
The Stung Treng Women’s Development Center (SWDC) is a humanitarian non-governmental organization in Cambodia with two parallel missions: producing Mekong Blue silk products and providing work and a social safety net for the community of Sre Pro village in Stung Treng Province in Cambodia.
What do they do?
In Stung Treng Province, women’s choices are stark. Few receive an education, and most marry young and have limited employment opportunities. Some leave home to work in distant factories. And poverty makes them vulnerable to trafficking.
The organization is dedicated to lifting rural families out of poverty by empowering women with employment and education. They provide job training and a living wage to our silk weavers, along with basic literacy and health education, free lunches and an elementary school for village children.
By offering employment and social welfare services, SWDC helps break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy for vulnerable people, especially women in Stung Treng Province. Projects help families support themselves financially while empowering them with the knowledge they can use for the rest of their lives.
By offering vocational training, employment, education, and a social safety net, SWDC has improved the lives of more than 700 women, 1,600 children, and countless families in the Sre Po community since its founding in 2002.
While dozens of permanent SWDC employees have earned their way to economic security, the organization also helped thousands more indirectly, by expanding our education and health care programs to benefit the whole community. Through their kindergarten and school sponsorships, they help educate more than 150 local kids per year. Hundreds of more take classes at their computer lab and English language program, and more than 800 people have access to their free health clinic.
The hand-woven silk products have received three UNESCO awards, the Seal of Excellence for Handicraft Products in Southeast Asia, and global recognition for superior quality, creativity, and originality.