Snay L’a Community School, Cambodia

Snay L’a Community School – First of many!

We support ‘Stella in Cambodia’ who have built a school in Snay L’a, Cambodia. Along with ten other Trutex retailers and Trutex themselves we have paid for the building of a sewing workshop which has cost little over £5,000. This will benefit not just the children and the school but all of the villagers to make them self-sustaining.

The building of the sewing workshop has been a difficult process. Things which seem so easy and straight-forward in the western world are 10x more difficult to source and build in countries like Cambodia. Everything has to be done by hand whereas here we have the luxury of machinery. The Cambodian school children have been helping the process by building bottle bricks using recycled materials such as plastic and carrier bags which will go towards a new toilet block and washroom.

Businesses and people we work with:

• Jackie Lewis – Trutex Newbury
• Matthew Easter – Trutex
• Terry & Trudy Ferbrache – Trutex Guernsey
• Ian & Lynne Spalding – Trutex Maccelsfield
• Marie – Boydells
• Dave Moulton – Sportsland
• Terry Frizelle – Trutex Agent
• Ron Riley – Trutex Agent
• Freddy – Trutex Hackney
• Ros Keward – Just Schoolwear

Stella wants to use this school as model for other rural areas where there is no education available and a very real chance of children and young adults having to leave their homes to help support the rest of the family.

The idea is to reduce the number of Street Children and those being sent to unknown destinations supposedly to work in factories or sweatshops. Sometimes they’re able to support their family in this way but other times they don’t actually arrive at their destination and never return home. Trafficking, slavery and the sex trade are all very real threats to people who are vulnerable in poverty.

The school eventually needs to be self-funded. Sustainability program to be phased in over time.

Sewing workshop

• Clothes for local and tourist market
• Jewellery from recycled materials
• Soft toys and puppets for tourist market

Small farm

• Breeding pigs for sale
• Chickens for eggs, breeding and sale
• Vegetables for local market

Mechanical workshop

• Metalwork repairs
• Bicycle repairs