Vietnam-Quilts : Mekong-Quilts

Community Development Non-Profit Organisation

September 2009 International Newsletter

Greetings and welcome to the September newsletter!

We have lots of great news to share with you. Much has happened over the past three months as we have been growing the business with the aim to help more and more women living in disadvantaged rural areas. Currently, around 200 women are earning a regular income through the quilting project and we plan to employ another 100 in the coming months. In this edition, you will find:

• Profile on Nhân - a quilter in Duch Linh
• Shop opens in Siem Reap, Cambodia
• New products in store
• Our extensive Christmas range for the festive season
• Help us get reviewed by The Lonely Planet
• Who we are

Profile on Nhân - A New Quilter in Duch Linh

By Bernard Kervyn

Four years ago I was visiting Duch Linh with Diêu, one of the village workers. She wanted me to meet Nhân and her family, one of the poorest families she was working with. Their situation looked desperate: the “house” was in fact a makeshift plastic tent, with parts flailing in the wind. The children were dirty and sick. They claimed that “when it rains we cannot lie down, we sit in a corner where the rain does not fall”. No wonder they were struggling to do their homework for school.

Nhân’s family had only a tiny piece of land, so both she and her husband were daily laborers, spending long days working in neighboring fields where they were paid only two to three dollars for a day of backbreaking work. But the worst was when they did not have any work at all, and this would happen up to fifteen days a month. With a total family income of only $43 per month, sometimes there was no food for any of their children.

Diêu has been patient and has visited them regularly. Successive micro-credits have helped a lot and their income doubled. Then Nhân joined one of the quilting groups. She is still training but this has again increased the family income by 50%. Now all the children go to school and they have built a small house of concrete, with support from the community.

Mekong-Quilts Now in Siem Reap!

We have just opened a store in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Located at 5 Sivutha Bd, just around the corner from the popular "bar street", it is open from 3PM to 11PM.

All profits made from the sale of our products in Cambodia will be re-invested in the communities of Svay Rieng, where Mekong Plus, our NGO, operates. We plan to employ 100 women in this province in the near future, giving some of the poorest Cambodian families the opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty.

And for those in Phnom Penh, don't forget to visit our store at 49, Street 240, open from 9AM to 7PM every day.

New Products

We have extended our range of fantastic baby quilts and toys! In store, you will find new quilts for babies and children in a range of designs and colours. Some new additions include a girls quilt with beautiful hand stitched flowers. For the boys, a blue night sky with stars and aeroplanes.

We also have a great selection of children's toys - all handmade to last and using natural cottons.

Our line of bags has been upgraded with the introduction of batik handbags, which come in a variety of patterns and colors.

In the Cambodian shops, we now have a range of quilts and patterns inspired by Khmer culture and history.

Christmas Range

The women have been busy helping Santa spread his Christmas spirit, making a huge assortment of Christmas products and accessories! From October 1st all stores will have an impressive range of Christmas decorations and gifts on display, including the popular tree-skirts, which we have been stocking up on to ensure we do not run out before the big day.

Help Us Get Reviewed in The Lonely Planet

We are still campaigning for a review of our stores in The Lonely Planet. The “travellers bible” relies on visitor recommendations, so if you have not already reviewed us we ask that you click on the link and enter the details of one of our shops. For just two minutes of your time you can help us enormously by attracting thousands of people through our doors, which will result in more women being employed.

Who We Are

Vietnam-Quilts and Mekong-Quilts are a non-profit, community development project within the NGO of Mekong Plus. The program trains and employs women in rural areas of Vietnam and Cambodia, where employment is seasonal and can require the women to leave their families for extended periods of time. We aim to give these women permanent work, with a regular income, in their own village. Currently we employ around 200 women to hand-make quilts and home accessories for sale in Vietnam, Cambodia and internationally, but are always looking for opportunities to employ more.

For further information about Vietnam-Quilts and Mekong-Quilts, and to view our catalogue of products, please visit our website.