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Latest News
Quarterly Newsletter
This is published and sent out to all benefactors. Click here for the latest copy. If you like to be on the mailing list please contact us to let us know.
Jan 2012 - Visit to Phnom Penh
Pak Kheng and Sylvia visited Kumnit Thmey on 18 and 19 Jan. This was a very rewarding trip as 2 major projects for namely Ascott International Management and National University Health System (NUHS) were completed and products brought back to Singapore. At the same time, some very nice ONE Edition items were also made for our supporters in Singapore!
Pak Kheng spent time with AFESIP finance staff to discuss year end closing and preparation for external audit. She also spent time with Mrs. Sokha (Kumnit Thmey’s supervisor) to understand all the admin work currently done by her. This was done with the intent of dovetailing admin work between AFESIP and Kumnit Thmey, simplifying processes to help to reduce workload and raise capabilities.
We have also commenced ‘Heart to Heart Talk’ with Kumnit Thmey employees with Mrs. Sokha being the interpreter. This is casual session where we sat on the floor and we shared our life experiences with them and for them to share their goals and concerns with us. The objectives of this ‘Heart to Heart Talk’ are to
- help them with the soft skills needed grow and rebuild their lives - provide emotional support - guide them in tackling personal problems - encourage them to seek help and guidance - understand each other better - help them understand Lotus Culture’s motivation and the social enterprise
We plan to hold this regularly, without any agenda.
Nov / Dec 2011 - Visit to Phnom Penh
Sylvia made 3 visits to Phnom Penh between mid November to mid December to work on production plans, fabric selection and product prototyping.
We are sad to see that one girl left us to be with her boyfriend. We wish her best of luck. 3 new girls joined us since end of October, bringing the total number of survivors employed to 6. The 3 new joiners are settling in very well.
We are also pleased to inform that the employees saving scheme is working well. One of the girls was able to help her sister with medical emergency, while others were able to bring home cash to their families. Their savings accounts are replenished monthly. We will continue to motivate the girls to save, and to guide them on money matters.
In addition to their annual leave, the 6 girls at Kumnit Thmey joined AFESIP in their 3-days annual holiday retreat to the beach in mid Dec. They had a wonderful time and brought home beautiful gifts for Mrs. Sokha and Sylvia.
We continue to receive enquiries and support from commercial customers for our products. We, together with the girls and Mrs. Sokha at Kumnit Thmey wish all our customers and supporters a Happy and Healthy 2012 ! We look forward to your continuous support.
Nov 2011 - Christmas Fairs
We participated in two Christmas Fairs on 21 Nov and 26 Nov respectively.
One was at the US Embassy in Singapore organized for the staff, in which non-profit organizations and social enterprises were invited. We would like to thank US Embassy for inviting us, giving us the opportunity to reach out to a different audience.
The second was at Tanglin Club and we would like to thank the members who so generously supported and encouraged us to do more for the survivors of human trafficking and sex slavery. Merry Christmas to all !
2 Nov 2011 - DBS Social Enterprise Event
DBS (Development Bank of Singapore) invited Lotus Culture to participate in their Social Enterprise Event Day. As DBS is embarking on a new regional CSR campaign focusing on supporting social enterprises, a few Social Enterprises were invited to set up stalls at their staff communication day to interact with their staff on the subject of social enterprise!
It was a great opportunity for us to showcase Kumnit Thmey’s quality of work, as well as to raise profile of Lotus Culture and its mission. Lotus Culture’s stall attracted many customers and took in a revenue of S$835, all of which goes to Kumnit Thmey. Other than showcasing our One Edition products, a slide show was put up to help customers connect with the social cause.
We were so busy selling our products that we did not manage to take photos with our customers !!
19 - 21 Oct 2011 - Phnom Pehn Visit
Sylvia is pleased to report that the 5th seamstress, who joined Kumnit Thmey on 4 Oct is doing well. She sews well and works well with her colleagues. The purpose of Sylvia trip was to plan production for the next 2 months, select and purchase fabric for our next corporate customer. Over the past one and a half weeks, the girls have sewn a substantial quantity of the ‘ONE Edition’ products. They have been brought back for sale in Singapore.
The ‘ONE Edition’ products are sewn using donated fabrics from Singapore suppliers which were brought over to Kumnit Thmey now and again. These products were uniquely designed, hence the name. This range of products are ‘filler’ products that make use of the available capacity in between corporate projects. If you are interested to buy ‘ONE Edition’ products, please contact us.
