FLOOD RELIEF INITIATIVES

Siem Reap businesses and NGOs have come to the fore again this year to help villagers adversely affected by flooding.

Textile making co-op Samatoa employs 40 spinners at Kampin Poy which was hit by floods on October 9, resulting in 80 houses being destroyed and about 800 families forced to move to a camp without electricity, water and food.

Samatoa’s general manager Awen Delaval stepped in saying, “We must find ways to help them: food, medicine, equipment for cooking and beds, mosquito nets etc. We must find ways to reconstruct their homes.” He added that there is also a crucial need for a new spinning workshop, “so they can once again earn money.”

Corinne Pouplard, the company’s communication officer reports, “We have already collected 500 kg of rice and tents to isolate the remaining houses. But we need money to buy equipment and repair their homes.”

A car leaves Siem Reap every two days to take supplies to Kampin Poy, and more than $3,000 has already been raised. But more is required. For details, contact Awen Delaval on 063 96 53 10.

Meanwhile, Journeys Within Our Community has also established a flood relief fund to help affected villagers in Siem Reap province.

The NGO says people in the communities in which it works, “are so far surviving but it’s an anxious time as the risk of water related and mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever, is high and growing as the flooding is not receding.

“As well as the large concern over the risk of disease there is also recovery to consider once the water goes down, with clean up and repairs to roads and houses needed. Many families are losing their crops as their rice fields and poultry are destroyed by the flooding, a source of both income and food for impoverished families. The longer- impact of the flooding is fear for food security with concerns over food shortages.”

Check details on how to donate on the group’s website.

Incidentally, Journeys Within Our Community is seeking a full-time fundraising and communications manager to work in Siem Reap. The contract is a full-time position for 12 months with a salary of $800 per month.

A SHOE-IN

The big regional and international brands are certainly coming to town and the latest of these is the upscale Pedro shoe store on Sivutha Boulevard.

Pedro is part of the Charles & Keith retail empire which was originally established in 1996 by brothers Charles and Keith Wong as a small shoe store at the Amara Hotel in Singapore. In 2007, both Charles & Keith and its luxury shoe offshoot Pedro expanded the range of products to include women’s and men’s accessories such as bags, belts, ties and sunglasses

It’s now gone global with close on 200 outlets throughout the world and in May 2009, Forbes wrote, “Charles & Keith continues to broaden its overseas network. The company is looking to open another 500 stores over the next five years. To cater to the changing demands and tastes of its customers, the corporation has an in-house team of 70 designers led by Keith. These designers come up with new designs every month and make regular trips to fashion capitals such as Milan and Paris.”

SHORTS

Sokha Philanthropy: On October 19, 45 staff and management members of Sokha Angkor Resort donated food, linen, and cash to 137 poor families living in the floating villages at Kompong Pluk commune, Prasat Bakong district.

Night Light: A faint but eerie glow in the night landscape near Shinta Mani is not, as some suggest, the result of lighting for a UFO landing strip. Rather it’s the unusual lighting set-up of Wa Gallery’s equally unusual new all-glass-walled shop at the Cassia Gallery.