By Nina

We drove up country 1 hour on hard surface, 2.5 hours on dirt road 80% full of pot holes. Our destination Tbaeng Meanchey in Preah Vihear province Carol Cassidy’s ‘studio’ so primitive, dirt floors, endearing weavers, amazing to find such luxurious textiles created ‘from the red earth’. Here over 40 rural artisans, land mine survivors earn a sustainable income under the generous care of Carol’s NGO Weaves of Cambodia.

From the red earth of Preah Vihear, Cambodia, a community of determined land mine survivors is creating a sustainable income through traditional weaving. In 1998 with five women making silk products and now employs over 40 rural artisans who use their artistic skills to earn a sustainable income. “We strive to uphold Fair Trade values by ensuring that all team members are able to enjoy a healthy and safe working environment.” Carol Cassidy.

Weaves of Cambodia is a silk weaving studio in the jungle region of Preah Vihear, Cambodia that only employs land mine survivors and disabled individuals, putting special emphasis on women and their families who produce fine quality silk scarves that are completely environmentally friendly. The best thing about purchasing Weaves of Cambodia silk is that it supports sustainable village life and fair trade in a reconstructing country.

WEAVES OF CAMBODIA: Blending in perfectly with the stylish, big-ticket items on the shelves of Barneys New York, Weaves of Cambodia silk scarves swaddle the buyer in sumptuousness while opening a world of possibilities to the land-mine survivors of Tbeng Meanchey, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold eight hours’ drive along a bumpy dirt road from Phnom Penh. Carol Cassidy, the innovative American weaver behind Vientiane-based Lao Textiles took over the town’s craft studio from Vietnam Veterans International in 2003, training, employing and providing health care to over 40 disabled but gifted artisans whom she says “possess natural abilities to weave high-quality silk in spite of their disabilities.”