3 - 6 Oct 2011 - Phnom Penh Visit
Lai Har and Pak Kheng made a visit carrying 60kg of donated fabric to Kumnit Thmey. Time was spent to further work with AFESIP Finance on the accounts of Kumnit Thmey and the requirements for transactions undertaken in Singapore. The opportunity was also taken to meet with a Singapore Cambodian JV who has committed to a corporate gift order from Kumnit Thmey as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Kumnit Thmey staff had just come back from a one week break after completing 2 corporate orders. The wine bottle holders were despatched earlier to Brownsville USA and the second order completed earlier of bedrunners and bolsters is for a boutique hotel in Singapore. The girls went home to spend time with their families and all are back busy with producing product samples and ready to undertake the new orders.
In addition to Chanto, Pisey, Verlaq and Shreymom, Sorath has just joined the team on 4 Oct. Mrs. Sokha is phasing her in by sewing product samples.
20 Sep 2011 - Kumnit Thmey completes and sends out a corporate order
These wine bottle holders were ordered by Keppel AmFels in Brownsville USA, to be used as corporate gifts in a company annual golf event.
17 - 19 Aug 2011 - First customer order for Kumnit Thmey
Kumnit Thmey has started sewing bolster covers and bedrunners for its first customer, a Singapore boutique hotel. Work was progressing well. A Management Committee meeting was also held to discuss various Kumnit Thmey’s HR matters as well as production plans for the next 2 months. Sylvia brought back 20+ bolster covers and 11 bedrunners as well as other products.
12 - 16 August 2011 - Phnom Penh Visit
Lotus Culture facilitated a visit to Tom Dy Centre and Kumnit Thmey for four executives of Vitol Asia Pte Ltd on 12th and 13th August. This visit was the outcome of a Lotus Culture engagement with the management and subsequently the employees of Vitol Asia Pte Ltd to support Lotus Culture with AFESIP as the ultimate beneficiary. On arrival at the Tom Dy Centre, after an initial briefing the Vitol visitors engaged with all the residents at the Centre at the large sewing work room. They noticed the clothes being worked on in the room and were impressed with the workmanship and sewing skills.
They shared chocolates and spoke encouragingly to all and committed to share their experience with their colleagues in Singapore and the Vitol Charitable Foundation in London. At the initial briefing, AFESIP shared their rescue process, inroads with the Cambodian government organisations for better support and the mental health programme to address the trauma of the survivors. At Kumnit Thmey the Vitol visitors praised the girls for their sewing work of new product prototypes developed by Lotus Culture and spotted the Vitol colours in the unfinished uniform of the Kumnit Thmey staff.
Our THANKS to the employees of Vitol Asia Pte Ltd for initiating and living their social responsibility in supporting Lotus Culture and AFESIP to build a liveable future for survivors of human trafficking and sex slavery.
Special THANKS also to the visitors for helping Lotus Culture to carry over bag loads of fabric collected in Singapore and donated to Kumnit Thmey.
Pak Kheng was accompanied during this visit by Soak Mun, a volunteer and a clinical psychologist working in Singapore with traumatised victims. Soak Mun helped the Singapore visitors better understand the mental health programme in AFESIP and gave helpful comments to support the girls at Kumnit Thmey. The rest of the visit was to work with AFESIP finance on the required accounting for Kumnit Thmey to provide full transparency to the donors of Lotus Culture in developing and funding the social enterprise.
25 – 29 July 2011 - Phnom Penh Visit
Three students from NUS Business School joined Sylvia for a visit to Phnom Penh. The students are doing their consulting practicum with Lotus Culture. This trip provided them with a good insight and understanding of AFESIP, Lotus Culture’s beneficiary. This added more meaning and context to the work that they are doing with Lotus Culture. Other than a visit to Tom Dy Centre and Kumnit Thmey, the students and Sylvia travelled west to Koh Kong, a coastal town to explore the possibility of setting up another social enterprise.
Sylvia was pleased to report that Kumnit Thmey is working well. Set up of Kumnit Thmey is now complete.
