Meet the participants!
 Ruet, a 43-year-old widow and mother of twelve. She lives with nine of her children in Dey Thmey Village, Cambodia.
Before joining Carpets for Communities, five of Ruet’s children spent their days as umbrella holders, shielding sun from tourists as they crossed the border into Cambodia. They didn’t go to school, and their work left them vulnerable to child trafficking. The family subsisted on the meager 120 Baht ($3) they averaged each day.
Through Carpets for Communities, Ruet has been empowered to make a change. The money she makes selling her hand-hooked carpets helps her support her family and enables her five school-aged children to go to school.
Meet all the participant families! 20 families currently participate, Click on their names below to read their story.
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Ngean Ouch is the first woman to join Carpets for Communities. She has five children, three of them are currently going to school, the other two are married. Her eldest son has found work and repairs motorcycles, her eldest daughter helps her to make carpets. Together they make seven carpets a week.
Prior to joining Carpets for Communities Ngean Ouch would be working in the rice fields but had no steady income. "Since making carpets" she says, "she has a steady income which enables her to sustain her family"
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Along with Ouch, Ngean Ouk was the first woman to join Carpets for Communities in the month of August, 2005. She is an economic migrant and has been living near Poi Pet since 5 years in a village called An Dong Thmar Meas. She has three daughters and four sons who used to be working and begging at the Thai border. She is now able to support her family and send her children to school with the income she makes from her carpets. |
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Ren Samon was one of the very first women to join Carpets for Communities. She was heavily pregnant with her sixth child when we delivered a small rectangular test mat to her in December 2004 and has been making carpets since then. ‘Life is better now,’ says Samon, whose family used to depend entirely on the availability of day-work in surrounding fields. ‘The children are at school and we have enough to eat. Before, sometimes there was no food, not even rice.’
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Lim Channa is one of the families who joined Carpets for Communities in 2005! Since then life has improved a lot for her she says.
She has 11 children. Three of them are currently going to school. In addition, she will be able to send her three youngest children to school as soon as they are old enough. Together with her eldest daughter, they make 10 carpets a week!
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Youm Yet has 7 children, of which 4 are going to school. 2 are then are still very young and her 19 yr old son works at the TH market. Before she joined Carpets for Communities, Youm Yet was working at the Thai market herself but did not have sufficient income to send any of her children to school. A couple of months ago one of the storms blew over her house. Since a month they are living in their newly build cement house however will be paying of the debt over the next 10 months. |
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Hern Kimoun has five children of which three still live with her at home and go to school. They attend grade 1, 2 and 5. Her youngests son`s favorite subject is Mathematics and her daughter loves Language studies.
Her husband works at the Thai market and now with their combined income they are able to support the family and assure their kids can attend school.
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Seng Ean is a refugee and economic migrant who has been living since six years in Poi Pet. She has 8 children, as you can see most of them being school aged. They have been enrolled into school and enjoy their classes a lot and love having friends.
Seng Ean is able to support her family with the income that she earns today with her carpets.
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Hoy Han joined Carpets for Communities in November 2006. The income she gets from making the carpets has enabled her to send 3 of her school aged kids to school. In addition, her 3 older sons work in the Thai market to support the family because her husband is very ill and can not work.
Hoy Han enjoys very much making carpets and works on them 8 hours a day.
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Chalong Savy joined Carpets for Communities towards the end of 2007. She was a refugee and has been living in Poi Pet for over 11 years. She has 9 children, but only the two eldest are hers. The others are her grandchildren who were left with her by her three daughters when they abadnoned her. The money from the carpets she makes enables her to support the children and send them all to school as soon they reach school age.
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Touch Mom joined Carpets for Communities in early 2008. Since joining her five school aged sons have been enrolled into school and she has been able to get a steady income making carpets.
They have been living in Poi Pet for two years now.
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Families that joined Carpets for Communities as of June 2008!
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Chanso Pheap is a newcomer and joined Carpets for Communities in June 2008. She has 5 kids, four of them currently going to school and one more will be enrolled in the next month. She is quite sick and therefore it takes her a lot longer to make a carpet, however she is very happy, despite her circumstances, to have been given the opportunity to work and get income.
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Welcome! Uk Sopheap joined Carpets for Communities in June 2008. After receiving training she has completed her first small.
She has 7 children and all her school aged children will be enrolled into school this year!
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Welcome Prum Samien!
Prum Samien is a refugee and then became an economic migrant. She has been living in Poi Pet since 2000 and was interviewed by Carpets for Communities in June 2008. She has four children who will be enrolled into school this year. In the picture you will see her working on her first carpet, her children anxiously awaiting the final product!
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Another newcomer to Carpets for Communities, welcome Seour Sat!
Seour Sat is a refugee and has been living in Poi Pet for 13 years. She has three sons. At the moment she is receiving training from our staff and learning how to make the carpets.
Good Luck to Seour Sat!
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Welcome En Saly!
En Saly has lived in Poi Pet for over 8 years. She has 4 sons and is proudly finishing her very first carpet!
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Welcome Eourn Ry!
The picture shows her very first completed carpet. She has been joining the neighbour family to see how they make the carpets and has received her training from the our staff. Eourn Ry has seven children, currently two are going to school and with the additional income she will be able to send three more of her kids to school.
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Support Carpets for Communities' woman and enable them to send their children to school by purchasing a hand-hooked carpet. All proceeds from carpet sales are re-invested into the program and into communities in which participant families live. You can help us by spreading the word and recommending the carpets to your friends or potential stockists.
If you are interested in purchasing a rug, follow the link below to find out where to buy them.
Where to buy 
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