The theme for International Women’s Day this year, “Break the Bias”, is one that strongly resonates with Cufa. Whether it is bias that aid recipients face, or the roles of Cambodian women, Cufa has a proud history of empowering women and pushing back against narratives limiting women’s opportunities.
With assistance from Cufa’s Family Livelihoods Improvement Program, Chenda has transitioned from rubber harvesting to become a member of her local Community Social Enterprise (CSE). She is now an active member of the Ktuoy Muoy CSE, making and selling soap. Through Cufa, she developed her skills in sales and marketing, small business development and financial literacy, leading her to become more confident in communicating with the eight members of the CSE, as well as participating in community activities.
“Through this project, I have the chance to be a member in CSE group to learn and produce the dishwashing and laundry soap, it is also a part of [contributing in my] communities for producing the significant soap product and selling out in low price to community people.”
Being part of the CSE has ignited her passion, “I am very interested in selling soap products, so I want to learn more about how to sell and boost marketing promotion with an opportunity in driving my capacity to meet high quality skill to effective business operation”.
For Mrs Chan Phen, as a primary school teacher with schools closed during the Covid-19 outbreak, Mrs Phen used this time to up-skill and produce soap products as a member of another CSE in rural Kampong Cham, Cambodia.
Mrs Phen reported that she is more confident and feels stronger than before because she’s been able to support her family by earning a modest amount of money from the shared profits of the CSE. She highlighted that even though it is not much, she is happy and looks forward to further increasing her confidence to sell the products at the local market.
This International Women’s Day, it is important to highlight the stories of individuals who managed to Break the Bias, work that Cufa strongly supports.