4 - 8 July 2011 - 5 days weaving lessons at AFESIP’s Siem Reap Center
Lotus Culture arranged a training session with Osmose Saray (http://www.osmosetonlesap.net/www/english/saray.php) to teach AFESIP residents and staff how to weave. Osmose Saray is a cooperative of women, from the floating villages of the Tonle Sap Lake, who weave water hyacinth to create soft, supple and luminous 100% natural, 100% Cambodian bags, mats and accessories. The training session was delivered at AFESIP’s Siem Reap Centre by the Tonle Sap women. A total of 16 staff and residents from Kampong Cham Centre, Tom Dy Centre and Siem Reap Centre attended the 5 days workshop. The purpose of this training is to provide AFESIP survivors with another skill to help them to rebuild their future. Lotus Culture would like to thank Osmose Saray for their assistance and support.
3 July 2011 - Lotus Culture 2011 1st Half Newsletter
20 – 24 June 2011 - Phnom Penh visit
This trip was to follow up on the girls practice sewing of products for our prospective first customer, as well as the sewing of first batch of tote bags which are for sale. Work was very well done. Further work has been identified for the girls to work on sample corporate gifts and other potential products. Happy to report that the first batch of products are available for sale.
More data were collected regarding fabric supply both in terms of range and availability. Sylvia also met up with Singaporean business men in Phnom Penh to share experiences, to network and to learn from them. Other areas of work included teaching Kumnit Thmey Supervisor, Mrs. Sokha to set up excel files for ‘inventory tracking’ and ‘product data sheets’, and general HR discussions.
6 – 9 June 2011- Phnom Penh visit
During this visit, Pak Kheng worked with AFESIP Finance to understand the accounting processes of Kumnit Thmey and to common up on implementing the segregation of financial accounts and set up of a new bank account, consistent with the agreement between Lotus Culture and AFESIP for the management and operations of Kumnit Thmey.
Sylvia went through product specifications for the training of seamstresses in preparation for the first commercial project. In addition, Sylvia discussed product improvements with Mrs. Sokha (Kumnit Thmey supervisor) and work plan.
Pak Kheng and Sylvia met the four girls at Kumnit Thmey who seemed happy in their new environment. Their first task was to sew curtains for Kumnit Thmey’s office. Glad to report that office set up is almost complete.
Pak Kheng and Sylvia also visited various markets in Phnom Penh to find out about the fabric supply.
9-11 May 2011 - Visit to Phnom Penh
At her last visit, Sylvia interviewed Mrs. Sokha (pictured below) who applied for the role of Technical Supervisor at Kumnit Thmey. She was offered the job the next day and was asked to sew a jewellery roll (relatively high degree of difficulty) as an assessment of her sewing skill. She did a very good job. She started work on 1 May. She will double hat as the Manager until business volume justifies the recruitment of a Manager.
Sylvia made another trip to Phnom Penh on 9 May to welcome Mrs. Sokha and to talk to her about the purpose of the social enterprise, our mutual expectations, her role and her work plan for the rest of the month. Sylvia also spent time with Mrs. Sokha to discuss prospective products as corporate gifts. The office is slowly taking shape. Four seamstresses (3 from Tom Dy Centre, 1 from Siem Reap Centre) have been recruited. Tentative start work date is 1 June.
7 & 8th May 2011 - Mother’s Day @ Tanglin Club
A successful fundraising event by Lotus Culture took place, see Events page for more details.
April 2011 – visit to Phnom Penh
Sylvia was in Phnom Penh for four days. The purpose of this trip was to discuss Lotus Culture/AFESIP agreement in the setting up of Kumnit Thmey, the social enterprise, look for a place to set up office cum workshop, interview candidates, agree on terms and conditions of employment of Kumnit Thmey staff and discuss saving scheme for staff (seamstresses only). This scheme is to help and encourage staff to save and to empower them to take charge of their money. It will also teach them how to use their savings to invest for extra income. We are pleased to inform that a property in Phnom Penh has been selected to be office/workshop of Kumnit Thmey. The technical supervisor has also been recruited. She has many years of experience as a trainer in dressmaking. She also has planning and filing experiences. She started work on 1 May 2011.
It was a pleasure meeting trauma specialist volunteer Ms. Candace Blasé (extreme left), and we wish her every success in her endeavours.
