T hank you for your interesting and complementary article in this bi-weekly of the Phnom Penh Post.

I would like to point out that there were a few factual errors in the article. If it were possible. I would appreciate it if you could publish this letter with the correct information.

First, Khemara House will only serve Cambodian snacks, food that can be found all over Cambodia and is readily available. Khemara House will guarantee the hygiene of condition under which the food is prepared. It is possible that in the long term future, one or two years from now, that we will become a restaurant and sell some of the exotic delicacies your article mentioned. I am grateful for the idea.

Second, Khemara Handicrafts, of which Khemara House is a part, does not buy any products from the market. We have a policy of buying direct from the producer. We buy 50 percent of our raw materials from our own producers, such as silk growers in Kompong Speu, and we weave at least 50 percent of our own silk cloth. The rest of our products come from other NGO projects similar to ours, dedicated to developing the business skills and marketability of the goods which they produce. Our mission is to assist women in income generation and setting up their own businesses as a means of income and therefore control over their lives. Khemara House is one outlet for those businesses and is unique in that we buy products up front from the producers rather than buying on a payment for sales basis and we buy on the basis of orders, so that the producer is able to plan what to make and does not waste. If necessary we may assist the producer by advancing part of the payment for the products, but we aim to have the producer be fully self-sufficient.

- Katharine Wardle, Business Consultant to Khemara Women in Business Program.