As we struggle with the effects of Covid 19 in Australia, and how it has affected Australian businesses, big and small, it is important to remember that it’s also affecting places around the world in different, and more difficult ways. Prior to the effects of Covid 19, the Cambodian economy was experiencing a boom, thanks to a growth in the garment industry and Cambodians going abroad and sending remittances back home. Though conditions were difficult, it did provide steadily growing incomes. This continued growth relied on a global consumer market and the ability to travel overseas. As you might be aware, as of September 2020, this is not the case. The effects of Covid 19, which has forced millions of foreign workers to return home and factories to close their doors due to the fears of spreading Covid-19, has posed significant challenges to the lives of those in Cambodia. This has had repercussions across the country, impacting the prices of goods, causing shortages of food and fuel, and forcing people to return home jobless.
Bopha, pictured above, is filling up jerry cans with soap that she and the community social enterprise that she is a part of, had just produced. Any other day, she would be in the local rubber plantation, but due to the effects of Covid-19, she has seen a significant decline in her income. Compounding that, outbreaks of Covid-19 have occurred in her area dissuading suppliers from entering her area, increasing the prices of most staple goods. Hearing that Cufa had begun conducting our soap workshops in the area, she decided to join up.
Our workshops allowed her to take part in an ongoing training program that taught her leadership skills, micro and small community enterprise skills, business management, bookkeeping and financial literacy. This allowed her, and villagers like her to diversify their income streams through the production of liquid soap, which they can sell individually or to on-sellers. This gives the participants, like Bopha the knowledge and opportunity to empower themselves.
As Bopha is helping load the soap into individual plastic bottles, onto the back of a scooter owned by another social enterprise worker. She tells us that she feels like it’s brighter now that she has been able to join the social enterprise, feeling like she has been able to see change for herself.