April 2011: Volunteer trauma specialist starts work
Candace Blase, the volunteer trauma specialist has started work in Cambodia. Her expenses and living support are funded by Lotus Culture for one year, please refer to ‘projects/mental health’. She brings with her over 30 years of education and experience in working within psychological care for victims of trauma and families and individuals in distressing circumstances. Her responsibilities are to manage both the psychology project and the partnership with Ragamuffin and to build the structure, procedures, policies and administration of the Psychology department as well as capacity building.
April 2011: Lotus Culture featured in Singapore Straits Times articles
- 8 April "More S'pore groups raising funds for causes abroad" - 10 April "Retirees start own businesses"
March 2011: Formation of Kumnit Thmey
AFESIP and Lotus Culture reached an agreement to form Kumnit Thmey as an entity within AFESIP. It will have an independent Management Committee to ensure commercial mindset and speed to market.
March 2011: “Lotus rising” a featured story in NVPC online magazine SALT
http://www.salt.org.sg/articles_list/detail/4d7db9a7-1780-47c2-9832-02f87c3410df
8 March 2011 : Lotus Culture invited to celebrate International Women’s Day with the Network of Women, Shell Singapore Bukom (Manufacturing) chapter
About 20+ Ladies attended and the occasion provided a platform for Lotus Culture to seed awareness about the organisation and share the activities pursued. Interest and support was expressed and the ladies present were encouraged to cascade the message.
23 February 2011 : Lotus Culture engagement with Shell Chemicals Singapore
At a lunch & learn session organised on the theme of Community Social Investment participation, Lotus Culture was given the opportunity to share about its mission and the work it was doing. The session successfully achieved the objective of raising awareness and garnering support from the audience of about 30+ participants
February 2011: Lotus Culture visit to Phnom Penh
Sylvia & Pak Kheng met with AFESIP Management Team at Phnom Penh.
The name for the Social Enterprise will be Kumnit Thmey (KT), pronounced as “Koom Nit Te My”, which in Khmer means “new ideas”. KT will be located in Phnom Penh. Several properties were viewed with one identified potential for lease.
Job descriptions for the 2 key positions of Manager and Technical Supervisor were also discussed with AFESIP in preparation for recruitment. In terms of business, the first order for delivery of curtains, cushions etc is to a Singapore boutique hotel by mid-August, 2011.
During this trip, Lotus Culture’s (LC) donation to sponsor the trauma specialist (the mental health care programme) was disbursed to AFESIP. This constitutes LC’s third donation to AFESIP.
The opportunity was also taken to connect with potential sponsors in Cambodia, such as Asia Pacific Brewery. Follow up actions will be undertaken.
February 2011: Lotus Culture gave a talk to Rotary Club of Jurong Town at Tanglin Club.
The purpose of the talk was to introduce the Mission and Purpose of Lotus Culture and to connect with Rotary Club Members for prospective collaborations.
January 2011: Recruitment of Trauma Specialist
AFESIP successfully recruited a trauma specialist volunteer from the United States. Lotus Culture has agreed to sponsor the volunteer’s daily expenses, medical insurance etc. She is to start work in April 2011.
January 2011: Training Basket Weaving
Osmose Saray formally replied and agreed to provide training in basket weaving at Siem Reap Centre to AFESIP. They submitted the fees for the provision of one week training to broaden the skills base of the AFESIP residents. Training will commence in second half of June.
December 2010: Opportunity to Volunteer in Cambodia
Our beneficiary AFESIP is looking for volunteers with the relevant background to work as Psychological Services Advisors and Clinical Supervisors in their centres in Cambodia. This is a great opportunity to volunteer and gain a rich life experience.
November 2010: Lotus Culture visit to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap
In Nov 2010, Sylvia held meeting with AFESIP at its HQ in Phnom Penh to discuss progress. She also had meeting with Somaly Mam to ensure alignment and to update her of critical items. Somaly Mam was very supportive of developing the Social Enterprise (SE). She encouraged LC to engage the survivors to seek their views of such projects.
Sylvia met up with Somaly Mam Foundation’s ‘Voices for Change’ team which comprised of survivors who were under the care of AFESIP. She also went to Siem Reap Centre to discuss SE setup with the girls there. All the girls were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to work in the SE.
Replica of the cushion cover samples, left with AFESIP during the previous trip, indicates that good quality production is achievable.
LC disbursed some funds to AFESIP for Social Enterprise development work.
AFESIP updated LC on their Ragamuffin Project, and asked LC to help to source a qualified trauma specialist.
