Our Partner Organization - The SWDC

Fair Fabric is the proud distributor of Mekong Blue silk, designed and created in Cambodia by the Stung Treng Women’s Development Center (SWDC).

The SWDC is located in the remote province of Stung Treng in the North East of Cambodia. Established in 2001, by a local Cambodian couple, Chan and Chantha Nguon, the SWDC is a humanitarian non-profit organization that focuses on developing life skills to assist in women and their families living in poverty. Projects at the SWDC are designed to empower and support women and their families, while providing knowledge and skills that have long-term and sustainable benefit.

The production of silk provides support through education, training and employment. Mekong Blue silk has a soul - all of it is a pleasure to own and every purchase makes a difference.

The SWDC is currently the largest employer in Stung Treng Province of Cambodia. Women working in silk manufacturing earn between $50 and $100 a month, where the country average is $25. The SWDC has programs benefitting over 300 women, more than 100 children and at least 20 families.

The SWDC is committed to:

  • Improving the standards of living and increase opportunities through education programs in health and literacy.
  • Breaking the cycle of poverty through vocational training in skills that increase employment opportunities and income generation.
  • Providing employment that pays a livable wage, encourages personal development and valuable on the job training.
  • Encouraging professional competence, ethical practice and quality results through on going training and support activities.
  • Continuing to develop appropriate and sustainable programs that improve lives, increase skills and benefit the community.
  • Providing assistance without reference to religious, ethnic or political background.

“Before we got what you call success today, we had three years of a nightmare. We step into the fire in the jungle. If we step back, we get nothing. If we keep going ahead, then maybe one day we get out from the jungle. And that's what's happening now.”— Chanta Nguon, CEO, Mekong Blue

Read about the founder of the SWDC in an interview by Rachel Louise Snyder on
The American Public Media