#artisansangkor

Guaranteeing safe working conditions

“The greatest wealth is health.” - Virgil

When it comes to production processes, you should always care first about the employee’s well-being and safety at work. At Artisans Angkor, all the 1100 employees’ offices and workshops are provided with drinkable water (that we have analyzed once a year), fans (have you any idea of how hot it can get in Cambodia? ;)) and first-aid boxes. First-aid training sessions are also carried out by the Cambodian Red Cross twice a year, so our artisans can be ready to react at work, but also at home!

Needless to say that we give our artisans Personal Protective Equipment (protective glasses and headsets, handling gloves, protection shoes, masks…) that they wear when needed.

  Offering fair compensation packages

“There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness” - Mahatma Gandhi

All our profits – made thanks to the works of art we sell – are reinvested for social purposes, including fair compensation packages for our 800 artisans. In that regard, we try to set up selling prices that are fair to both our customers and artisans. As the doctor Jane Goodal said “generally if you are getting something very cheap—clothes or food—that’s almost certainly proof that people weren’t paid the way they should be paid for it.”

Fair compensation packages include of course fair salaries, but also lots of social advantages, like free and easy access to healthcare (hiring of doctors and specialists), free insurance (accidents are covered 24/7) and pregnancy covering (compensated maternity leaves).

We are also striving to make our organization a happy place to work in thanks to several events we organize (cultural activities for children, team-building trips…) and buy building canteens and daycare centers in the artisans’ workplaces.

Using quality and traditional production processes

“Call it ‘eco-fashion’ if you like, but I think it’s just common sense.” – Livia Firth, Founder of Eco Age

We try to use first-rate quality raw materials that come from Cambodia as much as possible. Our production process is not a massive one; every pieces are carefully checked by our quality controllers, one by one, before they are sent to the shops. Indeed, “It’s time to slow down and consider the true cost of choosing quantity over quality.” (Kate Fletcher - Designer)

Artisans Angkor’s environmental commitment can be seen - among other things - in the natural water treatment system that we set up at our Silk Farm to purify dyed water, so it can be used again for local farming or for our dyeing process. Speaking of dyeing process, we also use natural dyers, such as lavender or tamarind :)

All in all: staying deeply attached to Cambodian culture

“One destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things” - Henry Miller

Picture: Artisans Angkor’s employees during the opening ceremony of Khmer New Year 2016

This point may be the most important. As much as we want to revitalize Cambodian traditional Arts & Crafts, we want to add value to Cambodian amazing culture. We should not keep Cambodian History and traditions as a simple ‘’background’’ to sell products, but use it as a pillar for everything we want to implement in Cambodia.

Concretely, we love organizing events for important Khmer celebrations, during which all employees are invited to participate. We also contribute to the organization of Cambodian religious celebrations.

If we had to sum-up what being ethical means in one sentence, maybe it would be “remembering that you have a lot to receive from the communities you are interacting with”.

Stay committed ;)

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