Yasaree enhances her income, Orong Village

Yasaree lives with her husband and six children, aged 11 to 24, in the village of Orong 60 miles north of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Fifteen years ago Concern and the villagers of Orong and four other villages started the development of a community owned forest on 450 acres of waste land which was then controlled by the government.

Many of the plants in the forest are now being harvested and Yasaree has recently learned how to make baskets from the rattan and bamboo which have become abundantly available. In addition to making baskets for commercial sale, she produces miniatures of them for sale to tourists visiting the world famous AngkorWat temples.

Money from this new venture will augment the income the family derives from her husband’s blacksmith work and from growing mangoes, potatoes and maize on two acres of rented land – to say nothing of rearing some chickens around the house.  Yasaree can weave her baskets while tending her roadside sugar cane juice stall.

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