Push Pull Cambodia supports the empowerment of our employees and their communities. To this end, we are currently involved in several developmental projects with plans to expand in the future.

EYECARE

At our weaving center, we noticed many employees squinting and heard complaints about how hard tonal patterns are to weave. Convinced that many needed glasses, we have coordinated annual trips to an eye doctor for all employees. The Children’s Surgical Center in Phnom Penh provides free eye exams to Cambodians, reduced-priced prescriptions, and referrals to local glasses centers. Push Pull covers the cost of transportation, per diem, prescriptions, and glasses. Approximately one-third of our employees required and received glasses.

HEALTHCARE

In addition to eye care, we offer financial assistance to employees to offset surgery or healthcare that would be too costly to attain on their own. We are also exploring the viability of a medical savings program.

BANKING & SAVINGS

We are working to open individual bank accounts for each of our employees by the end of 2011. We want to discourage carrying large sums of cash and encourage saving for the future. All of our employees have agreed to sign up for a bank account this year in order to receive their salaries via direct deposit.

TRAINING

We have supported individual staff members to further their skills through computer literacy courses and project management training sessions.

DEVELOPMENT FUND

Push Pull aims to give a percentage of sales back to our employees to fund developmental projects that will improve their quality of life. Our community has prioritized access to water and indoor toilets as the projects they would like to implement first.

We continue to look for ways to support our employees in their quest for economic empowerment, health and wellbeing, and rural development. If you know of a project or partner that could assist us in this endeavor, please let us know.