Although bargaining at the local markets is a common practice for shoppers, it is not appropriate to do so at Artisans d’ Angkor. This is not a typical souvenir shop; this facility serves a cultural as well as an economic purpose. Artisans d' Angkor offers a business model that promotes sustainability and fair trade for the artists they employ. On a cultural level, they are preserving and promoting the traditional heritage of the Khmer empire. Reviving the traditional skills and crafts that were lost during years of political instability are a critical piece to a more unified Cambodia. On a larger scale they are providing economic support to Cambodia’s lagging job market by creating new jobs.
Artisans d’ Angkor is actually a network of ten workshops that trains and employs nearly 1000 emerging Cambodian artists. They recruit about 60 new apprentices per year providing not only a job, but a sustainable career. These organized workshops provide young people with a skilled trade and educational opportunity that would not be otherwise present in Cambodia.
Although there has been a recent boom in
Cambodian’s tourist industry, it remains one of the poorest countries in South East Asia. Years of war and political turmoil have caused a deeply entrenched economic and cultural instability that has been hard for the country to overcome. The government lacks the necessary resources to provide adequate jobs, education, medical care and other basic necessities to their own people.
Shopping at Artisans d’ Angkor is one small way shoppers can use their tourist dollars for a good cause. This partnership provides shoppers with high-quality, locally produced products and the artist is guaranteed a fair wage for their labor.
Read more at Suite101: Siem Reap Cambodia Shopping Guide; Artisans d' Angkor http://www.suite101.com/content/siem-reap-cambodia-shopping-guide-artisans-d-angkor-a266790#ixzz0ydJXgROQ
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