Transparency & Impact
![Etape lavage de la fabrication d'un foulard](http://soieriesdumekong.com/cdn/shop/files/lavage_fabrication_foulard_{width}x.jpg?v=1680600080)
Our social impact
Thanks to you, in 2023, 65 people, including 63 women, worked all year long in our Banteay Chhmar workshops where they made more than 7,500 pieces. A training program was carried out throughout the year to help our weavers increase their technicality and their versatility.
Children of the Mekong
Soieries du Mékong is a project of the NGO Enfants du Mékong , which has been working since 1958 to educate the poorest in South-East Asia. The association supports more than 60,000 children each year, notably through sponsorship.
Enfants du Mékong received the IDEAS label for good governance,
transparency and monitoring of the effectiveness of the action in 2011, renewed in 2015 then in 2019.
“We would like to highlight the professionalism that emerges from your organization, the strong commitment of administrators in
the operation and strategy, the association's openness to the outside world as well as its transparency and communication efforts. Mr. BRION, chartered accountant.
![Projet social d'enfants du Mékong](http://soieriesdumekong.com/cdn/shop/files/enfants_du__mekong_soutien_{width}x.jpg?v=1680600233)
![tissage foulard en soie rouge](http://soieriesdumekong.com/cdn/shop/files/tissage_foulard_soie_rouge_{width}x.jpg?v=1680600345)
Where does the money from your purchase go?
In 2023, for a light scarf sold for €100:
- €38 went to the remuneration and social protection of weavers and employees in Cambodia.
- €25 went to the purchase of raw materials (74% of which went to suppliers in Asia).
- €15 went to other charges in Cambodia (tools, premises, taxes, etc.)
- €22 went to creation and distribution costs in France.
Soieries du Mékong has no shareholders. In the event of a profit at the end of a financial year, 100% of it is donated to Enfants du Mékong for educational projects in the village of Banteay Chhmar.
What is our recipe for containing our costs?
It's very simple:
- Our “Bamboos”, young people in International Solidarity Volunteering who commit for a year in Cambodia to bring their skills to local teams.
- Minimum spending on marketing and advertising.
- Our customers who are our ambassadors: satisfied by the quality of their light scarf and touched by the project, many of them recommend us to their loved ones and on social networks.
- Experts, sensitive to the project who intervene through sponsorship or independently at very favorable rates.
- Only one employee in France, supported by a work-study student and three volunteers all year round.
- The unfailing commitment of the Children of the Mekong network of friends who help us sell our products.
- Loyal business partners and patrons who help us
help develop the project.
We have a conviction: YES, our weavers can escape poverty, become autonomous, proud and independent thanks to their work. Yalla!
![une tisserande prépare un métier à tisser](http://soieriesdumekong.com/cdn/shop/files/tisserande_metier_a_tisser_atelier_tissage_{width}x.jpg?v=1680600556)
![l'atelier de tissage](http://soieriesdumekong.com/cdn/shop/files/atelier_tissage_{width}x.jpg?v=1680600838)
Our dreams for tomorrow
- Continue our development to train and help more
women from the village and surrounding areas.
- Expand our commercial partnerships to sustain the project.
- Offer you ever more sophisticated and diversified products, which also allow us to raise the technical level of our weavers.
- Set up a traditional weaving training school in Cambodia.
Our team from Asnières
Sophie
Responsible for the solidarity brand Soieries du Mékong
Larissa
Communication officer
Philippe
Volunteer - Organization and Finance
Marie-Andrée
Volunteer - Sales Administration and Accounting