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Rajana's smok boxes are made from palm leaves, natural dyes and like all of our products, work. They are made in Wat Doum Nak village in Takeo province in the South of the country.
Each box contains a package of either traditional Cambodian tea, or Cambodian coffee or more usually a Cambodian spice.
Making a Smok Box
 Palm Leaves
 Needles for making scarves
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Rajana is a local, non-profit organisation which provides training for their artisans and supports over one hundred home based producer families in different provinces. This support takes the form of a fair business relationship. In particular, they focus on the rural and urban poor training them in traditional craft skills, marketing, administration and computing.
Some of their producers have been selling their goods to Rajana for ten years or more, and are happy to say that their lives have improved in terms of increased income. Now, families are able to send their children to school, they have enough food for the family and purchase motorbikes for transportation.
In Khmer, the word "Rajana" means design. It is for this reason the name was originally selected. For it is their aim to produce fair trade products using traditional Cambodian skills but with contemporary designs.
Rajana Association was started in 1995 as a project by the British International NGO South-East Asian Outreach. It is now fully locally managed and is a member of the Artisans Association of Cambodia, which is itself a member of the International Fair Trade Association.
For these reasons, Arts of the Dragon guarantee that your Rajana purchase is providing a positive contribution to the well-being of at least one family and their future generations in Cambodia, and helping to keep traditional skills alive.
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 Weaving a Scarf in Phnom Cham Bap (Cambodia)
Cambodian silk is reputed to be amongst the finest in the world, with silk weaving an ancient Khmer art passed down through the generations.
That was of course until the recent decades when war and political strife devastated this once great industry. However, through a combination of their own determination and help from organisations such as Rajana, silk production has recovered.
Our Rajana scarves are four toned and made of raw silk. Silk is often referred to as either "fine" or "raw" silk. In fine silk the sericin, a natural gum material from the silk moth has been washed away, while in raw silk this material has not been removed.
Raw silk therefore has a completely different texture than other silk fabrics. Nevertheless it is often seen as the superior product because it is sturdier in textiles.
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