12/01/2004

These scarves and bags are created by weaving cooperatives set up by Phnong women in Cambodia. Refugees International donated a number of looms to the women for this purpose. The continuation of the weaving tradition as well as the small income that the handicrafts generate are important stepping stones towards the preservation of Phnong culture.

The Phnong are a unique ethnic group who live in the forests lining the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. They have always lived off what they grow and gather, which has required them to move from place to place in order to cultivate fresh land. This type of semi-nomadic lifestyle greatly influenced the development of their age-old traditions and customs. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to continue a semi-nomadic lifestyle in an age where land is increasingly privately owned. The long-established components of Phnong culture, including their distinct language, extensive knowledge of the forest, living patterns and time-honored rituals, are vanishing as land development, tourism and modernization in general encroach upon the forests where they live.