Inspiring stories: Women empowerment in Cambodia


Hello! I’m Jesi and I’m a full-time artist, designer and photographer from Las Vegas. My background, over the last few years, has been centred around creative work for social change. I was an artist mentor for adults with disabilities for two years and the creative producer for a large non-profit for one. Now I’m designing a line of ethical bags called Ripplet, to provide funds for my charity project, Sisters.
I am currently based in Cambodia and I travel a bit throughout South East Asia. There are many challenges in living here, some of them are hard to describe and would have to be experienced first hand to thoroughly understand. As someone who grew up in the United States, I was very used to “order” and here, even daily tasks can be chaos. It is often difficult to find the most basic things. The weather is also something to get used to, accompanied by the unclean environment and air. Lastly, I was very ill for several months due to the food -which took a while for my sensitive body to get used to. (I am fully recovered now and eating my way through my travels ha!)

I try to do charitable projects quite often -from donating my creative services to food drop-offs in impoverished places… so this was supposed to be a one-time thing. I had done a few projects for Connecting Hands Cafe, this wonderful organization that employs women who have been victims of sex-trafficking. They donate food to this specific area in Toul Kork, also referred to as, “The Brothels” by some. There is a group of women there who are sex-workers. I teamed up with them with the intention of donating feminine hygiene products… so I tagged along for one food donation. Immediately, after my visit, I knew this was something I needed to do for more women (not just this group I met). To witness their living conditions, hear their stories and compare to the easy lifestyle that myself and other Westerners live- was humbling. I also wanted to help decrease the plastic waste that is a huge issue in this country, as well as many other underdeveloped countries. So the idea for Sisters was born.
Sisters aims to empower women through health and knowledge. We provide eco-friendly and natural feminine hygiene products. It began as a non-profit but due to difficulties in fundraising at the moment, I decided to go the social-enterprise route. Ripplets is a line of ethical bags that will be launching in 2018. These are bags that give back and each bag sold will provide a feminine hygiene pack for women in need. The packs include natural soap (free of harmful chemicals), reusable sanitary pads and/or a menstrual cup as well as a reusable bag that the women can enjoy. We hope to be partnering with other non-profits all around the globe from India to the US and help provide these packs to those who need them most.
At this moment, since we are just starting, we’ve only begun to build relationships with the women we hope to serve. It takes a while to build trust and we don’t want to be that kind of organization that drops in and disappears. I’ve joined Connecting Hands for several food drop-offs and met the women in Toul Kork. Recently, I was introduced to a woman there who learned how to sew when she was in her early twenties as a garment worker in the factories. Her husband and she are struggling to make income and support several of their children. I asked if they were in school and I was (surprised) and thrilled to learn they were. For many families in Cambodia living below income poverty level -it is nearly impossible to send their children to school. Many children go off to work and provide income for their families once they are old enough… so Sisters offered her a chance to sew our reusable bags in order to earn a bit more.
We have also had a short health lesson with some of the women, introducing the idea of menstrual cups. We were pleasantly surprised at the positive reaction. Tampons are such a new idea here and the idea of something being inserted disturbs their conservative views on virginity. Sexual education lacks here -many women don’t understand their own menstrual cycles and bodies. A few women were open to trying menstrual cups, and we hope that this will lessen some financial burden for them -since 1 cup can last up to 5 years. It will also decrease waste. It is truly disturbing how awful the pollution is here, used pads can be seen floating around on the rivers and beaches!

OurInstagramm page is https://www.instagram.com/

serbiangirlingreece
Girl I love your blog! Every single post, interview, design – everything! So happy that you decided to write and do research on the stories that are really important and can change a world! Usually people just talk about places they visit, food they ate, not thinking about using online blog to spread awareness! You should both be proud on the things you are doing! You are online heroes. Ill continue to read and follow your posts <3
Annalisa
thank you so much! I will try to publish as many inspiring stories as I can. 😀
Annalisa
Certo, anche poco più di una mezza giornata!