While in Siem Reap, Sylvia approached Osmose Saray, a Cambodian project created by Osmose France that teaches women on Tonle Sap Lake to weave with hyacinth. LC’s objective was to seek their help to train AFESIP girls to weave, using recycled paper. They were supportive of AFESIP’s and LC’s work; and have subsequently agreed to provide training in basket weaving using recycled paper. LC left with them samples of baskets and fruit bowls woven using recycled paper. They would check with the Tonle Sap Lake women to source for trainers.
September 2010: Lotus Culture visit to Phnom Penh
Sylvia & Lai Har visited AFESIP HQ in Phnom Penh as well as the Thom Dy Centre. At the meeting with AFESIP, Lotus Culture’s (LC) idea of a Social Enterprise (SE) and details were further discussed with AFESIP management. The SE will be developed on a B2B (Business to Business) platform that utilizes the sewing skills of the girls. It will be export oriented, to avoid product saturation observed in the local Cambodian market. Product range will primarily be cushion covers, runners, corporate gifts and woven baskets from recycled paper and other household/service apartment items. There was broad interest and support to further develop the SE with LC driving this and AFESIP providing the local information and ground support.
A visit was made to the Thom Dy Centre (just outside Phnom Penh) to further understand AFESIP’s operations. With this visit, LC has visited all 3 centres of AFESIP.
2 sample cushion covers were left with the sewing teacher for her to do a replica to gauge quality standards and time to production. She later ascertained that AFESIP girls will be able to sew to the required standard.
AFESIP informed LC of the Ragamuffin Project where the Ragamuffin Group carried out a study put forward a set of recommendations. These included the use of Art therapy methodology and the setting up of art therapy facilities at Kompong Cham Centre as a start. The project also included the recruitment of a trauma specialist volunteer with relevant expertise to be based in Cambodia for a year. AFESIP will provide a proposal on what is the scope, requirements and size of funding required for LC to review as for level of support needed.
LC assured AFESIP that we were keen to support their psychological and counseling needs. Once details of funding requirements are in hand, LC will be better able to budget for this.
August 2010: First Donation made to AFESIP
Lotus Culture made it’s first donation of USD 1650 to AFESIP in August 2010. The funds went towards the purchase of books for newly completed library and classroom in the Kompong Cham centre in Cambodia. These resources will go towards literary and general education for the girls residing in the centre and will also benefit other under-privileged children in the village.
August 2010: AFESIP request for Funds
AFESIP requested for funds to purchase books for Kompong Cham Centre. Lotus Culture (LC) Directors after assessing the request, made their first donations to support this need.
July 2010: Registration of Lotus Culture
With the positive progress made with AFESIP, Lotus Culture Ltd was formed and registered as a Singapore company limited by guarantee.
April 2010: Follow Up Visit to AFESIP
Sylvia made a visit to AFESIP’s head office in Phnom Penh (HQ) and Kompong Cham Centre (about 3 hrs drive from Phnom Penh). The purpose was
- To visit Kompong Cham Centre which caters for girls below age of 16 due to its proximity to a primary and a secondary school. - To discuss the proposed areas of support identified by us, and how these match AFESIP’s needs and priorities.
The meeting discussed how Lotus Culture can best add value to AFESIP’s operations in Cambodia and how we could cooperate and proceed. Three areas were identified. One is to provide financial support to enable AFESIP to recruit more counsellors to deliver the necessary mental healthcare to the survivors. The second area is to support their education efforts. AFESIP provides Khmer and numeracy classes at the Centres and provision of reading resources/library. They welcome funding support for this. Thirdly, AFESIP is keen on the idea of a social enterprise (SE) which will provide jobs for the survivors. They recognize that they do not have skills in this area, and full support from us will have to be provided if this is to be developed.
January 2010: First Visit to AFESIP Siem Reap
Sylvia & Lai Har made their first visit to AFESIP’s Siem Reap (SR) Centre, the purpose was to see the work that they do and what/where Lotus Culture can further contribute to the cause.
- Resources to teach IT skills (hardware was available but underutilised) - Basic English Language Materials - Enhance mental healthcare capability to address trauma and support both in the Centres and when they are re-integrated, especially after they leave the centre and when they are on their own when follow up support is crucial - A sustainable livelihood on re-integration so as to avoid falling into vice again. => Develop a social enterprise to provide employment => Explore the possibility of work in Malaysia as domestic helpers |
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