Touch a Life Food Programme in Siem Reap

One person's move to Cambodia in an attempt to make trade fair -- fair wages for producers and fair prices for consumers. Bloom eco-friendly bags are recycled bags hand made by fairly paid workers in Cambodia that are sought after by ethical consumers everywhere.

 

I took these photos on April 6, when I went with my friend Mavis on one of her many trips to feed poor people in Mondul 3 district, a very poor area in Siem Reap. Tourists are often surprised to learn that Siem Reap is one of the poorest provinces in the country. Step out of Siem Reap town, barely 30 mins away on a motorbike, and you will see the crushing poverty. (In 2008, I wrote about New Hope, an NGO operating in Mondul 3).  


Mavis (in the middle) is a Singaporean mother of two who has lived in Malacca, the former Portugese colonial town in Malaysia, for two decades. She started a food programme in Malacca and brought the programme to Siem Reap about 2 years ago, which was when we first met. 


The beauty on the back of the motorbike is Jesseca Liu, a popular Malaysian-born, Singapore-based, actress. Jesseca had come for a visit with her family but got stuck without a flight out (long story). It was funny, we took her for a massage in Siem Reap and all the massage girls insisted on taking a photo with Jesseca cos they recognised her as Ruan Mian Mian, the Vietnamese bride in a Singapore drama series called "Portrait of Home" (同心圆). The show was dubbed in Khmer and shown on TV. Everywhere we went Khmers would gawk and say she is sa'at. They especially loved her fair skin. Having met her I can confirm she really is beautiful, inside and out.