The best way to see what Sonas is about is to visit one of our communities where we work. The village experience might change your perspective of the development world and provide an opportunity to get involved in a more sustainable and empowering way. Check out the homestay website here
“The Village” is located 71 km south of the Capital city of Phnom Penh, half way to the popular destination known as Kampot and Kep on the south coast of Cambodia.
The project was established in collaboration with the Meas family who have been actively involved in the community improvement efforts for generations, especially after the fall of the Khmer Rouge.
You can come stay at the Cambodian Homestay and check out various activities we do in the community. As our approach has been based on the Gandhi’s principles of “be the change”, and in order to do it effectively, we believe that we must learn and listen to the local people
Our Vision for the Village
We envision the village of Prey Theeat to be a model village that can inspire cottage industry and become a self sustaining village that produce high quality hand crafted consumer accessories that become known for their origin. We intend this practice to create sustainable income for each of the families in the community.
What will you see
At the village, you will be able to visit the projects we are working on and get an opportunity to share and exchange the knowledge that can have lasting mutual impact. You will find out how each step in making these products impact multiple families through micro entrepreneurship. We are a strong ambassador of the responsible tourism and for that reason we do not support short term/unskilled volunteerism, however we do welcome professionals who want to immerse themselves in our world and believe in co-creating solutions that are led by the local village people.
1. Cambodian Weaving Village – CWV trains the village women for making hand woven fabric using natural plant dyes and locally sourced materials. The project was established in 2013 and now have 12 women involved. The workshop produces about 400 scarves that are sold in over 12 countries around the world including Cambodia.
2. Dai Khmer – Dai Khmer trains women to produce home made health and well being products using super fruits and herbs that are grown in the village. The product include virgin coconut oil, herbal teas and super food products. The project now support more than 10 village entrepreneurs who hand make these products and are part of the local supply chain of raw materials such as coconuts, mangoes, black pepper and many other herbs.
3. Grow It Yourself – GIY is a project in collaboration with GIY Ireland and the purpose is to inspire the community to grow their own food practising sustainable micro farming practices using Permaculture and Biodynamic techniques. We have a community of 5 families who are trained for various techniques to create a micro permaculture farms at their own backyard. GIY is a key part of the supply chain for the weaving and health and wellbeing products. We are now starting to grow our own organic cotton that will be hand spun and naturally dyed at the village.