If you've visited my website, you'll know that I've been a friend of the Sunrise Children's Village for many years. Its a fantastic orphanage located outside Phnom Penh and is the result of the incredible dedication to Cambodia's orphans by the larger-than-life character Geraldine Cox. Find out more here. Sunrise also have a sister orphanage in Siem Reap and one of its major supporters is Taylor & Khoo, a unique fashion and homewares label with a social cause that provides income generation for disadvantaged groups in Cambodia and supports the needs of about 120 children at the Siem Reap orphanage. In June 2002, two Australians, Kylie Taylor & Valerie Khoo, visited the orphanage and Taylor & Khoo, a not-for-profit business, is the result.
The Taylor & Khoo range includes exquisite women's clothing in handwoven Khmer silk, men's accessories such as neck ties as well as silk placements and napkins, cushions and sumptuous silk bedspreads. The range is available from their store in Sydney, Australia and from their online store. Pay a visit to their website to find out more about the Taylor & Khoo story.
A documentary, Taylor and Khoo: The Throwaway Children, produced by James Boldiston of NMG, was aired on Channel News Asia in January. Boldiston says: "A crew from NMG flew to Cambodia, and filmed the environment to show potential benefactors the conditions the children are currently living in. We shot a number of locations, and while it was tragic to see the abject poverty some children live in, it was heartening to see the contrast between the old orphanage and the new one that Taylor & Khoo have been able to build." The result is an hour of commercial television that aims to boost the profile of the Taylor & Khoo brand and provide more funds for the orphans. NMG shot, cut and produced the film for free.
Andy Brouwer has both a website and a blog on Cambodia.