Phnom Penh’s municipal rubbish dump
I received this email from my good friend Carol Coote in Los Angeles. She is always up to something good! She came into contact with Scott Neeson.
He who had left Fox in 2003 to head Sony Pictures international marketing
operation. In the 5 weeks between jobs, he took a mini-sabbatical
through Asia, with a plan to travel from Bangkok through to India. A
two day stop-over in Phnom Penh, experiencing first-hand the plight of
the city’s children, became a 4 week mission that started him on the
path to found the Cambodian Children's Fund
This is the email:
As an aside to the documentary we are setting up about the girls who
work the Phnom Penh trash dump, my partner Lynne and I have been
setting up deals to sell these bags that the older girls are making -
which keeps them out of the sex trade. I thought I'd pass this along
because it's such a rewarding activity. Right now supporting the whole
shabang for these young women comes down to us selling them here. And
to the many of you who bought them, we wanted you ton know how vital it
is and appreciated.
xxxC
P.S. we're already waiting for our second shipment of tote bags, and
are starting to market the famous "Grace Kelly" bag to a hipper
client. Next we want to manufacture a very simple fold-over clutch.
We hope you won't mind if we let you know when new shipments arrive -
they make perfect gifts. At the moment they are exclusively at Polks
Dots and Monnbeams in LA, but will soon be in NYC.
A special thanks to my friend Deborah Haggis who is going to try to
get one of her celebrity friends to carry the bag and be photographed.
No pressure Deb - this is just an update to family and friends!
Best,
Carol
scott@cambodianchildrensfund.org writes:
just one typical example of the many that are being helped is a
girl of 19 years. (I say “girl” instead of “woman” intentionally), the
older sister of one of kids. She has never set foot in a classroom and
worked at the dump since she was 9 years old. After working all night
at the dump, she returned home to a drunken mother, who stabbed her in
the leg with a fishing knife. I got the call. As the sole salary-earner
to both drunk and violent parents, and no job skills, she was destined
to continue a pretty hopeless life. Long story short, she is learning
to bags for a half day, six days a week. The other half day she is
studying reading and writing – and still giving her parents the same
amount of money each month. Times that story by the number of people
benefiting from the bag venture and you have a LOT of good Karma!
I attach a photo of this girl at our medical clinic, post-stabbing
and after talking about her new vocation.
There has to be a documentary in these stories!
Help support this cause! Buy a rice bag here! and tell a friend!
