| These range of products are made by parents of former street children in Cambodia using recycled newspapers or Sarong material mostly from Cambodia.
The production techniques include rolling the newspaper in to spaghetti-like strands, or inter-twining the newspaper to create a close knit lattice effect.
Barrel Shaped Bag
 Shopping Bag
 Shoulder Sarong Bag
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We met Friends International at a market stall in Phnom Penh and got chatting to them. We bought a few products (not loads) and were invited for a tour around their facilities. Here is what they do:
They meet street people both children and adults and try to persuade them to help themselves, but not on their own but with the support of Friends International. The younger children are placed in a small school run by Friends, the older children are given work placed training, and for the adults they try to find them work in one of their businesses.
These businesses include two tourist restaurants, a garage for the more technically and practically minded (mostly male), and the handicraft business (mostly female) which produces craft products many recycled. These products are mainly for the local tourist market but they do export, which is where Arts of the Dragon and hopefully you come in.
Friday is certainly an interesting day to visit their office in Phnom Penh. This is when the ladies come to sell their wares. For those ladies further afield Friends visits their local community, in order to purchase their hand made products. They even provide sewing machines and training for these ladies.
Arts of the Dragon sells many products and we are proud of what we do, but we are particularly pleased with our relationship with Friends. Their name has certainly been chosen wisely.
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Say Lay at Work
Say Lay is the mother of 5 children, living in a community in Phnom Penh. Over the years, all her children have been supported by Mith Samlanh ("Friends") to stop working on the streets and are now attending public school and vocational training. Last year, her eldest daughter was placed in employment and is now working as a dressmaker in a Phnom Penh shop.
Say Lay has been participating in the home-based project since its inception and has become one of the best producers of the group. Her husband, who lost his legs after stepping on a landmine, has also recently decided to stop begging and is now producing great small cars made of recycled tin cans. The family now manages to make a regular and decent income from selling these products and their children are no longer placed at risk working on the streets.
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