently. I have become the breadwinner of my family."

Srey Nim Nuon

Meet Srey Nim Nuon, Master Ikat

As a teenager, Srey Nim was left to care for three younger siblings and three cousins after her parents’ untimely deaths. “Sometimes we’d have enough to eat in the morning, but not enough for the evening meal,” she recalls.

Srey Nim graduated from our health education and literacy classes, then trained as a weaver. She sent her siblings to school and saved her earnings to buy a cow. Now she lives in a sturdy house that keeps her family dry when it rains; she makes a living raising cows and growing vegetables to sell in the market. She is prosperous and free.

Nim’s work at SWDC has allowed her to gain confidence and entrepreneurship skills. She is able to start her own business in Stung Treng province and help other women in her local community.

" I can stand up and fight for myself and have my own income."

Kha hunna